He rolled into the hatch and pulled the corresponding internal level to shut it. The dial flashed red as it counted the last ten seconds down. As soon as the hatch sealed the hissing sound of air filled the internal chamber, Jako held his breath as the dial flatlined. A green light illuminated the chamber, showing the oxygen was at safe levels. Jako scrambled at the helmets latch and threw it off, taking a deep breath of pure, recycled oxygen as his head began to swim.
He made his way further into the ship, getting used to the gravity on his bones again.
“Lyla?” he asked over comms, but got no answer.
Moving to the bridge, he could hear voices, and none of them he recognised. Glancing inside he could see Cuatro and Tres. Before he could decide what to do, a voice shouted over their own comms, loud enough for Jako to hear the voice but not the words. The two Jackals looked at each other, then turned and ran out of the bridge.
Jako ducked back to avoid being seen, before stepping into the bridge. Whatever had spooked the Jackals had been good luck for him. He moved to the radar, hoping to find the others; the screen lit up so bright he had to squint for a moment, hundred of ships began to appear.
Impossible, if there were that many ships in the area I’d be able to see them…
His own thoughts stopped as he looked up and out of the large viewscreen in front of him. Filling the entire view was the incoming Solar Assembly Fleet, Lyla’s message had got through. Within seconds the fireworks started, as the two fleets began to start the largest space combat the galaxy had ever witnessed.
*
Lyla edged her way through the dim corridor. The Dreadnaught was quiet; she was used to the constant rumbles and creaking of metal of the StarQuake. It put her on edge, as she realised how comforting the background noise made her. Looking around she could see pipe work and cables hanging from the ceiling, the Dreadnaught wasn’t built for aesthetics, something she could use to her advantage. She followed the pipework for several minutes, moving deeper into the ship's heart. As she moved further, a door slid open as she approached it. Inside she could make out what she could only imagine was the engine room, just as she’d hoped.
Inside there was a single man working with his back to her, Lyla assumed it was a Jackal, though he didn’t appear to be wearing a helmet. She approached, keeping her footsteps light and slow.
Stepping up behind the man she flung her arm around his throat, blocking his windpipe. Using her other arm, she tightened the lock, keeping the pressure on. A moment later the man was unconscious. Lyla let him fall to the floor, turning him face up and seeing his face for the first time. It was a young man, not what she’d expected a Jackal to look like. She was sure he looked familiar.
She didn’t have time to think; she didn’t know how long it would be before more Jackals arrived. Accessing the panels on the console, she began to alter the system. Increasing the power output, while decreasing the auto-locks of the overload preventions. In theory, when the ship powered up, it would overload the entire engine and cause it to have to discharge the energy in a violent internal eruption, something she’d learnt from Vittoria.
Once complete, she turned to head back to the StarQuake, when she looked down at the boy on the floor. He was definitely familiar, the sounds of footsteps in the corridor snapped her attention back to present.
The Jackals had returned to the ship.
39
Tanner was starring at the blue and white generators below them, wondering what to do next.
They needed to act, regardless of the information the Prime Leader had told them regarding the Endlings, their job was still to prevent the Omega energy from getting into the wrong hands.
A quick nod from Tanner, had told Tylr all they needed to know, and Vittoria would follow once they began. Stood on the gangway, they had two Elites behind them, the Prime Leader and Shai further back, with the Dos at the controls for the engine.
Tylr spun on the spot, ducking and throwing themselves forward at the closest Elite. Their body colliding with his knees, which buckled from the impact. At the same moment, Tanner took a quick step towards the other Elite, throwing his arm over her raising gun arm. Locking the arm at the wrist, pinned between his bicep and side, Tanner bent the arm with a sharp twist. The rifle scattered to the ground, where Vittoria dived and retrieved it.
Standing up, Vittoria had the gun trained on the Prime Leader, a move which caused the Elites to freeze.
“Anyone so much as breaths funny, he gets one in the eyeball,” she shouted.
