by Amanda Rose
Chapter 4: The Ice Asteroid
The drill had launched seamlessly from the hanger bay and hovered not far from the Saisei. Once they’d cleared the immediate vicinity of the ship hanger Bay B opened and Omega Squadron launched to join them. They got into a standard formation and began to make way towards the asteroid.
Norita watched from the command deck, as the ships disappeared toward the planet, with bated breath. It had all come down to this. General Takeo Yamamoto was on the command deck as well, overseeing his pilots. Jona hovered next to Norita, his nervous energy contagious.
“Jona, go check in with Dr. Takei, I would like an update on the distillation situation,” Norita told him, grateful for the excuse to send him away.
Jona, looked at Norita, wanting to object so he could stay to watch, but he could think of no reason. “I… yes, yes of course,” Jona said with a heaviness to his voice, and then left.
Immediately Norita breathed a sigh of relief when he’d left the room. She’d always been very empathetic, which had made her an excellent leader, but left her susceptible to the mood of those around her. She worked hard to stay focused.
Masato came in staticky over the radio, “Saisei, this is drill team, about to set down on the asteroid’s surface.”
Takeo clicked on the radio, “Slow and steady. Keep us apprised.” Again, silence and waiting. Norita paced back and forth as she gazed out the window, the ships were out of view from this distance.
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Masato let out a nervous breath and then took the ship in for a landing. Koji let down the landing gear, and Masato eased the ship down. The surface was horribly uneven, full of deep crevasses. It had taken them 10 minutes to finally find some ground they thought was suitable enough for landing. Masato eased the ship down slowly, and one by one he could feel the feet touch down on the surface. Once the ship had settled, Masato looked over at Koji who looked back and smiled, both feeling relieved.
“Nice job, kid,” Koji said, unbuckling his harness, “I’m going to go prep the drill.”
Masato nodded, “Need help?”
Koji shook his head, “Nah, take a break, you earned it.”
Koji stood up and began to walk towards the back off the cock pit when suddenly the ship jolted forward sharply. Koji lost his footing and tumbled forward, smashing his shoulder into the front panel. “Urg!” Koji cringed as sharp shooting pains raced down his arm.
Masato’s heart was racing as the ship tipped forward. He looked over at Koji who was trying to stand back up despite the steep angle the ship now sat at. “Koji, you OK?!” he asked, exasperated.
“I’ll live,” Koji grunted angrily. The ship creaked loudly as it settled into place. Both men held their breath as they waited to see if that was the end of it, and after a few moments, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Flicking on the radio, Masato reported in, “Saisei this is drill team. We have landed on the surface. Preparing to engage drill.” Koji, nursing his shoulder, went to get the drill prepped.
A moment later he hard Takeo come back over the radio, “Excellent job drill team. Keep us updated with your progress.”
“Yes, sir,” Masato replied, then turned off the radio transmitter.
Unbuckling his harness, Masato went to check on Koji, “How’s the arm?”
Koji kept working, “Arm’s fine, but I think my shoulder’s dislocated. Hurts like hell… feels like sandpaper in the joint, and I can’t lift my arm.”
Masato felt a pang of guilt for not landing the ship better, “Is there anything I can do?”
“Systems coming online… looking good,” Koji said, focused on his work, then he looked at Masato, “Once we get the drill going I need you to pop my shoulder back in place.”
Masato stared back dumbfounded, “I, uh, I’ve never…” he was at a loss for words.
Koji laughed, “Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it, kid.”
They continued to go through the drill prep sequence together. Everything was going according to plan. The ship’s insulation was doing well to maintain heat. Masato had landed the ship on the daylight side of the planet, to help with the extreme temperatures while they tested everything out and got the drill up and running.
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Omega Squadron engaged their neutrino emitters and took off en route to their designated training zone away from the asteroid. 10 minutes after the drill had safely landed on the planet they had been given the all a clear to break away from the planet for drill practice. Months overdue, Raiden was finally getting the chance to lead the team. They broke orbit and Raiden instructed the team on the maneuvers and flight plan he had in store for them once they were far enough away.
Takeo watched from the Saisei, between the window and the radar read out as Omega Squad flew out to get into position to carry out their drills. Once they were far enough out Raiden had the team cut their neutrino emitters and start the drills. General Yamamoto listened in on his earpiece as Raiden gave commands to the team and watched the response times pan out. The General was impressed with Raiden’s command abilities; he’d always had a way with his comrades that made them respect him. Between that and Raiden’s natural piloting skills, and intuitive strategic sense, it made him a natural leader.
Norita, pacing the command deck, walked up to Takeo and stood next to him. “How’re the drills going, General?” she asked, trying to pass the time, and calm her nerves.
“Quite well,” he replied simply.
