by Ryk Brown
The satisfaction was short-lived.
“Jump flashes!” Lieutenant Cahnis reported from the sensor station. “Three contacts! The battleship and the cruisers! They’re launching missiles! More flashes! Oh, my God! Jump missiles! Dozens of them!”
“Helm! Snap jump! Now! Now! Now!”
Pale-blue waves of energy poured out of the Avendahl’s jump field emitters. In the blink of an eye, the energy spread across her hull, joining with the other expanding pools of energy. In a fraction of a second, the Avendahl’s entire hull was covered with the jump field, its pale-blue light hugging the ship’s surface. Once formed, the blue field grew in its intensity, building rapidly toward a brilliant white as the ship began its jump.
But the process was interrupted, as several dozen enemy jump missiles appeared only a few hundred meters away from the Avendahl, behind their own flashes of blue-white light. The missiles slammed into the Avendahl’s hull and detonated. Brilliant flashes of yellow, followed by orange and black clouds of fire and debris, ended the once-proud capital ship owned by the last truly noble house of Takara. The blue-white glow instantly disappeared behind the detonations. The orange and black clouds of fire died away in seconds, as whatever oxidizers had fed them were quickly consumed. Large sections of the hull scattered off in all directions, followed by sections of the mighty ship’s interior, as well as her crew. In only a few seconds, several thousand men, who had spent the last seven years standing guard over the people of the Darvano and Savoy systems, lost their lives.
Corinair had lost its freedom once again.
“Oh, my God!” Deliza exclaimed as she stared at the shuttle’s sensor screen in disbelief.
“What?” Loki wondered, turning his head toward the screen as well.
“The icon for the Avendahl…”
Loki looked at the sensor screen. The blue triangle that represented the Avendahl had changed to a circular field of blue dots, and the diameter of that field was growing.
“Is it…?” Deliza couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
Loki did not reply. “Avendahl, Avendahl,” he began after keying his mic. “This is Ranni One. Do you copy?” Loki paused for a moment, waiting for a response before continuing. “Avendahl, Avendahl. This is Ranni One. We’ve lost your track. Do you copy?” Loki closed his eyes. His mind was racing. He keyed his mic again. “Avendahl Rescue shuttle inbound to Ranni Enterprises. This is Ranni One. Do you copy?” Loki sighed. “This is Ranni One. Does anyone copy?”
“Ranni One, Jaker Two Seven!” The caller’s voice was frantic and stressed. Loki could hear the familiar sound of a weapons lock warning alarm in the background, along with the sound of engines screaming at full power. “Rescue One Five is down!”
“Jaker Two Seven, Ranni One,” Loki replied urgently. “Did Rescue One Five make their evac?”
“Negative! Nega…” the transmission was cut short by the screech of a jump flash, another familiar sound to Loki after spending two years in the backseat of a Falcon jump interceptor. “…need to get the hell out of here!” the fighter pilot continued. “The Avendahl is gone, and there are enemy fighters all over the fucking place!”
Loki heard the sound of the Takaran fighter’s plasma cannons in the background. “Jaker Two Seven, Ranni One. Who are they? Who is attacking Corinair?”
“It’s the fucking Ju…”
Loki looked at Deliza. Both their mouths were hanging open, and their eyes wide. “Jaker Two Seven! Did you say the attackers are Jung?” Loki waited for a moment, but got no response. “Jaker Two Seven, Ranni One! Do you copy?”
“Ranni One, Jaker Four Five! Two Seven is down! Strongly suggest you leave the system! Corinair is lost!”
“Jaker Four Five, Glendanon,” an older, male voice responded. The transmission was garbled, with lots of static. “How many friendlies do you have left?”
“Glendanon, Jaker Four Five! Maybe twenty or thirty! But there’s fucking hundreds of bandits! They’re jumping us in packs of six or eight! We can’t…”
“Glendanon to all Avendahl fighters. The Avendahl is down. I say again, the Avendahl is destroyed. Corinair has fallen. Takara has fallen…”
Loki felt a cold shiver go down his spine. He glanced at Deliza. Tears were streaking down her cheeks. He looked over his shoulder at Biarra. She was sitting in her seat, staring forward at him, dumbfounded and terrified.
