by Ryk Brown
“Klytes?”
“Never heard of it.”
“A big ugly bird that swoops down and kills house pets on Dennimen Five.”
“That’s even dumber,” Josh replied. “Come on, Lok, think of something flashy, something sharp.”
“Sharp? Like a razor?” Loki asked.
“That’s it!” Josh exclaimed. “Razor One!”
“Why One? There’s only one of us.”
“Fine, just Razor then,” Josh agreed. “Flight Ops, Razor is ready for departure.”
“Just Razor?” The flight controller asked.
“You see!” Josh complained. “Yes, just Razor,” he told the controller.
“Copy that.”
“Any idea what our mission is?” Loki asked.
“I’m guessing we’re going to shoot at the bad guys,” Josh replied.
“Maybe we should ask?”
Josh rolled his eyes as he activated the canopy motor. “Flight, Razor. Any idea what our mission is?”
“Razor, Flight. Combat Recon; you are to be the captain’s eyes and ears.”
“Lovely,” Josh complained.
“Razor, you are cleared for transfer airlock three, with immediate launch aft,” the controller instructed.
“I should have asked about our mission before I accepted it,” Josh cursed. “Airlock three, aft departure.”
“What are you complaining about?” Loki wondered. “We’ve got another ship, and it’s a beauty.”
“Yeah,” Josh agreed as he watched the deck slide by through the floor view port, beneath his feet. “This thing is pretty cool. Not as cool as the Falcon, of course.”
“Of course.” Loki giggled to himself.
“What?” Josh asked.
“Maybe we should have called ourselves Peeper?”
* * *
“Jump complete,” Sasha reported. “All Strikers are with us.”
Robert glanced at the tactical display in the center of their console. “Fourteen enemy ships, thirty light seconds out. Leader to all Strikers, we’ll jump in two clicks out and assess. The Gunyoki are probably engaged. Weapons hot, range will be fifteen hundred meters. Check your field of fire. We’ll go after cruisers, and leave the rest to the Gunyoki. Target the lead ship, near side, attack in order, ten-second intervals, alternating direction breaks. We’ll keep pounding the same shield section until it gives. Jump in ten seconds.”
Robert waited for all three confirmation indicators from the other ships, then checked the tactical screen one last time. “Here we go,” he announced as he pressed the jump button.
The stars in the forward windows shifted almost imperceptibly; the main difference being that now there were continuous flashes of red-orange in the distance as the Gunyoki engaged the lead ship of the Dusahn’s fleet.
“Shenzas, Striker Leader. Target the frigates. We’ll handle the cruisers,” Robert instructed over comms.
“We’re being targeted,” Sasha warned.
“By which ship?”
“Take your pick.”
Robert adjusted their course slightly, turning toward the lead cruiser.
“They’re firing,” Sasha announced.
Robert quickly fired his topside translation thrusters, pushing his Cobra gunship downward, while adjusting his pitch to bring their nose back onto the target. Their forward shields immediately lit up, flashing red-orange as the first rounds of enemy fire slammed into them.
“Range in five,” Sasha reported.
Robert waited five seconds, then pressed and held his firing button for several seconds. A series of red-orange balls of plasma leapt from under their nose, in rows of four across, firing in groups of three. By the fourth set of triplets, the temperature on his plasma torpedo cannons was approaching critical, and he ceased fire and pitched down and to port, hard, before pressing his jump button again.
Gil Roselle watched his tactical screen, holding his course directly behind Robert’s gunship, waiting until it broke off and jumped away, clearing his line of fire. He pressed and held the firing button on his flight control stick, sending waves of triplets of plasma torpedoes toward the exact spot on the lead cruiser’s shields that Robert had been firing at. The problem was that with all four ships coming in on the same attack path, the target did not have to adjust their defensive fire very much to acquire the next attacker. They, too, took direct hits on their forward shields, enduring more than a dozen impacts before they dove to starboard and jumped away.
“Sixteen hundred meters,” Kenji reported. “Two has jumped.”
“Firing,” Aiden announced, holding his firing button. He brought his ventral thrusters to full power, translating the ship rapidly upward as he pitched his nose down to keep his stream of plasma torpedoes on the target point. “Damn!” he exclaimed as he pitched up and to starboard. “That’s seventy-two hits!” he added as he pressed his jump button. “What kind of shields does that ship have?”
“Target’s shields are at twenty percent,” Sari reported. “Three has jumped.”
Charnelle fired her translation thrusters, sliding upward as she slid the ship to port, trying to take a slightly different firing line, to avoid some of the incoming fire originally intended for Striker Three just before they jumped away. At best, it bought her a few seconds. By the time she adjusted pitch to bring her barrels on the target point, her shields were already being lit up. “Firing,” she announced, pressing the firing button on her flight control stick.
The cockpit of the Cobra gunship was bathed in red-orange light from both their outgoing plasma torpedoes, as well as the flashing of their own shields as incoming weapons fire pounded them relentlessly. Ten seconds of exchanging weapons fire felt like a lifetime and, finally, she peeled off high left and jumped away, breathing a sigh of relief. She looked at her copilot. “Man, I really thought we were going to get the money shot,” she said in frustration.