Norita smiled, Takeo always treated her like a normal person, unintimidated by her title. She watched the radar screen intently. The dots representing the ships moved with precision, and unison. A moment later Norita’s personal communicator beeped, and she clicked it on, “yes?” she said.
“It’s Jona, I’m with Dr. Takei and Zavion,” his mild-mannered voice was hard to hear over the static, “The distillation unit is ready. Dr. Takei has requested we have it moved into one of the docking bays for its first real test run with the first load that the drill brings back, in the event any harmful fumes get into the air the bay can easily be purged,” Jona explained.
“Approved, you can get underway immediately,” Norita replied.
General Yamamoto chimed in, “Bay D is empty.”
Norita nodded at him, then spoke to Jona, “Jona, take the distillation device to bay D.”
“Yes, ma’am. We’re on it,” Jona said.
Norita clicked off her communicator. “Thanks,” she said, turning to Takeo.
Takeo simply nodded, “You’re welcome.”
“What the hell…?” Koi blurted out as he sat staring dumb founded at his control panel. Norita and General Yamamoto immediately turned their attention to him.
“What is it?” Takeo asked.
“The exterior door to docking bay A is opening,” Koi said, confused.
“There’s nothing scheduled in bay A,” Takeo said.
“I know,” Koi said, “I’m trying to override it… shit, I’m locked out!”
Suddenly the emergency lights and siren came online. Yellow lights flashed along the way, and the loud Bleep! of the alarm sounded every 10 seconds. Norita clicked on her communicator, “Security, report!” she demanded.
A long 20 second passed and then, “…It’s a coup! …” the voice came in, along with the sound of gun shots. “…So many… outnumbered…. they’re stealing the ships! …” the distorted voice came fragmented.
“What the hell is going on?” Norita asked, trying to piece it together, and shot a glance at Takeo who had heard it all.
“They’re launching!” Koi announced. Norita and Takeo rushed back over to the window and watched as ship after ship flew out from the Saisei. The General turned his attention to the radar, and it was clear the ships were headed towards the drill site on the asteroid below.
Takeo flipped on the radio, “Lieutenant Saito, come in!”
“Raiden here, go ahead,” his voice came back over the comm.
“Ships are inb
ound on the drill site, you need to return with your squadron immediately to intercept them and protect the drill team,” Takeo commanded.
“Yes sir,” Raiden replied. Immediately they could see the course change of Omega Squadron as they turned about face to head back towards the drill site. Then Takeo contacted Koji and Masato to warn them of the potential threat that was headed their way.
“What in the world are they trying to do? Take the water for themselves? But why?” Norita said, thinking out loud. They stood in silence watching and waiting. Then Norita’s eyes widened, “Jona and the science team, they’re heading towards the docking bays!” Quickly Norita tapped on her communicator, “Jona, come in! …Jona? Are you there? …Jona?!”
There was nothing but static, and then, “Jona’s unable to speak right now,” an unfamiliar voice replied.
Norita’s eyes shot up to meet Takeo’s, “Who is this?” Norita demanded.
“Hahaha, you don’t get to make demands anymore,” the voice said, amused and yet entirely serious. Then the connection was cut, and everything went silent.
“Hello? Hello?! Dammit!” Norita said, exasperated.
After pacing for a moment Norita turned to Koi, “Can we lock down the entire docking area? Use the emergency port seals maybe?” she asked, trying to find the solution.
Koi shook his head, “Normally yes, but whoever did this had a plan, they’ve completely locked me out of the controls. I’m trying to get past their encryption, but it could take a while,” he explained, still working away at his computer.
The constant pulse of the alarm was beginning to give Norita a headache, but she tried to push through it. Norita walked back over to Takeo who was anxiously watching the radar. Glancing at the screen Norita could see the rogue ships were just minutes away from the drill site. Omega Squadron was closing in, but at least twice the distance away. She looked up from the monitor and stared down at the asteroid, feeling a pit at the bottom of her stomach as she watched, helplessly.
Then it happened, in an instant, a bright blinding flash. Norita’s jaw dropped, and she felt the air rush out of her lungs. The renegade ships had all fired on the drill, igniting the fuel assembly, which created a massive explosion as the drill exploded. “Holy hell!” Koi yelled, in shock. General Yamamoto watched stoically, suppressing the horror of it all to keep his mind straight.
Why would they blow it up? Norita’s mind raced, unable to understand the destruction. Who the hell did this? What the fuck do they want? She felt rage overcome her.
“Don’t let them get away!” Norita spat angrily.
General Yamamoto was already a step ahead, “Raiden, come in.”
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Speeding towards the asteroid and the drill site, the unexpected explosion of the drill nearly sent Omega Squad reeling off course. The blast wave from the explosion shook their ships violently as they continued, on course with their approach vector. Wide-eye Raiden stared ahead at the flames and the wreckage floating away. “Koji! Masato!” he gasped.
