by Brett Patton
“You want us to lose Mecha Base?” Matt yelled at Yve. “You want us to abandon those pilots out there—like you abandoned my dad?”
Fury sparked in Yve’s eyes, but before he could speak, Dr. Roth cut in.
“Is there any possible reason I should authorize your use of a Demon, Cadet Lowell?” Roth sneered. “What can you possibly do, save deliver my latest technology into enemy hands?”
“Yes. Because I’ll win this,” Matt said, standing firm, even as his eyes slipped to watch his embattled friends.
“I’m sorry. I cannot believe that,” Dr. Roth said. “Concur with the liaison’s recommendation to withdraw, Captain Ivers.”
But Ivers wasn’t paying any attention to Dr. Roth. He was watching Matt. Seeing him track the battle outside
“That your team?” Ivers asked, nodding at Michelle and Soto.
“Yes, sir!” Matt snapped.
“Heavy-matter weapons online, sir,” one of the pilots said.
Ivers bent over a control panel and keyed in a short sequence. “There’s a Hellion in the hangar. It’s now yours. Godspeed.”
Dr. Roth jumped forward, his eyes wide. “I said, I recommend we withdraw—”
Ivers sneered. “Let me know when they put you in charge of my ship. Pilots, aim and fire at will, concentrating on the unarmored ships.”
Matt didn’t wait any longer. He threw himself out of the bridge and down the corridors at full speed, found the Hellion and the interface suit within, tore skin getting into it, and dropped into Mesh.
It was strange being in a Hellion again. Like a child’s game. Metallic muscles worked beyond the wraparound screens, casting odd, distracting glints, unlike the immersive Demon. Matt breathed the sweat of a dozen pilots, unlike the sanitized, metallic air from a Demon’s mask.
The only thing worth feeling was the support cradle the Hellion was locked into. Through it thrummed the oversized fusion heart of the Helios, the chant of data between the Displacement Drive and the pilots, the flow of images and messages from Mecha Base and beyond. It was just like his first exercise, when he caught the Corsair fighter in the bay and Merged with it.
Overlays flashed on Matt’s POV, showing the current state of the battle. The Mecha had fallen back closer to Mecha Base, but seemed to be holding the battleships at bay. The battleships had to approach in the lee of Mecha Base’s armor, so the closer they got to Mecha Base, the more concentrated the fire from the Mecha.
Still, a Hedgehog battleship and a handful of Corsair-captured Taikong fighters had slipped through. They fought against two Mecha at the lower level Hellion dock: Soto and Michelle’s Hellions.
A sudden thought came to Matt: You could Merge with this ship. Just like you did during your first exercise above ground. Displace away. Then Displace down right on top of Rayder. Hit him hard. Crush the Atlas and end it.
Because Rayder had to be there. He wouldn’t miss his chance to watch the capture of Mecha Base.
You could end it now.
Michelle and Soto fell back in the battle diagram, hanging at the dangerous edge of Mecha Base’s armor.
Merge with the ship. Get Rayder.
“No,” Matt said, triggering the external hatch. It opened to reveal the gray rock of Mecha Base. The edge of the Hellion dock was just visible. Beyond that, two Hellions moved. Michelle and Soto.
But you would have your revenge!
“And I will,” Matt breathed, jumping hard toward his friends.
Matt went wide of the two Mecha, almost missing the edge of the armor on Mecha Base. He caught and held on as depleted-uranium slugs hammered his Hellion, making him wince. His targeting overlay showed the source of his bombardment: a group of Rayder’s men in battle-tech space suits.
Matt launched Fireflies, but the men slipped out of range before they impacted. They were wearing Flight Packs. Matt sorely wished for his own as more slugs hit. He couldn’t do much more than hang on the edge of the armor if his Fireflies and Seekers didn’t work.
He searched for Michelle and Soto; they were launching Seekers at Rayder’s nearest battleship. The big Rhino rocked with the explosions but kept firing at them. Soto lost his grip and Michelle had to grab at him and pull him down back under the edge of the armor.
“Matt!” a familiar voice shouted through Matt’s cockpit as Sergeant Stoll’s comms icon lit on his screen. “Ah, I mean, Cadet Lowell, report status!”