“At least Aiden didn’t get it,” Sari pointed out.
* * *
“Man, I love the way this ship handles,” Josh exclaimed as he executed a snap roll, immediately after clearing the Aurora’s aft, starboard, flight deck threshold. He pulled out of the roll at a forty-five-degree angle to port, pulled up slightly on his stick to turn away from the Aurora, and pressed his jump button, instantly advancing the tiny fighter five light seconds. “You got a heading for me?”
“One moment,” Loki replied. “We need to come in from a different location than the Aurora’s current position.” Loki studied his display, making some quick calculations. “Turn to one five seven, twenty down relative, then jump straight ahead five light years.”
“One five seven,” Josh replied, pulling into another left turn and pitching down. “Twenty down.” He dialed up five light years, waited to come to the new course, and then pressed the jump button. The Sugali had a different take on jump drives, similar to the ones on the Contra ships they used to kidnap Maximilian Senah. All jumps over a tenth of a light year were accomplished using a series of jumps executed automatically by the jump control computers.
The Sugali fighter also didn’t have actual windows. Instead, a wraparound view screen provided the same view but afforded them the protection of an actual hull, as well as the added advantage of touch-screen targeting and zoom. Even the window wrapping around the front center of the fuselage, between the twin noses of the fighter and around under the pilot’s feet, was a sophisticated view screen.
A series of five subdued flashes of light announced each jump, and ten seconds later, they found themselves at their next turn.
“Come about to two one five, thirty degrees up relative,” Loki instructed.
“Two one five, thirty up,” Josh replied, bringing the ship around and pitching up. “Jump range?”
“Two point four one five,” Loki replied.
Josh adjusted his jump range as the fighter came about. “You ready?”
“No, but don’t let that stop you,” Loki replied.
Josh pressed the jump button on his flight control stick again. Three flashes of light, and they found themselves in the middle of the Rogen system, halfway between Neramese and Rakuen. “Whattaya see?”
“A butt-load of Gunyoki, launching from the race platform,” Loki replied.
“How many of them are jump-equipped?”
“Forty, I think.”
“What the hell are they thinking?” Josh wondered. “If they try to attack without jump drives, the Dusahn guns will annihilate them.”
“They’re defending their world with whatever they have, Josh. Don’t forget, there is strength in numbers.”
“Might as well be using bows and arrows,” Josh decided.
“What?”
“An old, Earth weapon, back before anything was invented.”
“Jump flashes,” Loki announced, “over Rakuen. Three contacts, a heavy cruiser and two frigates. Three more over Neramese. Same configuration. Heavy cruiser and two frigates.”
“Which means they jumped in, what, two minutes ago?”
“More like two and a half,” Loki corrected.
“I’m turning toward Rakuen to take a closer look,” Josh decided.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Josh?”
“Hey, the captain wants us to be his eyes and ears, right?” Josh defended as he finished his turn and pressed the jump button. Suddenly, directly ahead of him was the planet, Rakuen. “I thought you said there were three ships!” Josh exclaimed as multiple threat alerts sounded.
“Four gunships and eight octos!” Loki warned. “We’re being painted!”
Josh snap-rolled the Sugali fighter to the left as bolts of plasma streaked past their right side. Icons began appearing all over their window-like, wraparound view screen, marking the location of the other ships around them. The icons moved across the screens, some of them disappearing as they slid up and off the screen as they rolled. Josh pushed their nose down and fired his dorsal translation thrusters at the same time, diving toward the planet and sliding quickly below their original flight path, trying to avoid incoming fire. Their shields flashed repeatedly from incoming weapons impacts, shaking them violently. “Man, this ship may look cool, but its dampeners suck!”
Loki glanced at the big, blue planet below as explosions began dotting the surface. “They bombarding the surface, Josh. Head for Neramese and jump.”
“Why the hell would I do that?” Josh wondered as he turned in the direction Loki had suggested.
“Eyes and ears, remember? We need to see if Neramese is being pounded, as well.”
“I’ll give you three guesses,” Josh mumbled as he pressed the jump button.
* * *
“Captain on the bridge,” the Ghatazhak guard at the port entrance announced as Nathan and Jessica entered, still in their black combat armor. More than a few double-takes occurred. Most were accustomed to the menacing look of Ghatazhak body armor; they just weren’t expecting it on their captain.
“All stations report general quarters,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported, stepping aside to make room for Jessica to take over the tactical console. “XO is in combat, chief of the boat is in damage control.”
“Don’t go anywhere,” Jessica told the lieutenant commander. “I have a feeling I’m going to need an extra set of hands for this one.”
The lieutenant commander nodded his understanding and stood to the right, making room for Jessica on the left side of the wide, standing-height, tactical console.
“Jump to Rogen, plotted and locked,” Ensign Bickle reported from the navigator’s station.
“On course and speed for jump,” Lieutenant Dinev reported from the helm.
“All weapons are charged and ready,” Jessica announced. “Shields are up and at full power.”
“Flight reports seven Reapers on the apron and ready for launch. Reaper Six will be ready in five.”