“…Suggest all Avendahl fighters rendezvous with us at position two five seven by one eight two, Corinair relative. We have room to recover all of you. But make it quick, it won’t take long for the Jung to figure out where you’re going. And my finger is on the jump button, gentlemen.”
“Jaker One Eight to all Jakers!” another pilot called. “Rendezvous with the Glendanon now, or get left behind!”
“Ranni One, Glendanon. Is Deliza onboard?”
“Glendanon, Ranni One, affirmative.”
“Then I suggest you jump the hell out of here, immediately, Loki.”
“Negative,” Loki replied. “We have people on the surface. We’re going after them.” Loki looked at Deliza. “Right?”
“Damn right,” Deliza replied.
“Ranni One, Jaker One Eight! You’ll never even get close! Aitkenna is crawling with Jung! In the air and on the ground!”
“Jaker One Eight, thanks,” Loki replied, “but we’ve got to try.”
“Ranni One, Jaker Three Five! A few of us can cover you. Just let us know where you’ll be jumping in at.”
“Negative,” Loki insisted. “Get to the Glendanon. We can handle it ourselves.”
“It’s a suicide run!”
“I’ll keep my finger on the escape jump trigger at all times,” Loki assured him, using lingo he was sure the other pilot would understand.
“Good luck, then. Three Five, jumping to rally point.”
Loki concentrated a moment, as fighter after fighter reported that they were jumping out of the skies of Corinair to rendezvous with the nearby cargo ship. The jump fighters had extremely limited amounts of jump energy stored on board, and once it was depleted, they would be easy targets for Jung fighters. The Glendanon was their last hope of survival, now that the Avendahl was gone and the Darvano system was about to fall to the Jung.
Loki took a deep breath, changed communication frequencies, and keyed his comm-set mic again. “Ranni Base, Ranni One. Do you copy?”
The streets of Aitkenna were thrown into a panic. Jung fighters streaked low over the buildings, and Troop ships were landing in the larger intersections. Corinairans were running in all directions. They all had one common goal: to escape.
Doran led Yanni, Lael and her baby, and Doctors Sato and Megel, quickly down the sides of the buildings and away from the city center. The security chief, ex-Alliance master chief, and ex-Corinari knew that the initial invasion would focus on the government and financial districts of the city, as well as the spaceport and major infrastructure sites. The residential areas should be the safest place at the moment. But he didn’t know how long it would last.
They turned the corner and found themselves face-to-face with a squad of four Jung soldiers, each of them clad in black body armor trimmed in crimson and gold.
“Halt!” one of the soldiers commanded, raising his weapon to fire at the sight of Doran and the two security officers carrying energy pistols.
Doran opened fire without hesitation, dropping one of the Jung soldiers with a well-placed series of shots across his chest, tearing into the seam under the soldier’s right arm. As his two officers also opened fire, Doran dropped to his left knee, continuing to fire, then rolled to his left to get out of the immediate firing line. After a single roll, he came up to one knee again, still firing. The last Jung soldier took an energy bolt to his knee, melting the kneecap armor and severing his leg in a sickening sizzle of flesh and bone. The soldier fell to the street, screaming in pain.
Red bolts of energy burst from the fallen soldier’s weapon and streaked past Doran’s hea
d, slamming into the building behind him. Doran fired three more times, finally finding an opening just below the soldier’s faceplate. The shot burned a hole in the soldier’s neck, spewing blood onto the ground. The soldier fell onto his back, grasping at his neck as he quickly bled out.
“Doran!” Michi yelled from behind.
Doran turned his head, spotting the Nifelmian doctor kneeling beside one of his wounded security guards. Doran scrambled back to his feet and ran over to them. He looked over at Michi’s partner, Doctor Megel, who was kneeling next to the body of his other officer. Doctor Megel looked at Doran and shook his head.
Doran looked back and Doctor Sato. “How bad?”