“Helping my friends,” Matt said. “Ma’am.”
“Adding you to my control group,” Stoll said.
“Matt!” Michelle called. “Did you find it? You shouldn’t have come! We’re pinned down!”
Matt laughed. “Yes, yes, I shouldn’t have, and I can see that.”
“Idiot kid,” Soto said. “Too bad you don’t have a Flight Pack or three. They can’t kill us, but we can’t knock them out either!”
Matt saw the problem. Fireflies and Seekers were too slow, and there was no way they could use a Zap Gun and fire into the maelstrom. And without the maneuverability of Flight Packs, they were too far away to use their Fusion Handshakes.
Or are we? Matt grinned. It was a terrible idea, but one that might actually work.
Matt jumped off the edge of the armor, aiming for the attacking Rhino. If he was lucky, the Rhino would consider him a valuable capture. If he wasn’t, the big ship would simply move out the way, and he’d be headed for a one-way ride into the center of a forming planet.
“Are you crazy?” Michelle screamed.
“Probably!”
The Rhino swelled in front of Matt, its massive, scarred armor resolving into individual plates. The lights of the bridge burned bright white against the brown-red red of the maelstrom. Figures moved on the bridge, silhouetted by the light. Just like that first day at Earth, on Mercury, Matt thought. He remembered his promise to the security chief: No more dumb stunts. He laughed.
Matt was close enough to see the rivets that held the Rhino together. A port opened on its side, and men in armored space suits jetted out. They’d intercept him in seconds.
Matt hit the Rhino near the bridge and grabbed for something to stop his bounce. His metal fingers found a thruster port and he latched on, his impossibly tough biometal tearing the relatively soft steel alloy of the Rhino.
Depleted-uranium slugs juddered Matt’s Hellion, and he almost lost his grip. He grabbed with his other hand, caught the fusion port, and thrust his arm all the way down into it.
Fusion Handshake, he thought.
Pure pleasure welled as his Hellion’s arm rang with power. Blue flame exploded from the fusion port, showering Matt’s Hellion with molten steel. Fire burned Matt’s arm as the Handshake drove deep within the Rhino. Flames billowed out from shattered bridge windows, armored space suits spewed from ruptured ports, and the whole battleship ballooned with the force of Matt’s blow.
His arm popped out of the port, gleaming with melted steel. Matt tucked into his legs, then fired out another Fusion Handshake at just the right moment to drive himself back toward Mecha Base.
The scaffolding supporting the armor came up fast. Matt caught it and stopped himself in time to watch Soto and Michelle clean up the remaining men in armored space suits.
When they were done, the three stood under the shattered Hellion dock door. Men inside were setting up heavy weapons, preparing for additional attempts to board. Toward the maelstrom, the battle still raged between Mecha and Rayder’s forces.
“Want to finish this?” Matt asked Michelle and Soto.
“One neat stunt, and the cadet gets a big head,” Soto said, but his voice was full of admiration.
“It probably won’t work against a Displacement Drive ship,” Michelle said.
“No. But a Demon will.”
Dead silence from the comms for a beat.
“You’re proposing—,” Soto began.
“We go get the Demons. The dock’s only a kilometer or so away.”
“We don’t have Flight Packs!” Soto said.
“It’d take an hour to shuffle over the surface.”
“One jump will do it,” Matt said.
“And you expect to come down?”
Matt studied the Hellion’s gravimetric readouts. He could do it. He had to do it.
“Roth will never go for it,” Michelle told him.
“We don’t need authorization. We need to finish this battle and win this war.”
“So, we die if we don’t try, and we might die tryin’,” Soto said, chuckling. “Sounds like the sort of day I joined Mecha Corps for.”
The three Hellions flew over the surface of Mecha Base in a long, flat trajectory. Barren rock spooled past underneath them as the asteroid fell away.
“What if we don’t come down?” Soto asked.
“We will!” Matt ground his teeth as his projected trajectory showed on the screen. They’d jumped off a little hot. Instead of hitting just before the dock, they’d pass over it and land on the far side.
Ahead, wan sunlight glinted off gleaming metal: the Demon dock. It wheeled toward them. Even from a distance, they could see the air lock was closed tight.
