Frontiers Saga 12: Rise of the Alliance

by Ryk Brown

  “Jump plotted and ready,” Eckert said.

  “On course now.”

  “Jumping in three……two……one……jumping.”

  The Scout ship’s jump flash washed over the flight deck.

  “Jump complete,” Commander Eckert reported.

  “Holy crap!” Ensign Agari declared.

  “What is it, Toosh?” Captain Nash asked.

  “You’re not going to believe this,” Toosh exclaimed as he sent his sensor feed to the captain’s display screen.

  “Holy crap is right,” Captain Nash said. “Wellsy! Raise the Aurora. Tell them we’ve recovered KKV One and are awaiting orders. And ask them what the fuck is going on over there.”

  Energy weapons fire ricocheted off the bulkhead directly over Lieutenant Telles’s helmet, causing him to duck down slightly as he continued advancing down the corridor, firing continuously as he moved forward. The next shot bounced across the hall, hit the floor, and went upward into the torso of one of his men, knocking him backward. Two others helped him up, checking that his belly plates had deflected the energy as designed. The group moved quickly, firing and taking fire as they progressed toward their destination, the mini-jump drive assembly room.

  “Rat Five, on deck,” the copilot’s voice announced, signaling Telles that at the moment, one of his combat jumpers was dropping six more of his men onto the docking platform in the main hangar bay.

  Telles and his men stopped at the intersection. Telles peeked around the corner despite the energy weapons fire still streaming down the corridor toward them. He turned back toward his men. “Blast and charge,” he told them.

  One of his men carrying a much larger weapon than the rest moved to the corner. Telles and Jahal pushed their weapons out around the corner and opened fire. A moment later, the trooper with the large weapon stepped into the intersection and launched a projectile down the corridor and into the hatchway that led to the jump drive assembly room. As he stepped back around the corner, the projectile flew through the hatchway and exploded in a brilliant white flash.

  The lieutenant and his men charged forward around the corner, down the corridor, and through the hatchway. A brief exchange of energy weapons fire occurred, followed by an eerie silence. The large bay was motionless, littered with the bodies of dead Jung soldiers who moments ago were trying to kill them. The lieutenant looked around, but could find no sign of anything missing. There were several jump drives, each in a different stage of the assembly process, but nothing appeared out of place.

  “Telles, Dumar!” the commander’s voice called from the lieutenant’s helmet comms.

  “Go for Telles,” the lieutenant responded.

  “The Jung have taken the Falcon bay. If they manage to launch in one of those ships…”

  “On our way,” the lieutenant promised as he turned to head out the door. “Telles to all Ghatazhak teams. Converge on the Falcon bay. Main level, section fourteen, subsection twenty-eight.”

  “Falcons have jumped in,” Mister Navashee reported. “They’re moving into position now.”

  “How many?”

  “Only three, sir.”

  “Damn,” Nathan mumbled to himself. “Comms. Broadcast to all units. Update recognition codes. Anything comes out of that asteroid and isn’t squawking the correct codes gets taken out.”

  “Aye, sir,” Naralena answered.

  “Jump flash,” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Message from Scout Three,” Naralena announced. “They have recovered KKV One, and are awaiting redeployment instructions.”

  “Redeploy to position seven,” Nathan ordered.

  “Target’s good side is coming back around,” Jessica warned. “Prepare for more incoming.”

  “Are we still in position between the Celestia and the platform?” Nathan inquired.

  “Aye, sir,” Mister Chiles acknowledged. “I’m matching her drift exactly, and yawing to try and keep her covered as she’s got a little bit of wobble to her as she tumbles.”

  “Keep our belly toward the platform,” Mister Chiles.

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Drop our quads to our underside, Jess. Target their big guns.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ve found one of the Celestia’s cores,” Mister Navashee announced. “She’s at least five hundred thousand kilometers away, drifting outside the engagement area. As long as we don’t maneuver any further than that, we should be alright.”

  “Very good, Mister Navashee,” Nathan said. He turned to face aft. “Comms, warn all ships of the location of that core, and update as we find the rest of them.”

