Project Starfighter

by Stephen J Sweeney

  “So, as you can see, everything has worked out very well for us. There only remains one problem, boy. You.”

  Chris was flabbergasted. “How could you, Tyler? We were allies. We had a deal!”

  “A limited one at best. And, besides, I’m a mercenary. What did you expect?”

  Tyler’s Cyclone’s engines came online and the fighter started forward, the three other Cyclones following after.

  “Now,” the leader of the Wolf Pack said, “if you’d do me a favour and die quickly, I have a cheque to earn ...”

  Chapter 29

  Four Cyclones. On paper, far more powerful than the Firefly; better armoured, better shielded, better armed. All in all, they were fully capable of besting their predecessor in a straight fight. But Chris wasn’t flying an ordinary Firefly. The upgrades that Sid had introduced now matched – perhaps even bettered – the specifications of the Cyclones. And, of course, Chris had Athena. The timeslip was the single greatest advantage he possessed, the thing that would give him the edge in this engagement and pretty much assure his victory.

  He prepared to engage it. Nothing happened.

  Chris swore.

  Chris, we have a problem, Athena said.

  “I know, I know!” Chris said. He stared out at the incoming Cyclones, it very clear to him that not only had Kethlan offered the mercenaries monetary compensation for this task but had also supplied them with some sort of jamming system. Chris wondered briefly if Kethlan himself might be present in one of those Cyclones.

  I can still control the Firefly’s systems, Athena told him. But I can’t provide you with any assistance beyond that.

  No, Kethlan probably wasn’t here. If he had been, Athena would have been reduced to nothing more but a spectator. “Flight control?” Chris asked.

  Down to you, Athena said.

  Chris detected nervousness in her voice. “What about the Mirages or the corvette? Are you still able to order them around?” He was sure he knew the answer to that question already.

  No. They’re not responding.

  A snap glance to the radar revealed that the six WEAPCO ships that had accompanied Chris and Athena here hadn’t moved since they had arrived. It was four against one. Almost.

  “Send a message to Sid,” Chris said. “Tell him to get his butt over here, now!”

  Signalling is blocked.

  Chris told himself not to panic, shielding the feeling as best he could from Athena. He eyed the four fighters that were accelerating towards him, soon to be within weapons range. He tried to think of what their first move would be. Would they unleash a storm of missiles the second they were locked and ready, or would they do so later, such an opening move being far too predictable? The four were clinging close to one another, and there was little doubt in Chris’ mind who his opponents were – Tyler, Eve, Dar, and Clayton, the leader and senior partners of the Wolf Pack. Chris had flown with all of them before, seen them fight. All four were good, very good. And now they were against him.

  “We thought that you would come here alone,” Tyler’s voice came over his comms once again, forcing its way through, much like how Kethlan had done. “Had you brought the geek and the little blonde tramp with you, we might have been forced to fall back to our alternative plan. But as you’re here alone, boy, we can all have a little fun.”

  One of the Cyclones was coming forward with far more gusto than the others, Chris was certain that the pilot was either Clayton or Dar. WC-WP-004. Tyler’s own Cyclone was identifying itself as WC-WP-001, whereas the one that was moving with added care, WC-WP-002, was clearly Eve. She always approached situations like this with caution, taking time to evaluate her position and the standings before striking. Chris tightened his grip on the flight stick, his eyes shifting rapidly between all four fighters, as well as his radar. Who to strike first? What to do, how to react?

  I can still give you advice, Athena said.

  “I’ll be needing plenty of that,” Chris said.

  “It’s nothing personal,” Eve’s voice came from the Cyclone identified as WC-WP-002. “This is business, nothing more.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Dar said. “I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks! Besides, he killed Lorrie. This is payback.” WC-WP-003.

  That left Clayton, the mute. He was the first to open up his cannons against Chris, who slammed the Firefly’s joystick forward, hard, diving out of the way. He had not reacted nearly as fast as he would have liked; many of the mercenary’s plasma bolts had hit home. Had the Firefly not been upgraded beyond its initial capabilities, Chris was certain that Clayton’s attack would have pushed the fighter’s defences well over the danger threshold.