Soto muttered a long string of curses as they sailed over the dock. Soto rotated and deftly fired Seekers. Bright light erupted beneath them. The Demon Dock’s door went red and billowed outward into vacuum.
“Notify Dr. Roth. We regret to report misfire compromised the Demon dock integrity,” Soto said through the comms to Stoll. “Recommend pilots enter Demons to ensure they are not captured.”
Matt crawled till he was close enough to grab the rim of the air lock, and he flung himself in. The red-hot metal seared his hands, but he barely felt it. He was focused on the Demons standing ready on the steel grate.
Matt yanked his neural coupling and slammed on his helmet, simultaneously triggering the cockpit release. His cockpit unfolded, voiding its air with a screech. The helmet almost came out of his hands, and he felt the too-familiar tug of vacuum before he got it seated. He jumped out of the cockpit and looked back at Soto and Michelle. Major Soto was already out of his cockpit, wearing his own utility suit. Matt waved him over. The utility suits had no comms, and were good for only a few minutes of air, but they’d have to do.
Michelle’s cockpit was still closed. Matt waved at her frantically, trying to pantomime opening the cockpit. Nothing happened as the seconds ticked away.
Shit.
Maybe her release was damaged in the fight. Or maybe she didn’t have her utility suit on? Matt jumped off toward Michelle’s Hellion. When he reached it, he hesitated at the external emergency release. If she was trapped in the Hellion, she would be screaming for him to open her cockpit, but he wasn’t sure if he would even be able to hear her through all the turbulence. And if she didn’t have her suit on, she’d be exposed to the vacuum of space if he opened the air lock. Matt knew from grim experience that humans could only withstand a few seconds in vacuum before losing consciousness, and more than a minute was usually fatal.
There wasn’t any choice. He had to take the chance. Matt triggered the emergency release.
The cockpit blew open with a blast of air, which crystallized into snow in the cold of space. Michelle sprang out of the cockpit, already wearing her utility suit. She offered Matt a smile, then pushed off toward the Demons. She had been locked in.
The three shot toward the Demons. The dock was deserted, but frantic Auxiliaries loomed outside the viewing windows.
No going back now, Matt thought. It was almost a relief. They were committed. Whatever happened after they got into the Demons would determine their fate.
A chime sounded, and a warning flashed in Matt’s utility suit: AIR 0:59 REMAINING. As he watched, it counted down to 0:58.
It would take that long to fly across the dock. He’d be sucking stale air when he arrived at the Demons. Better hope there wasn’t any problem getting inside.
Matt’s warning chime sounded as he drew near the Demon. The soft hiss of the recycler stopped. There was no immediate change in his air, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before he breathed nothing but carbon dioxide.
Matt dove for the safety of the Demon’s interior. He tore off his helmet, plugged into the neural connector, snugged on the mask. Magnetorheological gel flooded the chamber. His utility suit gave a tiny little gasp and died when the fluid reached its neck. Matt waited impatiently as the fluid ran over his face, into his hair, past the top of his head.
Matt’s mask lit and his suit went active. Matt’s heart soared with the thrill of Mesh.
“Michelle?” Matt asked.
“I’m in,” she said. “Meshing.”
Matt grinned. It was almost as if he could see the future. They weren’t going to die in their Demons today. They wouldn’t end their time in the core of a collapsing planet. They were meant for the Demons. The three of them. They’d do it.
Mesh high, Matt told himself.
But he knew it wasn’t just that.
“Let’s go!” he yelled.
The three Demons blasted into the theater of battle.
The Hellions close to Mecha Base were being pressed hard by Rayder’s fast-moving battleships. Farther off, only a single Displacement Drive ship remained: the armored Atlas.
That’s where Rayder is, Matt thought. He thrust forward as Michelle and Soto joined him.
They shot through the Hellion front line. Missiles flashed from the battleships, flicker-fast, to strike the Demons. Matt groaned and Soto and Michelle rocked back with the force of the explosions. Hellions surged forward through the parting the three had created, landing on the Rhinos and Hedgehogs and clawing at their bridges. Atmosphere voided from a handful of battleships as they tumbled out of control.
