The Athena Operation

by Dalton Cortner

  “Then we shoot you and carry on,” Seraph said. “We were taking on this mission before you, and we can damn sure continue it without you.”

  Kyla sighed. “I guess I’ll end up dead anyway if nobody stops these damn seythra. Okay. Fine. I’ll go. Just keep him the hell away from me.”

  Seraph nodded. He turned to the rest of the crew. “Alright, everyone grab your weapons. Let’s move it out. The Baryon’s our next target.”

  They reached the ship without trouble and loaded in one by one. Before they could file in, Sadhis grabbed Seraph’s shoulder and pulled him aside.

  Sadhis shook his head. “Seraph, my mother’s here. On Danae Pilus”

  Seraph didn’t have to ask what Sadhis meant. For the first time, Seraph heard a hint of fear in Sadhis’s voice.

  “Listen,” Seraph said. “We do this, and when it’s over, you and I will come back and find her personally. Deal?”

  Sadhis nodded and shook Seraph’s hand. Seraph gave Sadhis a reassuring pat on the back, but in truth, Seraph wasn’t confident he could keep his promise. Anything could happen.

  After boarding the ship and setting course for the Baryon, Seraph brought Vinnor and Kyla up to speed on the plan. He explained the two teams and assigned Vinnor to Alpha and Kyla to Bravo.

  Seraph was hesitant to arm either of them, but he told himself he could trust Drever to watch them. Seraph told himself a lot of things, but the truth was, he wasn’t sure of any of them. Drever seemed confident, as always. But Ret was trembling. Maxen was pacing the floor. Seraph knew his team was rocky and the mission was a long shot. But they would go forward.

  They had to.

  “It’s time.” Seraph’s words echoed through the ship and shook the crew to its core. No one aboard believed that they would see another day.

  But no one backed down.

  The ship kept everyone on their toes throughout the trip, with power levels fluctuating among jerking and blaring alarms. At one point, the ship died entirely, and the crew were left floating in space as Sadhis and Seraph struggled to bring it back to life. The ship started after Sadhis modified some of the wiring, but the ship sounded worse than it had before when it finally started.

  The ship exited hyperspace as it closed in on Vidron. The Baryon was floating in the outskirts of the planet, ready to greet outsiders. The Baryon could easily have held two hundred ships the size of the one belonging to the crew, and each side of the ship was lined with cannons bigger than any the crew had ever seen. The ship itself was a fierce black, a military war vessel with staggering depth. Jagged corners cut the ship's intimidating appearance. The view of Vidron in the distance was completely blocked by the Baryon’s bulk.

  Kyla swallowed hard. “Oh my god.”

  The crew watched as a ship about their size, apparently Confederate Military, flew toward the Baryon. Within seconds, there was a loud bang and the ship was obliterated.

  Kyla shook her head. “We’re going to get mauled.”

  “This is nothing I didn’t tell you about,” Diam said. “It’s magnificent, and the most horrifying thing I’ve ever witnessed.”

  Seraph began transmitting his radio signal on frequency 5206.

  “Does anybody read me? This is Commander Seraph Aydrian, with Alpha and Bravo teams aboard my Grappler November vessel. I’m looking for fleets ready to launch a direct assault on the Baryon. Copy.”

  Seraph waited through several minutes of silence.

  “That’s what you get for putting your faith in the military,” Drever said. “You have to do things yourself.”

  Ret shook his head. “Shut up, Drever.”

  “I say again; this is Commander Seraph Aydrian, currently aboard a Grappler November vessel. Are any fleets in the vicinity? Copy.” Seraph waited with bated breath, praying silently to hear back from at least one of the fleets.

  But nothing ever came.

  Vinnor chuckled. “You truly are fools. Do you remember the ship that was just blown up? That was your fleet.”

  Seraph slammed his fist down on the control deck. “God damn it!”

  Diam put a hand on Seraph’s shoulder. “Easy, Seraph, easy.”

  Seraph glanced down at the controls. Part of him just wanted to cut and run like Drever had suggested all along. But he knew that he had to stifle whatever was keeping him from going all in. He knew he had to push himself past his limit if they were going to end this.

  He took a deep breath. “Brace yourselves. We’re going in.”

  He ordered the ship’s autopilot to fly to the underside of the Baryon.