  Chris ignored the taunt from Dar that followed, hearing the blare of the warning siren as a missile was dispatched at close range. It was destroyed immediately, Athena activating the counter measures the very instant the missile was loosed from the Cyclone. Chris did not pause to consider who had fired it, concentrating only on which target he should engage.

  Three o’clock, Athena prompted.

  Chris pushed the flight stick hard to the right, seeing the Cyclone that was speeding in that direction, his HUD visually identifying it. It was Dar, preparing to come around following his failed attack with the missile. It had been a very long time since Chris had fought more than a simple one-on-one battle without the aid of Athena’s timeslip, and he found himself a little overwhelmed by just how fast and frantic the battle really was. He had not been called on to think and react this way since his dogfight against Kethlan. Athena was yet again on hand to give him advice.

  Go after the weakest of the pack first, she said. Think like a wolf.

  Chris almost smiled, but now Dar was in his sights. He squeezed the trigger – another action he had not taken for quite some time – strafing the Cyclone with a torrent of plasma cannon fire. He quickly found that either his cannons were much more powerful than he had at first believed, or that the Wolf Pack’s Cyclones’ shielding wasn’t nearly as strong as it ought to have been. Either that, or when the fighters were allocated, Dar had drawn the short straw.

  Dar’s Cyclone’s shielding snapped, the instantaneous illusion of a mass of blue shards and splinters erupting from the points of impact of the Firefly’s cannon fire. A handful of plasma bolts pushed through to the armour beneath the Cyclone’s shield, and while Chris did not expect anything to happen but for the metal plating to chip and buckle from the hits, he was rewarded with a sharp explosion. The Cyclone’s engine glow faltered, the fighter’s course becoming irregular. A near critical hit. He must have gotten lucky.

  Yes, but don’t get cocky! Athena urged him.

  Chris felt the Firefly vibrate as cannon fire struck the rear of the craft, and he immediately took evasive manoeuvres, accelerating hard to get out of the way. He zigzagged briefly, before looping around and powering in a completely different direction.

  Finish off the first one, Athena told him, the power weighting continuing to shift on the console. Chris saw that Athena had pushed more power into the cannons, clearly keen for him to complete the task of downing Dar.

  With Dar’s Cyclone still locked by his targeting computer, Chris located it quickly, seeing it facing him. The Cyclone’s engines might be struggling a little, spluttering like a broken hose, but the fighter’s cannons were apparently still functioning just fine. With both fighters facing one another, Dar opened up with a deluge of plasma fire. Despite the onslaught, Chris maintained his heading.

  “Full power to the forward shields!” Chris called.

  What are you doing?!

  At the same moment, Chris loosed off two of the dumb fire rockets loaded onto the Firefly. He made no effort to get out of the way of Dar’s fire, or the man’s fighter, until the rockets were away, after which he pushed forward hard on the flight stick, put full power to the throttle, and dived.

  He was sure that he heard Dar start to say something, start to scream an insult at him, one final taunt before
his death. He never quite got the words out, Chris’ rockets obliterating the Cyclone completely. The radar blip that had marked the Cyclone winked out an instant after he dived, light from the explosion glancing off his cockpit.

  For a minute, I was worried that you were going to attempt to fly straight through that, Athena said.

  “Risk of collision with the wreckage,” Chris said, before returning his attention to his radar, and seeking out his next opponent. The three were all clustered around him, clumped up on his radar. That was no good. He needed space.

  “Well, look at that,” Tyler chuckled. “Unless I’m very much mistaken, it appears as though our lad just popped his cherry!”

  Tyler might have found it funny but Chris wasn’t laughing. He realised that Tyler was right, and that for the first time in his life he had killed another human being. Before now, he had simply blown apart unmanned fighters, AI-driven craft that weren’t genuinely alive. Dar was dead. Chris had just killed the man. He had hoped that Dar would have ejected, but there were no indications that the mercenary had done so. He was dead. Gone. Killed by Chris’ own hand.