“Mother-fuckers!” Freya screamed in her cockpit. The explosion was horrific, tearing the drill to shreds. Bits of the ship began to float away; the asteroid’s gravity was too low to hold them down. The methanol in the ice on the asteroid fueled the fire, lighting up the ground all around the drill site in a brilliant burst of blue and yellow flames. The attacking ships turned and fled, engaging their neutrino engines, to get away from Omega Squad. Raiden ordered his team to engage their own neutrino engines and to pursue at full speed.
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Koji floated among the wreckage of the ship, disoriented and terrified. He’d been next to the front window of the pilot’s cabin when the ship exploded, and the force of the blast had knocked out the window and shot him through the hole. Masato had been right next to the engine when it happened, and though it had been in the blink of an eye, Koji couldn’t get the image of Masato’s body being consumed by the flames out of his mind.
Straining to breathe, Koji tried to focus; the world around him spun out of control as his body was hurtling into space. He brought up his right arm in front of his face to access his suit’s built in computer panel, only to find the screen had been horribly smashed. He tried holding down the button to activate his radio signal, “Hello?!” he asked scared, hoping for a response. But none came.
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Back on the Saisei all hell was breaking loose. Reports were pouring in from all over the ship, political officials were being rounded up, and dragged out of their homes. An all-out war between the security teams and the terrorists had broken out. Norita tried to make sense of it, but it was all too chaotic.
“Takeo, we have to get this situation contained! The ships aside, I’m assuming this is all happening in the docking bays, so I don’t want anyone able to come in or out of the area. If they’ve locked us out of the controls, then we need people down there barricading them in. It sounds like the security teams were overwhelmed, so I need you to get soldiers in place down there,” Norita explained.
“Right,” Takeo nodded in agreement. Turning on the comm, Takeo spoke, “Captain Yoshini, come in?” A long silence hung in the air. “Yoshini, do you read me?” Takeo asked. Again, a long silence followed.
Just as Takeo was about to change the frequency, Yoshini replied, “I’m here,” the voice came in a whisper.
“What’s your situation?” Takeo asked.
There was a pause, and then, “The barracks are being overrun… I’m hiding in my locker. They raided the armory, I… I think they’re leaving. Whoever they are, they’re organized… they’re gone,” Gin explained. Norita and Takeo looked at each other, their mutual concern overwhelming them now.
They listened to Gin as he walked around the barracks and explained what had happened. Most of the soldiers were at their posts, but Gin had been scheduled to a late shift, so he’d been sleeping when he’d awoken to hear the alarm going off, and a mass of encroaching footsteps. Immediately Gin had hidden and watched as it all unfolded. The terrorists were well armed with military weaponry. They had ransacked the barracks, and after a thorough search for anything usable they’d finally left. “… then they mentioned something about finishing their rounds. A couple of them were covered in blood, I think they might be shooting people,” Gin finished.
Norita shook her head in disbelief. “Where’s the rest of your team?” Takeo asked.
“Supposed to be on guard duty as well as some at the holding cells, but with everything going on I don’t know for sure,” Gin responded.
“Round up whoever you can. We believe the bulk of the terrorists are holed up in the docking bays. Make your way down there and report in, we need to get a clearer picture of what’s happening. I’ll be calling in Alpha and Beta Squads as well, we will retake control of this ship,” Takeo instructed with conviction.
“Yes sir,” Gin said.
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Link lead the rebellion’s ships when they’d blown up the drill, and now on their escape vector. They hadn’t anticipated such a narrow escape from Omega Squadron. The chase was getting more intense by the minute. Link instructed all of his pilots to max out their engines in an attempt to gain more distance, but Omega Squad wasn’t afraid to pursue at the same alarming speeds. Now their engines were beginning to redline, and Link was feeling the pressure.
Link considered heading back to the Saisei, but he knew Omega Squadron would never let them get close. He wanted to turn his ships around to take out Omega Squad, but the pilots he commanded were much less skilled, and he was a certain they’d all die in a head on battle. His mind was racing.
Out of the corner of his eye Link noticed a large gas giant planet to his left in the distance. It would take over an hour to get there if they kept up near light-speed, but then they’d have a chance to lose the pursuant ships in the atmosphere, and then, they could form a surprise attack, and with any luck come out unscathed. It was their only chance. He gave the command, and they all changed course for the gas giant.
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“Lock them up over there, with the rest of them,” Niko commanded. For the past hour Niko’s insurgent men had been bringing the government officials into the hanger bay, locking them up as prisoners in the equipment room where all of the repair equipment for the ships were stored. Terrified, enraged, pleading; the officials came into the situation confused and overwhelmed. They didn’t know why they were being taken, but panic and fear ran rampant among them.