  “Yes, sir,” Naralena acknowledged.

  “Target is firing,” Mister Navashee announced.

  “All hands, brace for incoming fire,” Nathan ordered.

  Lieutenant Telles and his men made their way down the rock-walled corridor that led to the Falcon bay. Their going was slow, as the damage to the Karuzara asteroid’s power grid was causing inconsistent power levels to be delivered to much of the base, which affected the artificial gravity throughout the facility. After becoming airborne several times, he had ordered his men to activate the sensor-controlled mag-locks on their boots. It made for an unusual-looking gait, but it was better than finding oneself bouncing off the ceiling without warning.

  Firing constantly as they charged the main entrance to the Falcon bay, the Ghatazhak were easily able to overpower the small contingent of Jung soldiers that had been defending the position. It seemed odd to Telles, given the importance to the Jung of capturing a jump drive. However, once he entered the bay, he realized why there had been so few men guarding its entrance.

  Four Falcons were already rising up off the deck of the massive bay. All four of them rotated their nose turrets toward the lieutenant and his men.

  “Take cover!” he shouted over his helmet comms, his words echoing metallic within his sealed helmet. Red-orange bolts of energy streaked silently by his head in the vacuum, slamming into the men behind him, the force of impact knocking them both backwards. Telles leapt high in the air to clear the energy bolts driving into the deck below him where he had stood only a moment ago. As he twisted in the air, out of the corner of his eye he could see his men being torn apart by the energy bolts, their pressurized suits becoming suddenly opened to the vacuum. The suits were designed to automatically reseal when possible, but the sizes of most of their wounds were far too great. Those who did not die from the energy blasts suffocated a moment later.

  The first Falcon began to yaw to its left, its turret ceasing to fire once the ship had rotated beyond the turret’s field of fire. The second Falcon followed next, and then the third.

  The reduction in incoming fire allowed Telles and several others, all now tucked safely behind piles of damaged equipment and sections of dismantled Falcons, to return fire. It took at least six of them firing all at once to bring down the fourth Falcon, which came crashing down onto the hangar deck, breaking apart in unceremonious fashion.

  “Telles to all Jumpers. Three Falcons have escaped. They will be coming out of the number six transit tunnel in less than a minute. Destroy them; maximum force. Aurora, did you copy?”

  “Telles, Aurora copies,” Naralena answered. “Will relay to Falcons on station.”

  “Telles, Dumar,” Commander Dumar interrupted. “We’ve managed to get our security cameras back up. The Jung are moving all forces toward our position. If they capture the control room…”

  “They won’t need to capture a Falcon,” Telles answered. “Telles to all Ghatazhak. The Jung are headed for the control center. We cannot allow them to reach it,” he said as he headed for the exit. “Rat One, Telles. Do you still hold the main transit tunnels?”

  “Telles, Rat One. Affirmative.”

  “Rat One, Telles. Relay to Porto Santo. Use the boxcars and bring me more troops. As many as they can fit, and make it quick.”

  “Telles, Rat One copies. On our way.”

 
“Falcon One, Flight. Mission. Three hostiles. Type, Falcon, coming out of tunnel six in thirty seconds. Intercept and destroy with extreme prejudice. They cannot be allowed to escape. Confirm.”

  “Oh, shit,” Josh said as he swung their nose around hard and pushed their throttles to full power. “That’s on the other side.”

  “Flight, Falcon One,” Loki began. “Copy mission. Three hostile Falcons coming out of tunnel six, in thirty. Intercept and destroy; extreme prejudice.”

  “Falcon One, Flight. Affirmative.”

  “It’s gonna take us twenty just to get there,” Josh warned.

  “Weapons are hot, but we’ve only got two missiles left,” Loki warned. “Flight, Falcon One. We’ve only got two missiles. Anyone else nearby?”

  “Falcon One, Rat Three. Fifteen seconds from tunnel six. Coming from opposite direction. You take the first two, we’ll take the third one.”