  Dead.

  Don’t think about it, Athena told him. It was self defence. I mean it, Chris. If you hadn’t killed him, he would have killed you. Don’t shed a tear. He would have revelled in your death, for certain.

  Chris acknowledged her, and refocused on the battle.

  “Told you there was something wrong with Dar’s,” Eve’s voice came over Chris’ comms, her anger clearly meant for Tyler. “How do we know that there isn’t something wrong with the rest of them? WEAPCO could’ve sold us out.”

  “Fine, then we’ll finish this quickly,” Tyler said. “Fun’s over. Don’t hold back.”

  Chris took the hint himself, accelerating hard and pulling away from the group. He heard the continuous warning blares as guided missiles shot after him, seeing them disappearing off his radar the same moment that they appeared. Athena said nothing, clearly taking care of the problem without needing to consult him.

  “Who’s next?” Chris said, largely to himself.

  The mute, Athena said. Eve is holding back, and Tyler isn’t seeking any glory for himself. He would be happy for the others to do the job for him, to get us out of the way.

  “Have you managed to discover the source of the timeslip blocking?” Chris asked.

  There’s nothing nearby but the three Cyclones. It must be being broadcast from one of them.

  “Or all of them,” Chris said. He expected for Clayton to be coming at him next, seeking some sort of revenge for Dar. They had always been close, like blood brothers. Clayton did as expected, accelerating forward. Chris braced himself to tackle the man, when he then saw Eve’s Cyclone accelerate along with Clayton’s, the pair rushing him together.

  Chris once again took evasive manoeuvres as the two fighters’ cannons erupted fiercely, plasma fire spraying towards him, several of the bolts striking him as he attempted to escape the volley. Both Clayton and Eve were clearly quite adept at leading their targets. Thankfully, Athena made the necessary power weighting adjustments, shifting much of the available power to the bulk up the defences of the affected quadrants, to prevent a breach.

  Something then slammed into the topside of the Firefly, the bright, dazzling flash that followed blinding Chris for a moment. He started to tell Athena to take control until his vision cleared, when he remembered that she was completely unable to assist. He swore, not able to help himself, letting his frustration and terror out.

  Chris!

  “I’m okay, I’m okay,” Chris said. His hand already over the throttle. He pushed the Firefly as fast as it would go, not knowing where he was flying, and only hoping that his erratic movements would prevent anything from hitting him until his sight returned. It did so swiftly, and Chris glanced to the instrument panel as soon as he was able to focus. The shield weightings read 21/21/21/21. Athena had clearly chosen to take no risks with what was left of the fighter’s defensive power, now dividing it evenly amongst all sides.

  Sorry, Athena said. It was an unguided rocket, fired from very close range. There was nothing I could do.

  “Don’t apologise”, Chris replied. He had had a hunch that the mercenaries might do that. The Cyclones may each have a stash of such rockets, all waiting to be dispatched at the most opportune moment. Chris wouldn’t be giving them any more chances to do so.

  His radar told him that he had once again distanced himself from the three remaining mercenaries, although one of them was coming at him hard. He took a firmer grip on the flight stick, realising as the fighter approached that he was in a better position than before. Chris had a chance for a one on one fight here, albeit a brief one, over as soon as one of the others caught up to him, but still he had a chance.

  Chris brought the Cyclone into his sights, opening fire even though he was still outside weapons range. As expected, the Cyclone banked out of the way. Chris continued to fire after it. His aim was intentionally off, the idea being not to actually hit his target, but to force it into a more manageable position. Such as with its back to him.

  The Cyclone did as hoped for, and Chris immediately powered after it, watching his opponent’s speed and making instant adjustments to his own to compensate, as well as keeping himself locked firmly behind the fighter. Now here, and with the mercenary unable to shake him, he held down the gun trigger, pumping bolt after bolt into the rear. Though his opponent made attempts to dodge and shake him, Chris stuck to them like glue.