The wounded officer spoke first. “I can… I can…” He swallowed hard, trying to breathe through the pain. There was an open wound in his abdomen, the edges of which were still smoldering, and his left arm was severed just below the elbow. “Give me… my weapon. I can… still…”
Doran watched the young man take his last breath, then reached down and picked up the dead officer’s energy pistol from the pavement. “Take this,” he told Doctor Sato as he handed her the weapon. “Shoot anyone dressed in black and red.”
“I’ve never…”
“Just point and shoot,” Doran instructed, “and don’t stop until the person you’re shooting is dead.” He turned to Doctor Megel. “Turi, take that man’s weapon, and do the same. Understood?”
Doctor Megel nodded, then pulled the energy pistol from the dead officer’s hand.
Doran turned toward Lael. “This one is yours. Use it if you must.”
“What are you going to use?” Lael asked.
“Theirs,” Doran replied, as he started walking across the street toward the dead Jung soldiers.
“Maybe I should take it?” Yanni suggested, noticing Lael’s trepidation at holding a weapon.
“You get one of these,” Doran said as he picked up the first Jung energy rifle and tossed it to Yanni.
Yanni caught the weapon, nearly dropping it in the process. It was lighter than it looked, with a folding stock and a long black barrel with a surprisingly large diameter. Yanni looked at the trigger mechanism, and the various dials and switches on the side of the weapon’s main body. The writing was familiar, however, he had never learned to read Jung. Not seven years ago, nor since.
Doran slung a Jung rifle over his shoulder and picked up two more before returning. “We need to keep moving. Someone will notice that these men are down, if they haven’t already.”
“I’m not sure if I know how to use this,” Yanni admitted.
Doran walked up to Yanni. “Hold it like this,” he explained, bringing his own rifle’s stock up against his shoulder. He took aim at one of the dead soldiers across the street, then pressed the firing button and held it for a few seconds. A series of red bolts of energy leapt from his barrel with a screeching zing. It sounded like the air was on fire. “Now you try.”
Yanni raised his rifle in similar fashion, took aim, and pressed the trigger, releasing it immediately. Three bolts of energy left his rifle’s barrel, slamming into one of the dead soldier’s bodies.
“Tap once for a single shot, hold down for one second for a triplet, or keep holding it down for continuous fire,” Doran explained. “But not for more than ten seconds straight. These things can get hot, fast.”
Yanni looked surprised. “How do you know all this?”
“Telles told me, a long time ago.” Doran handed him another rifle. “Sling this one over your shoulder, just in case.”
“Ranni Base, Ranni One,” Doran’s headset crackled.
“Sheehan! Is that you?”
“Loki!” Lael exclaimed.
“Chief!” Loki called over Doran’s comm-set. “Where are you? Are Lael and Ailsa with you?”
“Yes! They are with me! We’re at Brighton and Mickleson, just south of the Wesley Amphitheater! I’ve got Yanni, Sato, and Megel with me as well. There are Jung everywhere. The Avendahl sent a rescue shuttle, but it was shot down on approach. Are you in contact with the Avendahl?”
“The Avendahl is gone,” Loki replied solemnly.
“She jumped away?”
“No, she was destroyed! We’re coming to pick you up!”
“That ship won’t hold all of us!”
“The hell it won’t,” Loki said.
“It’s too dangerous,” Doran insisted, as more Jung fighters streaked overhead. “There are enemy fighters everywhere! They’ll tear you apart!”
“We weren’t asking your permission, Chief,” Deliza commented over the comm-set.
“Head for the amphitheater!” Loki instructed. “We’ll set down on the foreyard, in front of the east entrance, in three.”
“Shit,” Doran muttered. “Copy that.” He looked at Yanni. “Your wife is one stubborn young lady, you know that.”
“Tell me about it,” Yanni replied with a sigh.
Doran took a deep breath. “All right then. Everyone, stay tight on my six, stay against the buildings, move quickly, and never stay out in the open for more than a few seconds, if at all. If anything looks like a threat, shoot it. Understood?” Doran scanned their faces. They were not the most confident-looking bunch. He closed his eyes a moment and sighed. “Remind me to ask your wife for a raise later,” he said as he turned and headed down the street.
