Phoenix Reborn

by Joseph Mackay

  He climbed on the leg as he had done before and crawled into the cockpit. It felt familiar even in its virtual form. When before he felt at odds with the machine, trying to subconsciously make it move by anticipating motion, now it felt as if it were an extension of his own limbs.

  With Hati unlocked, Connor fired the thrusters and lifted off the beach into the sky, hovering next to Vertigo.

  “Good, kid. Now let’s have some fun,” Vertigo said over the open communication line.

  The larger vessel lifted into the sky and turned out over the water. It spread its large wings and soared down so that it was a few feet above the surf, flying swiftly.

  Connor leaned forward, letting his ship tilt until the last moment before firing his thrusters. He reached down as he flew, touching the water. He was amazed that the simulation allowed him to feel through the vessel’s hands like they were his own. He caught up to the larger ship quickly, and began flying circles around it.

  “You learn fast, Raptor. Ready to take it to the next level?” Vertigo asked, bringing his ship upright.

  Large cannons appeared on the shoulders of Vertigo’s ship and started firing at Hati. He dodged and spun around them easily enough until the larger vessel launched a dozen small missiles at him.

  Connor reached through his OMBI and unlocked armor for his right arm, chest, head, and a force barrier for good measure. He liked the idea of using personal unlocks that worked well for his ship too.

  He manifested a gun in the ship’s large hands, which appeared as a larger version of the 92fs that Connor used in the arena. He turned his ship in midair and began shooting at the targets that Vertigo launched at him. One by one they exploded until twelve missiles became six, then three.

  Connor hadn’t gotten the last three as they exploded harmlessly against his force field. He let go of his pistol and manifested the large ship version of the Dragunov sniper rifle and took aim at Vertigo’s ship, which was now several hundred yards away.

  He began firing a stream of bullets, which smacked into the larger vessel’s hull, causing it to take some damage before Vertigo put up his own armor and force field. Connor continued to fire as Vertigo angled his ship in Connor’s direction. When it got close enough, Connor let go of his sniper rifle and manifested a grenade and pulled the large pin.

  He counted as Vertigo came at him, and at the last moment threw the weapon forward as he launched himself into the air. The grenade exploded against Vertigo’s force field; the blast disorienting the older boy for a moment. He looked up just in time to see Connor’s ship diving downward onto his back.

  The smaller vessel’s arms punched out furiously in a barrage of heavy strikes that threatened to take down the larger ship’s armor. Not to be outdone, Vertigo rolled his ship so that his back was facing the water and dropped slightly. The force of the water pulled Hati off.

  As the larger ship slowed to turn back around, Connor’s ship burst upwards from the water, firing from his handgun once again. The large bullets ricocheted off the vessel’s heavy armor.

  “I’m impressed, kid. That little ship is pretty agile. But…” Vertigo said into the mic as he manifested a large chain gun.

  The gun began to burst out a barrage heavy bullets that rippled across the water and straight toward Connor. The younger boy dodged and flipped, trying to avoid the stream of fire until he could figure out a way to defeat it. A few of the shots would hit his force field and Connor knew that it wouldn’t last forever.

  Manifesting his fist weapon, Connor spun his ship into broad circles and flew toward Vertigo. As he picked up speed, he dropped below the water and hit his thrusters as hard as he could. Heavy gunfire was still cutting the water around him as he moved away from the deadly barrage, bursting out of the water just below Vertigo’s ship.

  He came up quickly, punching out hard at the larger ship, trying to grapple it so that it couldn’t pull him off. The two ships tussled, Vertigo taking heavy damage from Connor’s brutal assault. The chain gun dissipated and the larger vessel manifested a large sword.

  The two ships clashed hard, one driving heavy swings of a sword into his opponent, the other landing hit after hit into the body and head. It seemed like they would tear each other apart when the simulation suddenly ended.

  Connor was shocked when the helmet came off and he was looking at Specialist Larkin. Larkin was smiling down at him and clapped him on the shoulder.

