Ep.#6 - For the Triumph of Evil (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  “The race lasts an entire Rakuen day,” Deliza argued. “And it’s highly unlikely his variable-state reactor will fail in the first three rounds, so we’ll have plenty of time to convert the spare back to a variable-state configuration.”

  Vladimir sighed. “How long will it take to make the conversion and test it?”

  “At least twelve hours, I’m afraid,” Deliza said. “Maybe longer.”

  “There will be no time to test it in the ship.” Vladimir looked at Deliza. “Is there time to get another spare, just in case?”

  “Maybe.”

  “It’s your call, Commander,” Abby stated. “You’re the chief engineer.”

  Vladimir was surprised by her statement. “Very well, get started.”

  “Yes!” both Abby and Deliza exclaimed.

  “Doctor, just one question.”

  Abby turned back to look at Vladimir. “Yes?”

  “Why did you listen to Deliza, and not to me?”

  Abby smiled. “Because Deliza is not you.”

  “Shto?” Vladimir said as they walked away.

  * * *

  “All patrols report negative contacts,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported from the Aurora’s tactical station. “Strikers One through Four are on station.”

  “Very well,” Cameron replied from the command chair. “Mister Bickle?”

  “Stealth jump route to Rakuen plotted and ready, sir,” the navigator replied.

  “Comms, let Commander Kaplan know she now has command of the fleet.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Cameron felt a sense of dread wash over her. The Aurora had been by the Karuzari fleet’s side, protecting the ragtag group, for twenty-five days now, and other than that first day over Corinair, they had not fired a single shot in its defense.

  “Commander Kaplan confirms she has command of the fleet, Captain,” the communications officer confirmed.

  “Very well.” Cameron took a deep breath. She worried the fleet had become complacent, secure in the knowledge that the odds of the Dusahn locating them were beyond astronomical. “Helm, take us to Rakuen.”

  “Aye, sir,” Lieutenant Dinev replied.

  “Starting jump series in three……two……one…”

  But so had the Aurora’s super jump into the middle of a battle, in the Pentaurus sector, eight years ago.

  * * *

  “How are you feeling, Captain?” Master Koku asked over comms. “Did you get sufficient rest?”

  “I don’t think that’s going to come until well after the race,” Nathan admitted.

  “Do not worry. Odds are, it will be over quickly.”

  “Thanks.”

  “He’s just trying to get in your head, Cap’n,” Josh insisted.

  “There’s already two people in there as it is,” Nathan joked.

  “If you’re trying to inspire confidence, you’re failing,” Jessica told Nathan over comms.

  “Sorry, I’m not feeling terribly inspiring, at the moment.”

  “What happens next?” she asked Josh, who was sitting next to her in their control room back on the race platform.

  “They’re approaching the practice area, now,” Josh said. “Race protocol states that as soon as they pass the last gate, they peel away in opposite directions, and start the fight with head-on passes. So, that’s probably what Master Koku is going to have them do now.”

  “Head-on is the most difficult shot,” General Telles said.

  “It’s also the most equal,” Josh added. “Neither ship has an advantage, unless one has more available power for their shields than the other.”

  “It is the most deadly, as well,” General Telles added. “It is the only angle at which the Gunyoki can bring all her weapons onto its target at once. It is said that a true Gunyoki requires only the first shot,” General Telles stated.

  “Then this could be a very long day,” Josh replied.

  “In a few moments, we will break in opposite directions,” Master Koku instructed over comms. “Each of us will enter the dogfight area from opposite sides. All Gunyoki dogfights begin with a head-on pass.”

  “Understood,” Nathan replied.

  “According to Telles, they usually end that way, too,” Josh added.

  “They used to,” Loki corrected. “Not as often, since the independents started having more success.”

  “Something tells me Master Koku is a single-shot kind of guy,” Nathan muttered.

  “You will break right, I will break left,” Master Koku instructed. “In three……two……one……break.”

  Nathan rolled the ship to the right, pulling up on the nose as he fired his main engines to begin his turn. “Give me an intercept angle, Loki.”