  As soon as they got within range, the Baryon’s laser guns and cannons began firing relentlessly.

  “Careful!” Kyla shouted.

  One of the cannons came within several feet of the front of the ship and missed it by a hair.

  “Shit, that was luck-” Ret’s words were cut short by a loud bang as a cannon ripped a hole through the cargo hold. The ship rocked violently.

  “Someone check the engines!” Seraph shouted from the pilot’s seat.

  The power was still on, but it was flickering.

  Sadhis ran to the back and peered out into the hall. There was a large hole in the side of the ship, but the engines were functioning. He moved to take a closer look when a bag of gear flew across and the room and out through the hole. Sadhis turned and ran back to the front of the ship.

  “Engines are good! Seal the doors, though! Hole’s sucking everything out!”

  Seraph brought up a menu and air locked the door to the cargo hold. The ship stabilized a bit.

  As they drew closer to the Baryon’s cargo hold, a laser struck the side of the ship and spun it away from the Baryon’s path.

  “Hit again!” Seraph yelled. “Damage at sixty percent!” He grabbed the command deck to keep himself steady.

  The ship was shaking heavily, sending the crew crashing to the ground.

  Seraph moved the ship back up to the Baryon and closed in on the cargo hold. “Just a little farther,” Seraph muttered.

  His fist smashed into the button labeled ‘hyper-space’. The ship was pinged by another stray laser shot, but the Knex drive brushed it off. Their speed increased tenfold within a matter of moments.

  It took Seraph a minute to realize the impact was coming, but when he did, he dove down in a frenzy as the ship entered the Baryon.

  **

  “-ph. Wake. . . p! Ser. . . ey!”

  It took Seraph a moment to come to. Diving to the floor was his last memory, but the crash must have been worse than he thought. His entire body throbbed.

  His vision came in and he saw Ret’s silhouette near him, urging him to get up. Ret’s voice faded into the muffled sound of gunfire. Seraph tried to get up, but any movement caused him crippling pain. He looked down and saw that a large shard of glass had pierced his left hand all the way through.

  Ret reached over and carefully grabbed the shard on either of the flat sides, where it couldn’t cut him. Then, in one yank, he pulled it free from Seraph’s hand. Seraph cried out and cradled his hand to his chest. Ret opened what remained of the medical locker and tossed a roll of gauze at Seraph. Ret helped Seraph wrap his hand and then pulled him to his feet.

  “We’re getting destroyed out here! We need you!” Ret grabbed an assault rifle off the ground and handed it to Seraph.

  The weight of the rifle sent shockwaves of pain through Seraph’s injured hand, but he did his best to ignore it. He followed Ret, trying to find a way out of the wreckage.

  The ship was destroyed. There wouldn’t be any escaping in it. The walls were crushed, the front was smashed in, and the entire ship had been nearly torn in half. There were trails of blood on the ground and the air was smoky.

  Ret and Seraph reached a hole big enough to fit through. Vinnor was lying on the ground near the hole, his face and neck covered in cuts and stained with blood. Seraph stopped.

  Ret turned back and saw Seraph standing over the body. Ret shook his head. “We
don’t even know if we can help him. Come on!” Ret jumped out of the ship. Seraph glanced back at Vinnor before following Ret through the hole.

  They were immediately thrown into gunfire. To their right, Drever and Sadhis had taken cover behind a piece of their ship. Opposite them were about a dozen well-armed seythra. The stench of smoldering ship lit up their nostrils.

  The large hangar they'd crashed into had ships scattered from their violent entry. Alarms were blaring, and disarray had taken over.

  Ret and Seraph sprinted over toward Drever and Sadhis. They were halfway there when Ret cried out and collapsed to the ground as a stray shot grazed his thigh. Seraph stopped and dove to the ground as gunshots chased him.

  “Hang on!” he shouted to Ret.

  “Go!” Drever yelled. “We’ll fucking cover you!”

  Seraph darted over to Ret, crawling across the ground as quickly as he could. He helped Ret up to his feet, keeping his assault rifle aimed at the seythra and blind firing with his free hand. Ret groaned as he leaned on Seraph and the two limped over to the cover. A loud sniper shot rang out. Seraph and Ret ducked down just in time to avoid the shot, which blew a huge hole in the wall behind them.