The Elites held their hands up in surrender, the Prime Leader however looked bored.
“Really? After what you’ve just discovered, you’re still ready to be the lap dogs?”
“Let them have their fun,” Shai said, sweeping her long blue hair from her face.
“Turn the generators off,” Tanner demanded.
“Why? Why would we do that?” Shai asked, taking a step from behind the console and towards them.
“If you don’t, then we will shoot,” Tanner replied.
“Then shoot, we aren’t afraid,” Shai continued to take steps towards the three Coyotes.
A shot rang out.
Vittoria had fired, the bullet flew straight into Shai’s forehead. The impact causing her head to flick backwards and stretch her neck. The Elites pounced into action, throwing their weapons up.
“Dack! We need assistance down here NOW,” Vittoria shouted, taking a few potshots at the Elites.
“Hold your fire!” Shai shouted, her head moving forwards to return to its normal position, “You’ll damage the damn reactors before they're stable!”
Her forehead still bore the mark of the shot Vittoria had fired, only it seemed to shimmer slightly, like the ripples of a lake after someone had dropped a pebble in it.
“You don’t understand the powers you’re dealing with here,” she said, stepping up to Vittoria. None of the Coyotes’ moved, the shock of what they just witnessed causing them to hesitate.
Shai took the gun from Vittoria, she offered no resistance.
Beneath them, the generator began to roar into life, two massive orbs of fluctuating energy growing around each coil.
“Sir, Madam,” Dos spoke, “we have a situation.”
Hitting a button, a large holographic viewer appeared in the air. It was a thin layer of light emanating from a single source, but its image was displayed in full, at infinite angles, meaning everyone looking at the light saw the image from their perspective.
On the screen, the space outside the ship was visible, the large Syndicate Fleet was clashing with the Solar Assembly Forces. Each comprising of multiple freighters, fighters and Destroyers, including the Revenant.
The Coyotes scanned the screen for the StarQuake, or the Bullet Rose, hoping to see them intact. They couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the StarQuake was in the middle of all the fighting.
“Is the Omega at full power?” Shai asked, examining the viewer.
“Yes Ma’am, we are collating the information on its structure now,” Dos replied.
“Excellent, aim the Axions main weapons, and fire at the SA Fleet.”
“Which weapon?” Dos enquired.
“All of them,” Shai smiled.
Dos took a few moments; he was still getting acquainted with the technology.
“Firing in three, two, one…” he announced, once he’d calibrated the system.
The generators below them rumbled twice as loud, before the orbs reduced in size from a giant field of energy, to nothing more than a golf ball for half a second. As they reduced several beams of light appeared on the viewfinder. The light travelled the distance to the battle within moments, appearing to hit several ships, before the light faded. It took several seconds for the impact to become visible. Massive fire clouds began to form at each impact site. From the distance they looked like small explosions, which slowly grew until they covered most of the area the Assembly fleet had been.
“Direct hit, approximately fift
y-six ships destroyed,” Dos announced.
“No! You fucking murderers!!” Vittoria screamed.
“Shut her up, or I will,” Shai spoke to Tanner. “Get the generators up to power, and fire again when ready. Do we have all the data we need?”
“Yes Ma’am, the schematics are uploaded,” Dos answered.
“Why exactly do you want us here?” Tanner asked, regretting the comment as soon as he said it.
“To bear witness to the new age,” Shai replied, “and, give you the opportunity to join us.”
“Join us?” the Prime Leader shouted in shock.
“Yes, the Coyotes have always played by their own terms, they have no real allegiance to the Solar Assembly. Also, without them we wouldn’t have located the vessel.”
“I disagree, their allegiance has always been…”
“Enough!” Shai shouted, the others in the room thought the sound of distant thunder was masked in her tone.
The Prime Leader bowed his head and said no more.
“Well, what is it to be?”
Tanner looked at the others, he saw the look of anger at what they had just witnessed in their eyes.
“I think we will have to decline,” he said.