  “Should be on your screen now, Captain,” Loki replied.

  Nathan glanced at his view screen, noting the green arc. He held his thrust just long enough to bring his ship onto the arc, then rolled back left, and fired his thrusters again to come around to port to begin the fight.

  “He’s coming around on an intercept heading,” Josh reported as Vladimir and Quory entered the control room.

  “What are you doing here?” Jessica asked Vladimir.

  “We’re waiting for a part to be fabricated,” Vladimir replied. “How is Nathan doing?”

  “They’re setting up for the first pass now,” General Telles said.

  “Any sign of the Seiiki?” Vladimir wondered.

  “We got word from the Aurora via comm-drone about an hour ago,” Jessica told him. “They were still finishing up with the upgrades, and decided to just stay aboard the Aurora until she reached Rakuen. They should be jumping in at any time.”

  “Good. We have a lot of spare parts that need to be tested before the race tomorrow, and I will be up all night going over every system in Nathan’s ship, to be sure it is ready.”

  “You mean we will be up all night,” Quory corrected.

  “I thought you were afraid of losing your job with Yokimah Racing?” Jessica said.

  “Miss Ta’Akar has assured me that I will have a position at her shuttle plant, if need be. Assuming, of course, that the captain wins.”

  “I imagine your job with Yokimah Racing will be secure if he loses, as well,” General Telles observed.

  “This is true,” Quory admitted. “But it will be so much more exciting if he wins, don’t you think?”

  “You’re crossing the dogfight perimeter now,” Josh reported.

  “Copy that,” Loki replied. “We’re clear to engage, Captain.”

  Nathan tapped his targeting system, selecting the twin plasma torpedo cannons on the front of his engine nacelles. The system immediately locked onto Master Koku’s older fighter, and began adjusting the nacelle angles inward to account for the target’s diminishing range. “Target acquired.”

  “If you’ve got him, he’s got you,” Josh warned.

  Nathan pressed his firing button three times in rapid succession, sending twelve plasma torpedoes streaking toward the oncoming fighter. As soon as the last four torpedoes left their tubes, he rolled the ship to the left, into the course of his opponent, and pitched down as he fired his main engines again. As the ship rolled and dove, four plasma torpedoes streaked past them, missing by less than a meter.

  “No joy,” Loki reported. “He jinked at the last second, just like us.”

  “He’s breaking left, your right,” Josh warned. “He’s diving, too!”

  “He’s trying to get under us, the same way I’m trying to get under him,” Nathan announced. “I’m going to let him.”

  “I’d continue diving,” Josh argued. “Make him come at you from above, where your countermeasures are more effective.”

  Nathan held his dive a few seconds longer.

  “I thought you were going up?” Josh asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “This is too easy,” General Telles observed. “I suspect that Master Koku is setting a trap.”

  “He is an old man, you
know,” Josh said. “And he hasn’t really flown that thing in twenty some-odd years. Maybe he’s just rusty, or a bit senile.”

  “He is neither,” the general replied. “The Gunyoki training rivals that of the Ghatazhak. That level of training stays with a man for all of his days.”

  “They’re both diving,” Jessica noticed, looking at the view screen.

  “They’re both showing the other their most protected side,” Josh explained.

  “But one of them must break first,” General Telles pointed out.

  “So, he’s playing chicken with Nathan?” Josh wondered.

  “I believe so. Remember, Master Koku is also attempting to teach Nathan to fight, not necessarily to win the fight himself. He may be attempting to test the Captain’s resolve.”

  Josh turned back toward the view screen as he tapped his comm-set. “Cap’n, we think the old man’s laying a trap…”

  “…He’s playing chicken with you, to see if you’ll break first.”

  “Are you suggesting we bail now?” Nathan wondered.

  “No way! If you do, he’ll just turn into you, and take a kill shot at your belly. He’s expecting you to pitch the whole ship up, just like you would in an Eagle. Hold as long as you can, but when you break, keep your topside to him and engage with your dorsal laser cannons.”