  “Good job, kid!” Larkin said enthusiastically.

  “Not that good. He had way more weapons than I do,” Connor said, breathing heavily from the effort of the battle.

  “The simulation ended with a draw; you took him down too.” Larkin laughed.

  “I did? Sweet!” Connor said, smiling to himself, for the moment forgetting where he was and feeling like a kid again.

  ~ ~ ~

  For two weeks Connor lived under the ocean, practicing with his ship. Seven days after he had last seen daylight, he awoke early and noticed the date on his OMBI making him sad. July 28th, 2121. It was his mom’s birthday. For the last six years, he and William had gone to her grave and placed a bouquet of flowers down in her memory. Not sure of how to honor her this year, Connor asked Larkin for some red paint.

  On Hati’s arm, Connor did his best to paint the image of a Phoenix along with the date of her death. He missed a practice to finish it, but nobody bothered him.

  As the weeks went on, Connor and Austin always flew the same two ships and fought simulated battles against Gortha raiders and capital ships. Sometimes they would fight each other, always ending in a draw. Connor could tell Vertigo was getting frustrated by the battles ending that way, since he was clearly better trained and had far more weapons unlocked.

  Connor chalked it up to quick thinking and adaptability; having the more maneuverable ship gave him an advantage that he used as often as he could. Connor wished he could test himself in a training room with Omega on the Hati, since he was feeling pretty confident with it. He figured he could earn a ton of points to unlock the various weapons and upgrades, too. Sadly, he assumed since he was in a simulator and not in an Academy training room, he wouldn’t get the opportunity to train with the hologram.

  Vertigo had treated Connor pretty well during their training sessions, but he never saw the boy in person. He knew that Alex had been friends with the guy, so he figured he could trust him. Although, Alex had left him to die aboard a ruined Battle Frigate, which made Connor wonder if he was right or not.

  At the end of the second week of training, General Harruhama came to check on Connor’s progress.

  “How is he doing, Specialist?” he asked Larkin while Connor was still in the simulator.

  “He has excelled at every test we’ve given him. I think he might have been ready to fight the Gortha on the day he arrived here. He has fought Vertigo to a standstill in every match,” Larkin said with a smile on his face.

  “Well, they said he was a prodigy. I am glad that it wasn’t all talk.”

  “It really wasn’t. Give him a couple years and that ship,” he said, pointing to Hati, “and this kid will be the best pilot the UEDF has ever seen.”

  “We don’t have a couple of years; we have a couple of days. Is he ready now?”

  “I believe he is, yes.” Larkin’s response was confident.

  “Then end the simulation,” Harruhama said sternly.

  Connor felt the simulation end and pulled off the white helmet, turning on Larkin.

  “I had him right where I wanted him. I was just about to win!” Connor barked angrily.

  “Connor, we have received a report of a Gortha attack vessel coming through a slipstream to the Sol system. We are sending a response team that includes five Battle Frigates, you, and Vertigo,” Harruhama said, confirming what Vertigo had told him two weeks prior.

  “All that for one ship?” Connor asked doubtingly.

  “We don’t want to underestimate this enemy, Connor. They have proven to be more resourceful than we w
ould like.” Harruhama actually sounded scared to Connor.

  “Okay, well, I am ready for it whenever,” Connor said dismissively.

  Inwardly, Connor was congratulating himself on his excellent acting and fully planned to crush Harruhama the moment they let him back into Hati.

  Chapter 18

  A Trick of the Light

  As fate would have it, Harruhama left the base the night before the mission, leaving for an undisclosed location, before Connor had even woken up.

  When he asked Larkin about it, the man shrugged as a reply. Although he was frustrated, Connor knew he would get his chance at Harruhama again, just as soon as he dealt with these Gortha. Every simulation against Gortha ships had Connor and Vertigo winning the fight. They hadn’t faced anything that made him think there was anything that could beat him. He even thought that if he got the chance to fight Vertigo again, he would win.