“Very well,” Shai shrugged, turning her back on them, “kill them.”
The Elites raised their guns at the trio.
An explosion from the far end of the walkway stopped the Jackals before they fired. Dack stood at the entrance to the engine room, holding an Ion rifle.
“Drop them, or I’ll take this whole ship out,” Dack shouted, aiming the gun at the generators.
“Don’t be a fool, you’ll kill us all!” the Prime Leader shouted.
“Better dead than serving under the Syndicate.”
Shai sighed, and looked over the Tanner, Vittoria and Tylr, thrusting a palm out, a bolt of water flew from her hand and hit them with the power of a bullet. They were thrown against the railings of the gangway. Another blast and the metal gave way, the three of them fell over the side, clutching to the edge of the grating.
“Drop the weapon, or your friends will die,” Shai shouted to Dack, her hand raised.
Vittoria and Tylr had almost climbed back up to the platform.
Tanner glanced down, seeing the two generators building up, he thought about what to do next.
“Dack,” he shouted, “keep an eye on the team for me.”
Tanner swung his legs and let go of the platform.
He was aware of the screams from the others as he began to fall. There was no other way, if the generators were as unstable as Shai was making out, then any interference would be enough to stop them from activating. Shai was too powerful for them to stop in a close quarters fight, even without the Elites as her back-up. Tanner could taken the generators out of the equation. Without them, there would be no need for Shai to hurt the others.
There’s a whole universe out there, Tanner thought as he felt the crackle of electricity flicker across his back. Maybe I’ll see it one day.
Tanner’s body fell into the white energy of the Omega Drive. The sparks of power running over his body, his skin blistering from the heat, before engulfing it completely. A moment later, the ball of energy expanded twice its size, then imploded. The Engine threw fragments out, which scattered across the room.
“The Omega generator is disabled, and the Alpha Generator is overheating without its counter point. They will go critical within the next few minutes,” Dos announced.
“We have what we need, let us leave,” Shai answered.
The Prime Leader, Shai, Dos, and the Elites moved quickly, and left the room, with barely a look at the others. Time was the commodity they didn’t want to waste. The Coyote’s took a moment, still processing what had happened. It was Tylr that moved first, grabbing Vittoria who was still looking over the walkway where Tanner’s body had fallen.
Passing Dack, Tylr pulled his arm.
“We need to get out of here Dack, or it will have been for nothing,” they said, staring him in the eye.
He snapped out of his thoughts and nodded.
“Let’s go.”
The Bullet Rose left the hanger with the three of them on board, they hadn’t crossed paths with the Syndicate on their way. Seconds after leaving the hanger, they felt ripples of energy shake the ship, then a flash of light behind them. The Axiom had been destroyed, and Tanner along with it.
Ahead of them, the lights of battle were illuminating the skies. What remained of the Solar Assembly were still fighting the Syndicate fleet, though their numbers were depleted.
The Bullet Rose headed towards the battle.
40
Lyla scanned the engine room, looking for some alternate exit. Suddenly, a hand landed on her shoulder, spinning to meet the attack, she raised her fist ready to retaliate.
The scared face of the boy started back at her, still gathering his senses from her chokehold. Lyla looked closer at him. The boy smiled at her, then pointed to his side, lifting his shirt to reveal a large scar of burnt skin.
“You were the boy soldier on Ganymede?” She asked.
The boy nodded.
“You’re a Jackal?”
The boy shook his head, then his mouth turned to a frown. Pulling the collar of his shirt down, he showed Lyla the cut across his throat, showing where his vocal chords were severed. Then raised his wrists, holding them together, Lyla understood he was a prisoner.
“What the hell happened to you?” She asked.
The boy shook his head, pointing at the door.
“You’re right, no time. We need to get out of here. Do you know the way to the spike they used to board our ship? We need to get back there, fast.” Lyla was acutely aware that if the Jackals returned and started the ship with them still on board, they’d all be dead.