  “You wouldn’t actually kill a woman, would you?” Eve’s voice then came over his comms. “I always thought you were a lot more chivalrous than that!”

  Chris’ finger twitched on the gun trigger, almost releasing it. The weeks he had spent in the company of the woman, with the dangerous flirting and the ‘playful’ violence, shot through his head. He recalled the hour he had spent with her in her quarters, and then the kiss she had forced on him at the Crucible. Eve was one of the reasons why Athena had taken on that sexy, sensuous form that Chris found so very appealing.

  Don’t listen to her, Chris, Athena said. She’s a mercenary, your opponent. She would kill you in a heartbeat. She’s trying to use her sex to get to you. Ignore her.

  Chris realised quickly that Athena was right. Eve had little loyalty to anyone, perhaps not even to Tyler; likely only as far as she could throw him. Which wouldn’t be very far at all. Chris never released the trigger, Eve cursing him in the brief moment that her Cyclone’s engines cut out and her fighter went up.

  “Sorry,” Chris said, as the craft burst.

  Don’t be, Athena said. Don’t ever be sorry for doing what is necessary.

  Chris accelerated hard to get out of the way of the spraying wreckage, and focused his efforts on his two remaining targets. He saw that Clayton was right next to him, having been attempting to shoot him down while Chris pursued Eve. Chris thought himself lucky that Eve had not attempted to lure him towards her two team-mates.

  “Two down, two to go,” Chris said.

  Chris saw as he engaged the man how Clayton’s flying had become a little sloppy. The deaths of both Dar and Eve was likely causing anger to spill out of him, and now he was being driven by rage. Unfortunately for Clayton, that would serve only to interfere with the task ahead of him.

  Chris tackled the man one on one, taking him down in precisely the same way as he had done Eve. Clayton’s flight was a little harder to follow, but with enough concentration, Chris blasted the Cyclone to pieces. Clayton never said one word during the engagement. Perhaps he knew he was already beaten.

  Chris slowed the Firefly as Clayton’s Cyclone shattered and erupted into multiple pieces. He saw his final opponent holding back, and took a look at the Firefly’s shield readings. 67/67/67/67. The battles against Eve and Clayton had given his shields plenty of time to recover. He was sure that he could take down Tyler without any problems. Even so, he wasn’t going to take any risks.

  I’m still blocked,
Athena told him.

  “It’s okay,” Chris said. “I can do this.” His comms jingled.

  “Just you and me now, then,” Tyler said. “The others might have gone easy on you, but don’t expect me to cut you any slack. A shame I can’t stick your head on a pole and take it in personally. No matter, I’m sure they’ll be happy just knowing you’re dead.” Tyler laughed, and the two pilots raced towards one another.

  Chris loosed his remaining two unguided rockets as soon as he was within range, the first one fired straight at the incoming Cyclone, the next in the direction that Chris anticipated Tyler would head to avoid it. Chris had noticed during his time flying with the man that, when it came to evasion, Tyler would always dive down and bank to the left. The leader of the Wolf Pack did not disappoint, but even so the rocket missed him by a fraction of an inch.

  No taunts or quips from Tyler, who was quick to adjust his path and realign himself with Chris, opening up the Cyclone’s cannons. He had linked them, firing all four at once. Slower to fire than if they were being discharged individually, the bolts still found their mark. Chris saw the quick fluctuation of the shield weightings as he shifted his heading, and Athena made the adjustment to the defences to balance things out again.

  Chris’ radar revealed then that the leader of the Wolf Pack was attempting to force him into the same inescapable tailing manoeuvre that Chris had used to fell both Eve and Clayton, though Chris was experienced enough with it to know how to escape – come to a complete stop, pull a one-eighty, and accelerate away, more or less in the direction of your attacker. Some hits were unavoidable, but some damage was far better than death.