  When he awoke the morning of his mission, he was feeling excited. He knew the power of ship he was about to get back, and was eager to feel it working for him consciously for once.

  Larkin was in the engineering dome when Connor walked in.

  “Hey, kid, you ready for your big mission?”

  “Yeah, piece of cake,” Connor said, yawning.

  “I have to remove your second inhibitor, so you can manifest weapons in real life. I really mean it, don’t shoot anybody!” Larkin warned.

  “I won’t, I won’t. You worry too much, Larkin,” Connor quipped, smiling at the idea of holding real weapons instead of simulated ones.

  Connor sat in the chair where Larkin had removed his first inhibitor as the man gathered his tools.

  “What do the other two do?” Connor asked him as he began removing the cover plate.

  “The third is designed to keep the data transfer between your brain and the OMBI one way, so you can command it without it trying to influence you. The fourth is the inhibitor designed to allow the UEDF access to your information and controls the point system,” Larkin explained as he removed the cover plate.

  “Wait, why don’t you just take them all out then?” Connor asked seriously.

  “Because without the third one, your brain could fry, and without the fourth, the UEDF wouldn’t be able to tell if you were ready for combat.”

  Connor began to feel the familiar waves of nausea as Larkin removed the second inhibitor. It was slightly different from the first time, but still felt like he was being spun around in his chair. When the chip was removed Connor looked right into the man’s eyes.

  “When do I get the others removed?”

  “When you’re ready, I guess. I have never heard of anyone having more than these two removed,” Larkin replied. “Why don’t you try to manifest your knife.”

  Connor concentrated and manifested his knife in his left hand. The blue blade looked sharp and felt very real to the touch.

  “Good, kid, you’re ready to go!”

  Connor got up and walked around, changing his vision from normal to thermal imagining and back again. He felt extremely strong suddenly and realized that he could be a very dangerous person.

  He raised and lowered his armor for good measure and concentrated on the electronics in the room. He could feel them out there, waiting to become his tools if he desired. When he looked at Hati, he thought he felt the ship smiling at him.

  ~ ~ ~

  Connor had been wondering how he was going to get Hati out of the dome until Larkin informed him there were smaller domes that they could flood. When it was time to launch, Connor thanked the man for helping him. Larkin seemed a little shocked by that, since the kid had seemed meaner than a badger on most occasions. He managed to sputter out a “you’re welcome” before sending Connor and Hati down a conveyor into a small dome.

  The room was empty and not well-lit. Connor sat in the cockpit ready to emerge from the ocean in Hati for the second time in four long months. When the door sealed, water began to flood in from the sides as the room filled slowly. Connor had a lot of time to think things over while he waited.

  In his mind he imagined he was back in Healdsburg with his family. When he was four, he and Alex had gone into the woods to fight an imaginary battle with mythical creatures. They carried sticks like swords and spears and Alex would narrate the events happening around them. It always started small and would escalate into a grand adventure. On the particular day he was thinking about, Alex had mentioned a patrol of goblins sneaking through the forest toward the castle.

  They snuck up together around the trees until Alex pointed to a small stump.

  “There is the goblin scout. Get him, Connor!” Alex said eagerly.

  Connor dashed out of the bushes, swinging his stick hard into the stump several times. Alex came up behind him frantically.

  “It’s a trap! Back to back!” Alex yelled.

  They immediately stood back to back, fighting off the imaginary forces of the goblin patrol. Alex took an arrow to the knee and cried out as he fell to the ground. Connor stepped over him, swinging his sword mightily. He could still imagine how the goblins looked to him as he fought them away until they were all dead.

  Alex would get up and pretend to bandage his knee while Connor would move to the edge of the clearing looking ahead at what Alex described as, “the lair of the giant.” The giant, in their game, always ended up being William, who would always stop whatever he was doing to play with them. He was fun like that.