  “And how exactly do I do that?” Nathan wondered.

  “Fly your nacelles, not your ship,” Josh insisted.

  “Okay, yeah,” Nathan replied, his voice unsure. “That’s different, but I think I understand what you’re saying. In fact, I believe that’s what he’s been trying to get me to do for the last few days.”

  “It would’ve been nice if he’d just told you that to begin with,” Loki commented.

  “He doesn’t work that way, trust me.”

  Loki’s attention was suddenly diverted to the sensor screen in front of him. “What the…?”

  “He’s breaking early!” Josh exclaimed. “He’s transitioning down! Flip now and hold your course!”

  In a split-second, Nathan calculated his next step. He pushed his stick in the opposite direction that he wanted his nose to move, knowing that doing so would keep his engine nacelles thrusting in the same direction, while he swung his nose downward to keep his dorsal side pointing toward his opponent. He felt his restraints digging into his shoulders, and the blood rushing to his head as the ship pitched over rapidly on the lateral axis that connected the aft end of the fighter to its engine nacelles.

  “He’s leveled off,” Loki warned. “Jesus! He’s locking his plasma torpedo cannons on us!”

  “How the hell did he get his gungines on target so fast?” Josh wondered.

  “What the hell’s a gungine?” Jessica asked.

  “An engine with a big gun on the front,” Josh explained. “He’s firing! Roll left! Pitch up! Max thrust!”

  “That’s stupid,” Jessica said.

  “I don’t know. Gungine has a nice ring to it,” Vladimir commented.

  “Thank you,” Josh said as he watched the view screen.

  The fighter shook violently as the plasma torpedoes slammed into their dorsal shields, causing them to glow a brilliant red-orange for several seconds.

  “Dorsal shields are down fifty percent!” Loki warned.

  “From a single blow?”

  “That was four torpedoes at once, Captain,” Loki reminded him.

  “I believe Master Koku is attempting to weaken your dorsal shields, thus forcing you to show your weaker, ventral side, so he can finish you off quickly,” General Telles warned. “This is a common tactic used when a kill shot is not made in the opening, head-on pass.”

  “Then we don’t show him our topside again,” Nathan concluded. “At least not until our dorsal shields have recharged.”

  “If we keep pouring power into weapons and maneuvering, it will take at least five minutes to get our shields back up to full strength,” Loki warned.

  “How many hits can our ventral side take?” Nathan wondered.

  “One hit like that will likely blow the emitters.”

  “Okay, we want to avoid that,” Nathan decided as he brought the fighter into a steep turn, and rolled it to the right.

  “Aurora calling Lieutenant Commander Nash, do you copy?”

  Jessica tapped her comm-set. “Aurora, go for Nash.”

  “Standby for XO, sir.”

  “What’s going on?” Vladimir asked, noticing Jessica’s response.

  “The Aurora is here.”

  “Finally.”

  “Nash, XO,” Cameron called. “Status?”

  “XO, Nash. We’re good here. We’re on the Gunyoki race platform. Actual is on a training flight. You should be able to see him in sector four two seven. Two ship element.”

  “We have them on sensors,” Cameron replied. “Which one is Actual?”

  “Unfortunately, he’s the one getting his ass handed to him.”

  “Lovely.”

  Master Koku’s fighter slipped smoothly under Nathan with such speed and precision that Nathan barely had time to realize his opponent had done so, let alone change the attitude of his ship to protect his weakened dorsal shields. The ship rocked again as both plasma torpedoes and laser bolts slammed into his port shields.

  “Damn it!” Loki exclaimed. “He’s moving around so much I can’t get anything to lock on him.”

  “I can fire blind the next time he tries to slip under us,” Nathan suggested.

  “Anything is better than just getting pummeled by this guy.”

  “I thought he was one of your heroes?” Josh teased.

  “He is,” Loki admitted. “But right now, I just want to put a stub-missile in his backside!”

  “Well, maybe you should,” Nathan suggested as he flipped his engine nacelles over, and fired his main engines at full thrust.