More fire converged on the Demons as Rayder’s battleships gathered like a flock of metallic vultures around the giant Mecha. Matt raised an arm to protect his sensor array and unleashed Seekers at a dozen ships. Eruptions of gas and sparks flared as ships were directly hit.
But the battleships kept coming. More missiles flared on his backside, bringing more acid-dipped pain. A warning flashed on Matt’s screen:
THRUSTER ARRAY 3 REGENERATING.
His forward momentum slowed. He thrust out toward the churning maelstrom, where the battleships dared not go.
Michelle screamed.
“What’s wrong?” Matt yelled, turning around.
“Lost visuals! Sensors!” She cried out as a heavy crunch reverberated through the comms.
Matt reversed course and dived down toward the melee, where Soto grappled with a huge Rhino-class battleship and Michelle was enveloped by blasts. His Demon was sluggish, its regeneration counter dutifully counting down the seconds to full thrust: 9, 8, 7—
A Hedgehog heavy cruiser, deadly and sleek, accelerated toward Michelle. Its forward cannon crackled with energy, ready to fire.
Matt pushed harder. A dozen red tags flared in his POV as his remaining thruster went past its rated power. Through the interface suit, he felt the thruster begin to soften and deform as the metal glowed orange hot.
But he leapt forward just enough to catch Michelle before the Hedgehog fired. Its plasma bolt cut a clean line behind him, dispatching a handful of cruisers and battleships instantly.
“What’s happening?” Michelle yelled. Through the Demon, he was able to feel her angry thoughts: Asshole! Why’s he doing this? I don’t need help! She had no idea how close she’d come to being annihilated.
“Sorry,” Matt said.
“I had it!” But sudden doubt flowed through their neural connection. She was seeing the battle from Matt’s point of view. Matt felt her stomach turn over queasily. She shoved out of his Demon’s embrace.
Soto zoomed up into the maelstrom to join them. “Thank the man, Cadet Kind,” he said.
Plasma beams lanced at the Demons from the battlefield, striking Soto a glancing blow. He grunted as he spun in place, then caught his spin with his thrusters. He tensed to make a leap down into the battle.
“No! G
o after the Atlas!” Matt yelled. “Rayder’s there!”
“Yeah,” Major Soto breathed, his voice fuzzy with Mesh high.
Something whizzed past Matt, dark and fast. Major Soto’s Demon was suddenly not there. A choked scream came over the comms. Matt had a glimpse of something moving away from them, very fast, down into the mud.
“Major!” Matt yelled.
Another dark thing passed by Matt, close enough for him to feel its heat as it passed. His screens showed the trajectory: it was coming from the Atlas.
“Heavy-matter gun!” Sergeant Stoll yelled. “Disperse!”
Matt and Michelle thrust hard in opposite directions, as Soto’s pained voice came through the comms. “Fuck me!” he said.
“Are you all right, sir?” Matt said.
“Regeneration in fifty-six seconds. Thrusters unreliable. Can someone pick me up before I get crushed by one of these asteroids?”
“Coming, sir,” Michelle said, and jetted down toward the core of the protoplanet.
Beneath him, the battle between Rayder’s battleships and Mecha Base’s Hellions suddenly convulsed, twisting into fantastic new shapes. Dark lines cut through the fray toward Mecha Base. Battleships and Hellions vaporized, spewing orange flame through the field of white-hot explosions. Gray flowers of dust, rock, and steel erupted from Mecha Base, rocking the gigantic asteroid.
On-screen, tags showed heavy-matter fire from the Atlas slicing through the battle and striking Mecha Base. Rayder was firing through his own men.
More heavy-matter fire sliced through the battlefield, impacting on the Helios. The giant ship canted and veered to one side, grinding against the side of Mecha Base in a soundless cataclysm.
Captain Cruz’s bridge blew inward in a blue-white beam of a fusion cannon.
“Cadet Lowell, fall back with Hellions and support Mecha Base!” Sergeant Stoll yelled.
No. That’s wrong. The Hellions were making short work of Rayder’s remaining battleships, now that he’d decided to sacrifice them with a direct assault. The problem was the Atlas. It’s heavy-matter gun was pounding everything to ruin.