  They crept through the woods until they came to the edge of their yard, climbing up a tree and out on a branch that took them over the fence into the backyard. They climbed down a rope they had tied on that branch years before and onto the grass.

  “Once we cross the river, we’ll be in the lair of the giant. Be careful,” Alex said quietly.

  Connor nodded and the two boys crawled on their bellies toward the lap-lane portion of their pool, which was next to the oriental-style gym. As they got closer they could hear the grunting of the giant inside. The boys moved into the water and came out on the other side, soaking wet. Around to the back entrance, they crawled until they could see the giant’s form.

  The man was pounding away at a punching bag, lathered in sweat. He seemed intent on the bag as he laid into it with heavy hits and quick kicks. He’d been at it for nearly thirty minutes, so the boys knew he must be tired.

  With a yell, Connor and Alex charged into the lair of the giant, swords held high. William immediately turned and fought off the furious assault, quickly disarming the boys with a growl.

  “What am I today then?” he asked with a big smile on his face as he threw Connor over his shoulder.

  “A terrible giant!” Connor screamed as William started to tickle him.

  “Rah!” William growled, grabbing out at Alex with his free hand while Connor squirmed away to get free.

  The three boys played for several minutes, William chasing the boys around the yard playfully. When they got tired, Connor collapsed to the ground, turning over at the last second before the giant got him to plunge a make-believe knife into the monster’s eyes.

  There in the grass, the giant lay dead. The children celebrated by going to the refrigerator that was near the outdoor kitchen and grabbing sodas. Afterwards, they all swam in the pool together. Connor even remembered seeing his mom reading by the pool, watching their game with a smile on her face. That was the last memory Connor had before his mom died.

  The water had been full in the dome for nearly three minutes when Connor finally started paying attention again. He had been enjoying the memory with such clarity he had completed tuned out the rest of the world. He was surprised to find that he wasn’t crying at the memory of his mother and stepfather, since normally thinking about them made him sad.

  He felt somehow invigorated though, glad to be able to still remember that sort of thing. Shaking off the nostalgia, Connor activated his propulsion systems and felt Hati lift off the ground, through the water and out into the ocean.

  “There you are
, kid, thought you drowned or something,” Vertigo said over the communicator.

  “No, I was just thinking.” Connor figured that Vertigo had been tracking him on his motion sensor.

  “Well, get your head in the game, we have to meet up with the Battle Frigates at Station Sigma on Mars.”

  “How long is that going to take?”

  “It takes normal ships about a week. But we’re going to slipstream.”

  Connor was just starting to see sunlight as he came up through the water. When he burst from the waves, he came face to face with the Fenris.

  “Wow, that Battle Suit is huge!” Connor said excitedly.

  “Yeah, the UEDF modeled it after your ship, but added some extra armor and firepower,” Vertigo explained.

  Not wanting to be outdone, Connor added, “It looks slow.”

  “Yeah, it kind of is,” Vertigo admitted. “Are you ready yet?”

  “Sure, let’s go.”

  The two ships flew high up into the sky, through the clouds and out into space. Connor opened the slipstream consciously between Earth and Mars, and the two vessels proceeded through.

  ~ ~ ~

  From the time they left Aeris VII until the time they reached the Sol system was seventeen days, four hours, twelve minutes, and fifty-two seconds. To Alex and Marlena, it felt like only a couple of minutes had passed. They emerged well ahead of the battle group that had fled Aeris nearly a month before. They weren’t sure of the time, but if the frigates had an average jump, Alex and Marlena could be waiting for weeks.

  They had known that it would probably be a while before the frigates caught up to Skoll’s remarkable slipstream abilities, but they also knew that they had to be prepared just in case the group got lucky with their jump.

  “Do you ever get the feeling that Balvoon was lying to us?” Alex asked, while sitting in the gunner’s chair of the flight deck.

  “I don’t think so. I think I would have been able to tell,” Marlena replied confidently.