  “Where are the rest of the crew?” Seraph shouted.

  “Don’t know!” Drever said. “Vinnor’s been out cold, probably fuckin’ dead…” Drever popped out of cover and fired a burst shot at a group of seythra behind a ship.

  Sadhis loaded a fresh magazine into his rifle. “Kyla and Maxen, we have no idea. Haven’t seen them.”

  “Goddamn it,” Ret cried. “Do we have any fucking Aceso shots?!” He dumped out the contents of Sadhis’s supply bag. There was nothing but a few magazines of ammo and two used Aceso syringes.

  Sadhis shook his head. “Not on me, maybe back in the ship. Did you-”

  Sadhis was interrupted by the clinking of a grenade, which landed just in front of their makeshift cover.

  “Oh shit,” Seraph shouted. “Grenade!” He shot to his feet and pulled Ret up with him and bolted away from the area.

  Sadhis darted off in the opposite direction, toward the entrance of the cargo bay.

  The grenade blew and the makeshift cover exploded and sent shrapnel flying through the air. Seraph and Ret were sent crashing to the ground.

  Drever was driven into one of the ships the seythra had sitting in the cargo bay. His body smashed against the heavy metal siding and debris showered over him.

  Sadhis managed to escape the blast radius, but the seythra sniper had him in range. The sniper fired a shot that caught Sadhis in the back and sent him crashing to the ground.

  CHAPTER 18: MANUMIT

  Aven stared at the video screens surrounding him. His patience was wearing thin. The dark room felt suffocating. Though he could see all angles of the Baryon on the screens in front of him, he found himself anxious. He hadn’t expected anyone to be brave enough to attack the ship or to be skilled enough to cause any damage. They knew what they were doing; he would give them that. But he knew it was time for their hero act to end.

  “You seem tense, Aven.” Zane’s voice was calm and he smelled of smoke and alcohol.

  “Tense?” Aven yelled. “When was the last time you looked at the video screens? Do I really have to supervise this mission by myself while you’re off drinking?”

  “Easy. I-” Zane glanced at one of the screens behind him. His eyes widened. “Have they boarded the Baryon?”

  “Yes they have,” Aven said. “The seythra are hitting them hard, but they're resilient.”

  Zane tapped his chin. “They may be just what we need.”

  Aven shook his head. “No, I’m not risking the Baryon, and I’m sure as hell not risking this operation. Give word. We have to release the Titan. They need to be destroyed.”

  “Aven, we discussed this. It’s a prototype, it isn’t finished. Just imagine what could happen if-”

  “Do you want this to succeed, Zane?” Aven stood up and came face-to-face with his comrade. “Or do you want to watch the universe collapse in greed, poverty, and violence? This. Is. Necessary. Do it.”

  “Of course I want it to succeed, Aven. But we need to consider all the angles. We haven’t even ended the first phase of the operation. We need to-”

  “Zane, if you’ve ever trusted me, just do as I say. Do it now.”

  Zane shook his head and moved over to the control panel. He gave Aven a hard look. “If this goes bad . . . this is on you, Aven. This one’s on you.”

  “It always is,” Aven said.

  **

  The gunfire ceased after the grenade explosion. Seraph stood up from where the explosion had flung him. He grabbed his rifle and tried to steady it in his shaky hands.

  He glanced around as his vision stabilized. Their cover had been destroyed, replaced by smoke and fire. He glanced back at Ret, who was crawling up into a sitting position. Seraph crouched and aimed his rifle around the corner of the debris pile.

  A few seythra began funneling around the corner, and Seraph downed them all quickly with a couple of shots. He moved closer to the corner. Another seythra. Seraph gunned him down instantly and inched farther forward.

  Suddenly, another seythra, hot on the heels of the last, rounded the corner and tackled Seraph. The rifle flew from Seraph’s hands and clattered to the floor. The seythra slammed his fists into Seraph’s gut. He pulled Seraph to his knees and elbowed him in the temple.

  Seraph dove forward and locked his arms around the seythra’s midsection, dragging him down to the floor. The two tumbled, fighting for control. Seraph slammed his fist into the seythra’s face and broke free.

  A female seythra rounded the corner and raised her gun to Seraph. Seraph froze.