  “Rat Three, Falcon One. We’ve got the first two. Third is yours.”

  “Coming over the ridge in five,” Josh warned.

  “I’m ready…”

  “Oh! Fuck!” Josh yelled as two Falcons streaked directly away from the asteroid right in front of them as they came over the ridge. “They’re early! Pitching up!” Josh pulled back hard on his flight control stick, pulling their ship in behind the fleeing Falcons.

  “We’re not going to catch them!” Rat Three’s pilot warned. “Falcon One! Do you copy!”

  “Fuck!” Josh exclaimed as he pulled the throttles all the way back to zero thrust and continued to pitch over one hundred and eighty more degrees.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Loki demanded.

  “Put a missile in the one behind us! Quick!” Josh yelled.

  “Locking onto aft target!” Loki answered. “Firing! Missile away!”

  The missile popped out of Falcon One’s weapons bay as the ship continued to pitch back over to forward. Its propulsion system ignited, rapidly slowing the weapon so that the Falcon behind them would help close the gap. It slammed into the third escaping Falcon seconds later, exploding on impact and breaking the hijacked jump ship apart.

  “One down!” Josh declared with excitement as he brought the Falcon’s nose back forward again.

  “The other two have a lead on us now,” Loki said.

  Josh pushed the throttles to full power again. “Jump us forward, quick, before they figure out how to work those jump drives!”

  “Plotting,” Loki said. “Jumping.”

  The blue-white jump flash washed over the cockpit, and when it subsided a split second later, the two fleeing hijacked Falcons were only fifty meters directly ahead of them.

  “Holy shit, Lok! You think that’s close enough?”

  “Firing missile! Firing turret!” Loki declared.

  The second missile popped out from the Falcon’s weapons bay and sped off under its own propulsion. It quickly closed the gap between them and the first fleeing Falcon, flying right up its main engine and exploding. The lead Falcon burst into a brilliant yellow-orange fireball, tinged with various hues of white and pale blue as its remaining propellant and oxidizers instantly ignited and were then snuffed out by the vacuum of space.

  “That’s two!” Josh exclaimed. A bright, blue-white flash suddenly appeared directly in front of them, and the second hijacked Falcon disappeared. “Oh, shit!” Josh yelled. “He fucking jumped!”

  “Oh, crap.”

  “How the fuck did he figure out to jump so quickly?”

  “Wait! I’ve got him!” Loki declared. “Jump flash! One light second dead ahead!”

  “Holy crap!” Josh exclaimed again.

  “He must’ve figured out how to activate the emergency escape jump!” Loki realized. “You just push it and it jumps you ahead a fixed interval. How far depends on how fast you’re going at the…”

  “I don’t give a shit how it works, Lok! Just jump us the fuck to him so we can take him out!”

  “Jumping!” Loki declared as their jump flash washed over them.

  The fleeing Falcon appeared even closer than before.

  “God damn it, Lok! Stop jumping us so close!” Josh objected.

  “Firing turret,” Loki announced, ignoring his pilot’s complaints.

  The fleeing Falcon rolled and turned erratically as it attempted to evade the bolts of energy being fired at it by Falcon One only thirty meters behind.

  “Jesus! This guy won’t sit still!” Loki exclaimed as he continued firing.

  Blue-white light again filled their cockpit.

  “Fuck!” Loki exclaimed. “He jumped again!”

  “Jump with him!” Josh yelled. “Fuck! I’m seeing blue patches in my eyes!” he added as his visor turned opaque and their own jump flash washed over them. “Is there any way we can make our visors activate when he jumps?”

  Loki continued to ignore Josh as he began firing their nose turret again. Once again, the fleeing Falcon jumped.

  “Goddamn!” Josh declared as he closed his eyes to protect his already stressed eyes from the fleeing Falcon’s jump flash. “Sooner or later, he’s going to figure out how to jump for real, and then we’re screwed!”

  “Jumping!” Loki announced as their own jump flash washed over them.