  “What are you doing?” Loki yelled.

  “Putting some distance between us, so you can launch stub-missiles,” Nathan explained.

  “Fuck yeah!” Josh exclaimed over comms.

  “I don’t have a lock!”

  “Just fire a full spread!” Nathan ordered. “Eight per side! Now, now, now!”

  “Firing!” Loki replied, his fingers dancing across the launch control pad. “Missiles away!”

  Nathan kept his engines burning, but changed the angle on his nacelles in relation to their fuselage, so the ship would descend below their opponent, while still keeping their nose facing in the same direction. As he did so, two flashes of light appeared directly in front of them, no more than a kilometer away.

  “Two hits!” Loki declared. “He just lost his starboard shield!”

  “Fuck, he’s closing on us,” Nathan realized as the range to his target suddenly started falling off rapidly. “He must’ve reversed thrust, the same as us.” Nathan took his finger off the thrust button, and rotated his engine nacelles back around, so his thrust nozzles were again facing aft, then pressed the button again, throwing them back in their seats.

  “Jesus, would you stop doing everything at full power?” Loki complained. “You fly like Josh!”

  “I heard that!”

  “Note to Vlad,” Nathan said. “Loki wants more juice for the inertial dampeners.” Nathan cut his thrust again as the range to his opponent approached zero. He pitched his nacelles down, and opened fire with his plasma torpedo cannons, just as Master Koku’s fighter passed under him. Unfortunately, his opponent rolled his ship onto one side, allowing the shots to miss him entirely.

  “How the hell does he do that?” Nathan wondered.

  “He’s on your six again,” Josh warned.

  “No shit,” Loki replied, sounding irritated. The ship rocked again as more energy weapons slammed into their aft shields.

  “They just lost their aft shields, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the Aurora’s sensor station. “And their dorsal and port shields are almost gone, as well.”

  “This is a training
flight, right?” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar asked.

  “Not like any training I remember,” Cameron admitted.

  “Should we put a search and rescue Reaper on standby?” the lieutenant commander asked.

  “That might not be a bad idea,” Cameron agreed.

  “Look at that guy fly,” Lieutenant Dinev said in amazement. “Who is he?”

  “I don’t know,” Cameron replied. “But I hope he’s on our side.”

  Nathan flipped his ship over, rolling to starboard while he tried to bring the plasma cannons on the front of his engine nacelles toward Master Koku’s fighter, but it was too late.

  “We just lost our ventral shields!” Loki exclaimed.

  “You have to make a run for it!” Josh urged. “Stay out of his crosshairs until your shields recharge!”

  Two more plasma cannon torpedoes slammed into them, rocking the ship, and causing them to lose all power.

  “We’ve lost all power!” Loki declared. “Shields, weapons, propulsion…Everything is down.”

  “I believe they call that a kill,” Josh announced.

  Nathan took his hands off his controls, content to just drift for a few minutes. “Well, at least we made him earn it. How long did it take him? Five, six minutes? That’s not too bad for our first Gunyoki dogfight, right?”

  “Actually, it was a minute thirty,” Josh corrected. “And General Telles is pretty sure he was playing with you the whole time.”

  “By the way, the Aurora is here,” Jessica added.

  “Great. Please tell me they didn’t see that,” Nathan pleaded.

  “Would you like to land and take a break, Captain?” Master Koku wondered.

  “Why, are you tired?”

  “Not in the slightest,” Master Koku replied.

  “Then let’s go again,” Nathan insisted.

  “Just as soon as we get our power back on,” Loki added.

  * * *

  Jessica walked across the Gunyoki bay, looking about. The hour was late, but everyone was still hard at work. Abby, Deliza, and Vlad were working on upgrades for the ship’s reactor. Marcus, Dalen, and Neli were getting the ship ready for tomorrow’s races, under the watchful eye of Quory. In the control room, General Telles and Loki were reviewing past Gunyoki races to better understand the strategies and habits of the men who Nathan might be facing.