“Any updates from Rogen Defense Command?” Nathan asked his communications officer.
“Nothing since the original message,” the ensign replied.
Nathan turned to face forward, standing to the left of the tactical station. “Show me the Rogen system and the reported position of the Dusahn attack force.”
A moment later, a map of the Rogen system appeared in the middle of the main view screen that wrapped around and over the front half of the Aurora’s bridge. A cluster of red dots appeared on the outer edge of the system, and a line indicating the course of the group of ships extended across the screen to the icon representing the former Gunyoki race platform, now turned base of operations, which sat halfway between Rakuen and Neramese.
“They’ll launch recon drones first,” Nathan said, thinking out loud. “Probably three of them; one to each planet, and one to the Gunyoki base. From that distance, their sensor readings will be too outdated for tactical use. Once they get the updated scans, they’ll jump in and start the attack.”
“They’ll probably attack the Gunyoki base first,” Jessica opined.
“I don’t think so,” Nathan disagreed.
“It’s the system’s only defense,” Jessica reminded him.
“I doubt the Dusahn see the Gunyoki as much of a threat,” Nathan explained. “If they did, they would have attacked them directly, without warning. Jumping to the outskirts and doing recon first tells me one thing. They expect to walk all over them.”
“What about our fleet?” Jessica wondered.
“We moved them out of the system as soon as the Raffaelle departed,” Nathan told her. “The only ships we have left in the area are the four flatbed cargo ships we equipped with plasma cannon turrets. They’re on the other side of the system, directly opposite us.” He turned back to the comms officer. “I assume you’ve alerted them?”
“Aye, sir,” Ensign deBanco replied. “Per protocol.”
“Sensor contact,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the sensor station. “Jump flash. It’s Razor.”
“Incoming hail from Razor,” Ensign deBanco announced.
Nathan tapped his comm-set, tying it to the comms channel. “Razor, Aurora Actual, sit rep.”
“One heavy cruiser and two frigates over Rakuen,” Loki reported. “The same over Neramese. They’ve started orbital bombardment of both worlds, sir.”
“Nothing at the Gunyoki base?” Nathan asked.
“Negative, sir, but there were fourteen ships total at the original arrival point so, as of our departure from the system, there were still eight gunships that hadn’t jumped deeper into the system yet.”
“What about our gunships?”
“Strikers were attacking the lead heavy cruiser when we first jumped in. The Dusahn ships jumped in to attack Rakuen and Neramese just after we jumped into the heart of the system. I expect the Cobras followed.”
“Jump back to the Gunyoki base and report back in two minutes,” Nathan ordered.
“Aye, sir,” Loki acknowledged. “Razor, out.”
“Comms, launch a comm-drone and order our flatbed gunships to jump in to protect the Gunyoki platform. Also, send a comm-drone to Rogen Defense Command, but from the Octonai approach corridor. Tell them to order the jump-equipped Gunyoki to attack the frigates over Rakuen and Neramese, and the rest of the Gunyoki stay near their base. The Dusahn will probably attack the Gunyoki base with their gunships. If our flatbed gunships help, a few hundred Gunyoki fighters, even without jump drives, should be able to take on eight gunships.”
“What about those heavy cruisers?” Jessica wondered.
“With the jump-equipped Gunyoki, the Str
ikers should be able to handle them without us,” Nathan said, appearing somewhat optimistic.
Jessica didn’t look as convinced.
* * *
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Quarren said under his breath as the Morsiko-Tavi jumped from its position outside the Rogen system, into the distal end of the Dikona approach corridor to the Gunyoki base.
“They put guns on our deck for a reason,” Captain Tobas commented.
“Easy for you to say,” the XO replied. “You’ve seen combat.”
“Jump complete,” the helmsman reported.
“Oh, my God,” Baen said as he gazed at the sensor display.
“Mister Kellog?” the captain called, prodding his sensor officer to report.
“Sorry, sir,” Baen said. “Multiple contacts, eight Dusahn gunships are attacking the Gunyoki base. Dozens of Gunyoki are defending, and more are launching every second. Eight…make that twelve octo fighters are attacking the Gunyoki defenders.” He looked at his captain with concern. “It is too congested to jump to the transition point.”
“We will approach at normal speed,” the captain replied. “Mister Das, put us on station at the Dikona transition point, then spin us around to face away from the Gunyoki base. Choose a relative altitude below that of the main battle, to give our deck guns the best angle. We’ll target those gunships as best we can.”
“That’s inside the battle, Captain,” the helmsman warned. “And we’ll have to fly straight through it to get there.”
“I know, Geo,” the captain replied as he punched in a comms channel. “Baltus, Tavi, take position at the Mikona transition point, and defend the Gunyoki platform.”
“Tavi, Baltus, we copy. Moving to Mikona transition,” the captain of the Baltus replied.
“Lorino, Tavi,” Captain Tobas continued. “Take position at the Okano transition point and defend the Gunyoki platform.”
“Tavi, Lorino. We will stand at Okano transition,” the captain of the Lorino replied, sounding nervous.