  Josh’s visor cleared up as their jump flash subsided, revealing the fleeing Falcon directly ahead of them once again. Only this time, the enemy Falcon’s nose was pointed directly at them. “OH, SHIT! FIRE, LOKI! FIRE!”

  Red-orange bolts of energy leapt from the enemy Falcon’s nose turret streaking past their canopy as Josh rolled their ship wildly to the left. His snap roll quickly became a barrel roll, which he pulled out of above the enemy Falcon, inverted, and out of its field of fire. With Loki firing their own nose turret in continuous fashion, Josh rolled over again to bring the target into their own field of fire. “Target below and forward!” Josh instructed. “Kill him before he jumps again!”

  Falcon One’s nose turret panned downward while firing, its bolts of red-orange energy slamming into the nose of the hijacked Falcon just as pale-blue jump energy began to pour from its emitters. The bolts of energy walked up the short nose of the fleeing Falcon, blasting through her canopy at the moment the target jumped away again. A second later, Falcon One also disappeared in a brilliant blue-white flash.

  “Fuck yes!” Josh yelled. “Take that, asshole!”

  Loki pressed the fire button one last time, sending several bolts of red-orange energy into the drifting Falcon, destroying it. “Aurora! Falcon One! That’s three!” Loki declared.

  “Ho-lee-crap, Lok,” Josh exclaimed. “That has got to be the first fucking jump-chase in the history of the goddamned galaxy!”

  “And hopefully the last,” Loki added.

  “Now that was exciting!” Josh declared as he started to bring their interceptor on a return course. “I can’t wait to tell the major about this one!”

  The bridge of the Aurora shook violently as rounds from the Jung battle platform’s rail guns slammed into their armored underside. Nathan held onto the arms of his command chair tightly as he watched Falcon One jump-chase the last hijacked Falcon. “How far out are they now?”

  “Two and a half light minutes,” Mister Navashee replied.

  “If they manage, just once, to turn and jump before Falcon One jumps to catch up to them, they’ll lose them.”

  “Mister Riley, prepare an intercept jump plot,” Nathan ordered calmly.

  “Captain, if we leave our position…” Jessica began.

  “…I know,” Nathan assured her, “but we cannot let the Jung get their hands on a jump drive, even if it means losing the Celestia.”

  “Rat Eight reports they have destroyed transit tunnel six,” Naralena announced.

  “I want all tunnels except the main transit runs closed,” Nathan ordered.

  “I’ll remind flight,” Naralena promised.

  “That’s two jumps,” Mister Navashee reported. “They’re now four light minutes out.”

>   “I’ve lost Falcon One’s transponder signal,” Jessica said. “Contacts have merged. They’re dancing around one another. I can no longer tell them apart, Captain.”

  One of the icons on the tactical tracking display on the main view screen suddenly turned red and then disappeared. Nathan felt his entire body turn cold. “Mister Riley?”

  “Plotted and ready, sir.”

  “Captain!” Mister Navashee called out. “Jump flash!”

  “Incoming message,” Naralena announced as she routed the call to the loudspeakers.

  “Aurora, Falcon One. We got all three,” Loki announced triumphantly.

  “Yes!” Nathan exclaimed as he tapped his comm-set. “Well done, gentlemen.”

  “Falcon One is returning to station over the Karuzara,” Loki added. “Falcon One, out.”

  Jessica smiled. “You gotta love those two.”

  “Mister Riley,” Nathan said happily, “you may delete that jump plot.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Captain, I’ve managed to set up a relay through the Karuzara’s comm arrays,” Naralena reported. “I can give you live data feeds from both the Ghatazhak’s helmet cameras as well as the Karuzara’s security cameras.”

  “Put them up,” Nathan ordered.

  “All of them, sir?”

  “Start with Telles’s helmet camera and the cameras around the Karuzara’s control room.”

  “Aye, sir,” Naralena answered.

  Seven boxes appeared on the main view screen. Five were from security cameras located both around the Karuzara’s control center, as well as one within; the last one was the view from Lieutenant Telles’s helmet camera.

  The violent shaking of the Aurora’s bridge began to die down.