  A shot rang out.

  Seraph took a breath and glanced down, searching for a bullet hole that wasn’t there.

  The seythra who had been targeting him collapsed, a single bullet hole in the center of her head.

  Seraph turned to see Drever holding a revolver. The right side of Drever’s face was bloody, his ear was mangled, and he was missing a chunk of skin near his shoulder.

  Seraph wasted no time grabbing the fallen seythra’s pistol and turning to the seythra who had tackled him. Without hesitation, Seraph raised the pistol and fired a point blank shot into the seythra’s head.

  Drever moved up beside Seraph. “There’s more,” Drever said. “Watch yourself.”

  Seraph grabbed his rifle off the ground.

  A moment later, a bullet whizzed by Seraph’s head and smashed into the wall behind him.

  “Sniper!” Seraph shouted, diving for cover behind a stack of spilled boxes.

  Drever ducked down to join Seraph. He poked his head out and spotted a quick flash of movement. He trained his gun on the enemy’s location.

  “I know where he is,” Drever whispered.

  “Good, I can get him.” Ret’s voice startled Seraph, but he was glad to see the kid up and moving. “I can make the shot. Give me your rifle.” He held his hand out to Seraph.

  Seraph gave him the gun. “Alright, make it count.”

  Another sniper shot punctured one of the boxes right next to where Drever was crouching.

  “I’ll go out as a distraction,” Drever said. “When he pops out to get me, take him down. Get it done, kid.” Drever darted out of cover before anyone could protest.

  Ret popped out of cover and aimed at the sniper’s location. Drever hurried to the next point of cover, then ran out and headed toward another pile of debris. Ret drew a long breath and adjusted his aim a bit. He saw movement. The seythra slowly emerged from cover with Drever no doubt in his sights.

  As his crosshair darted over the seythra, Ret tensed up and fired.

  The seythra ducked back down into cover, unscathed.

  Drever bolted for cover as Ret tried to regroup. Another shot rang out, followed by a sharp cry of pain. Drever slumped to the floor.

  “Drever!” Seraph yelled. He darted forward, but stoppe
d just before he could expose himself.

  Ret froze. “Fuck. . . I. . . ” The rifle shook in his hands. His legs began to fold under him.

  Seraph grabbed Ret’s shoulders. “Ret! Stay with me. I need you here! We need to get rid of that fucking sniper. You’re going to run one way, and I’m going to run another. We’ll circle around, and hopefully one of us can get to him while he focuses on the other. Got it? Tell me you’ve fucking got it!”

  Ret’s lips trembled. “I’ve. . . I’ve got it, sir.” Ret clutched his rifle and turned, ready to run on Seraph’s mark.

  “Okay, let’s fucking go!” Seraph took off in Drever’s direction.

  Ret ran in the opposite direction, his wound burning with every limp. He dove to cover behind a large crate. A bullet made contact with the wall behind him.

  “Fuck,” Ret whispered.

  His heart felt like it was going to explode. His leg was pounding with pain. But he knew he couldn’t stop here. He had to keep driving his feet. Ret scurried from cover to cover and eventually found himself in position to make a move on the sniper. From what he could tell, the sniper was focused on Seraph for the moment.

  Ret clenched his rifle with shaking hands and closed his eyes. You have to make a move, he thought, but he felt frozen. He told himself he had no choice, but his body, shaking with a cold sweat, refused to budge.

  Ret collapsed to his knees.

  Two shots were fired, one from the sniper, the other likely from Seraph’s gun. Everything fell quiet.

  Ret could hear footsteps approaching. His eyes snapped open. He brought his rifle up as Seraph appeared before him. Ret tried not to notice the disappointment on Seraph’s face.

  “Ret, I know you’re afraid. But this isn’t just about you and me. If I die, you and the rest of the crew have to push on. If you die, we are going to push on. This isn’t about us. This is about everyone on Earth, on Vidron, on every planet in the universe. This is greater than us. Get on your feet, soldier. We have a job to do.”

  Ret got to his feet. He shook his head. “No, Seraph. You’re wrong. This is about you and your crew. I’m not a part of it. I’m not even a soldier. I’m some run down kid from the streets of Acell. I only told you I was a soldier because you seemed to know what you were doing, how to survive. I was never in the military, or-”