The boy nodded, and grabbed Lyla’s hand, dragging her in a different direction to the one she had come from. As they ran, she could tell they had taken a large circle, and doubled back on the path. Before long they were at the boarding point, having avoided the returning Jackals.
“Ok, we need to get back aboard my ship, and then we’ll work out where you want to go ok?” Lyla said to the boy. He stopped for a moment, emotion in his eyes, then wrapped his arms around Lyla, she held him for a second before pushing him back. They still weren’t clear yet.
Climbing through the boarding hatch, they returned to the StarQuake, Lyla checked the bulkhead doors were sealed on either side of the area, when the Dreadnaught departed the Jackals didn’t care for the damage and loss of pressure it would cause the ship. It would just leave a gaping hole, exposed to the vacuum of space. Once Lyla had checked one of the doors was dropped and sealed she moved through to the other, then dropped it. The area was closed off; she hoped the StarQuake was intact enough that the damage would be minimal.
“Lyla?” A voice came over her comms, it was Jako.
“Jako!” She shouted, the boy jumping at the sound.
“Lyla, thank god, I thought you were, erm, well, dead.”
“Not yet Jako, I could say the same about you! The Jackals are retreating, any ideas why?”
“Oh yeah, there’s a hell of a lot going on out there, get to the bridge ASAP,” he replied.
“On my way, oh and I have a stowaway with me, I’ll explain later.”
*
On the Bridge, Jako was trying to locate a safe route through the battle, the StarQuake was in no shape to take part, and they had more than done their part in the battle. A blue dot appeared on the radar he was examining. The calibration had set the Assembly to green, Syndicate to red, the blue dots meant friendly, one of their own. It was the Bullet Rose.
“StarQuake to Bullet Rose, do you, erm, copy?” He asked.
“Jako!!! We’re coming in hot, avoiding as much fire as possible, open hanger three now! It will be a hard landing!” Dack screamed over the comms.
Jako shook his head in disbelief, he’d seen the asteroid-ship the others ha
d been on explode into ash moments earlier. Instantly he flicked a switch to trigger the hanger doors, and watched as the Bullet Rose flew at dangerous speeds towards them.
The Bullet Rose crashed into the hanger at full speed, skidding across the hard surface, and coming to a halt at an ungodly angle.
“We’re in, get us out of here!” Dack shouted.
“We have a, erm, situation,” Jako replied, “The Jackal Dreadnaught is still impaled on the hull.”
“Give it a minute,” Lyla shouted back. As if on cue the Dreadnaught began its detachment from the StarQuake.
Then engines of the Dreadnaught roared into life, and began its reverse thrust, pulling it away from the hull. A second later, the work Lyla had done payed off. It began in the engine fuel sector, as the engines engaged, the output was higher than the safeties allowed, then the overheating began to take effect. Within moments the entire fuel supply of the Dreadnaught ignited, causing a fireball to consume the entire ship.
On the StarQuake, the explosion rocked the ship, due to the proximity of the Dreadnaught. The fireball expanded in to the sealed areas of the impaling site, whilst sealed, the damage the ship had already taken meant the explosion cracked through the seals.
“Oh shit,” Jako exclaimed, as Vittoria, Lyla, Dack, Tylr, along with Lyla’s stowaway all piled into the bridge.
“Talk to me Jako,” Dack said, throwing himself into a seat on the bridge and accessing the controls.
“The StarQuake is, erm, dying Dack,” Jako replied, digitally throwing the diagnostic stats to his console.
“Jesus, multiple hull breaches, engine room included. Vit can you do anything to stem the leaks we have from the Ion core?”
“Not much, I can vent as much as I can, but it looks like the core has been compromised so any venting will only be a temporary measure.”
“Do it, it could buy us some time,” Dack replied.
“Where’s Tanner?” Lyla asked, looking around the bridge.
Tylr stepped up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“He didn’t make it,” they said, loud enough for Jako to hear.
“What… what do you mean?”
The Omega Drive Page 14