“How are we going to fit six people back there?” Deliza asked.
“We don’t have to,” Loki told her, as he punched in the first jump coordinates. “If I know Doran, he’s not planning on going. He won’t leave his family behind.”
“That still leaves five people, for three seats.”
“Lael in one holding Ailsa, Sato and Megel in the other two. Yanni can sit on the floor.”
“Can this ship get that many people off the ground?”
“If it can take six people with full fuel and luggage, it can take seven and a baby, with…” Loki glanced at his propellant indicators. “Shit.”
“What is it now?”
“We’re down to twenty-three percent.”
“Twenty-three percent of what? Propellant?” Deliza’s expression turned fearful. “Is that going to be enough?”
“We’re only going to get one chance at this,” Loki warned, “if we still want to have enough fuel left to land somewhere safe.” Loki activated the jump sequencer. “Hold on, we jump in five…”
Doran took aim with his Jung energy rifle and pressed the trigger. A bolt of red energy streaked from his barrel, blasting through one of the amphitheater’s gates, blowing it apart. “Through here,” he instructed the others. “Watch the edges. They’re still hot.”
Yanni helped Lael through the opening in the twisted metal gate, steadying her to make sure that neither she, nor the infant she was carrying, came close to the still-glowing ends of the sheared metal. “Michi,” he called, after Lael was safely through.
Doctor Sato was next through the gate, stepping through carefully, then followed by Doctor Megel, Yanni, and finally Chief Montrose.
“Doran, we’re about to jump in!” Loki called over Doran’s comm-set. “Are you at the amphitheater?”
“Yes!” Doran replied. “We’re entering the foregrounds now!”
“Is the landing zone secure?”
“There’s no ground forces following us, if that’s what you mean.”
“Ranni One, Jaker Six!” another voice called. “Ground troops moving toward the amphitheater!”
“Giortone, is that you?” Loki asked.
“Affirmative!” Lieutenant Giortone replied over comms. “Riordan and Masa are with me!”
“You were supposed to bug out to the Glendanon!” Loki said in surprise.
“If the daughter of Casimir Ta’Akar is going to put herself in harm’s way, then we’re going to cover her!”
“How many, and how far?” Loki asked as he punched the next jump coordinates into the shuttle’s jump-nav computer.
“Three groups, maybe twenty me
n total!” Lieutenant Giortone replied. “Two minutes, max!”
“You copy that, Doran?”
“Copy that. We’re ready here. Suggest you jump in right on top of us.”
“I can’t do that,” Loki insisted. “The shape of that amphitheater will concentrate the shock wave and would most likely kill you. I’ll jump in outside the amphitheater, then slide in overhead and set down. I suggest you find cover, because there’s going to be a lot of thrust wash.”
“Get behind to the sides, behind the concession counters,” Doran instructed, pointing to the long counters along the edges of the grassy foregrounds.
“Suggest you jump in low, over Brighton between Andowl and Forrester. Might slow some of them down a bit,” Lieutenant Giortone told Loki over the comms.
“Copy that,” Loki replied. “Jumping in five seconds.”
Chief Montrose moved in beside Yanni, Lael, and baby Ailsa, crouching down behind the concession counter. He helped to shield the infant in her mother’s arms from the upcoming thrust wash.
“We’ll be there in ten!” Lieutenant Giortone added.
“Be ready on that hatch!” Loki called to Biarra in the back of the shuttle.
The cockpit windows turned opaque for a moment, as the shuttle jumped from high orbit over Corinair, down to the city of Aitkenna below. When the windows cleared a second later, the view of the planet was replaced with the view of the tops of buildings rushing toward them.
Loki pushed the lift thruster throttles full forward. All four engines screamed at full power, as they fought against the sudden effects of the planet’s gravity trying to pull them to their deaths. Despite their modest inertial dampening systems, the shuttle shook violently from both the sudden resistance of the atmosphere, and the force of deceleration. It had been a long time since Loki jumped into any world’s atmosphere at such low altitudes. Such maneuvers were forbidden on inhabited worlds, and their tiny shuttle wasn’t designed for such stresses.
