“Gavin,” Hughes called in over the vox channel from outside. “This ship is a mess. Didn’t anyone teach you how to make evasive maneuvers?”
“Stow it,” Gavin growled back. Granted Hughes hadn’t been aboard it at the time, but it had been the Gladius that had done the damage. Hughes had been running around the upper hull of the Praetorian with a small army of repair bots in a mad dash to get the giant plane repaired and had stopped no less than three times to point out Gavin’s flaws in evasive technique.
“Are you sure it’s ok to have him out there?” Kella repeated for the second time from the commander’s chair. She was busy coordinating the repair bots with Hughes allowing Gavin to concentrate on the internal repairs that needed his attention, but had been listening to the chatter.
“No,” Gavin admitted. “But there is a reason to my madness.”
Kella nodded without looking at the remote. “I’ll trust your instinct. Can’t be any worse than mine, right?”
“Kella…”
“Our problems right now are entirely my fault, Gavin,” she said, her inner turmoil breaking past her defenses. She was still at a loss for what to do. She was torn between ties to the only family she’d ever known, as awful as they had been, and her growing affection for the man in the box desperately fighting against everything to reclaim his stolen humanity.
“Possibly,” Gavin said stoically.
“Possibly?” Kella quipped. “More like definitely.” Did he blame her for this? It wouldn’t surprise her. She’d been sending Tenner encoded transmissions back on Tal Rho’an. How foolish she’d been! But fear had been an excellent motivator. She remembered with dread the fate Tenner dished out to those who failed him.
“Nah,” Gavin said, dragging out the syllable in a dismissive manner bringing her back from the well of fear she’d been staring into. “I take it back. It’s not your fault at all.”
“How so?” Kella asked, her head coming up to stare at the remote in surprise.
“Because,” Gavin said while the remote shrugged. “The fault’s really mine. You were unconscious at the time, but regardless, I would’ve gone ahead to Tal Rho’an anyway. By time you woke up, it was already too late, and we were already two days the wrong way. You were unconscious trying to save me. It was only a matter of time, and fate has finally caught up.”
“Gavin…” Kella started.
“Regardless,” he said interrupting whatever argument she was about to give. “I can’t agonize over what was, or what has been. Now, I simply need to move forward.”
“That’s all, just move forward?” It couldn’t really be that simple. Nothing was ever that simple.
“Yes,” Gavin said resolutely. “Move forward, don’t look back, and accept the consequences of my actions.”
Kella was silent for a time, thinking on his words. Gavin didn’t venture anything further, and Hughes was strangely quiet, apparently concentrating on his work. An uncomfortable silence settled over the bridge that was finally interrupted by Kella. “That work well for you?” she asked finally.
“Not always, no,” Gavin admitted. “Sometimes it’s damned hard.”
“Sometimes it’s not so bad, the things you say,” she said appreciating his candor.
“Sometimes,” Gavin agreed. “But then again, if I follow my own advice, it’s because I’m cheating.”
“Cheating?” Kella asked, caught off-guard again.
“Cross family saying,” Gavin said sagely. “Accept the consequences of your actions only if you regret what you’ve done. Otherwise, keep fighting like hell.”
“What the hell kind of saying is that?” Of all the stupid mantras, she thought. Kella shook her head in disdain. It figures coming from him.
“What, you don’t like fighting against fate?”
“Well, I didn’t mean that,” she backpedaled. Indeed, she’d been fighting against her own fate for as long as she could remember. But damn it all, sometimes that was impossible. And on the other hand, sometimes, she didn’t want to fight against it at all. “But sometimes fate’s not so bad.”
“You mean like how you’ve grown to like it here?” Gavin asked innocently.
“Well…” she stuttered, blushing.
“Should I reserve a room for you two?” Hughes barged in over the vox channel. He had been listening to the whole conversation, and Kella quickly scrambled for the vox controls.
“Are you done repairing the PDEs yet?” Gavin shot back at Hughes, not missing a beat. Kella finally found her vox switch and quickly clicked it off with her cheeks glowing in embarrassment.
“Not even,” Hughes scoffed.
“Better get crackin’ then,” Gavin said easily. “The big show’s about to start any minute.”
“We still have plenty of time. What’s the rush?” Hughes asked.
“Because the Military is on its way,” Gavin replied.
“What? How do could you know that? How do you know the Military has even found us?” Hughes asked.
“Because I’ve been broadcasting your side of our little discussion on all of the public bands for the past couple of minutes,” Gavin said as the little camera remote gave a shrug.
“You what?” Hughes cried through the vox.
“He’s really alive!” Dawson
“What is it?” Deckert asked curtly as he walked onto the bridge looking disheveled. He’d been in a secretive meeting with several members of the ship’s command staff when Dawson
“The Major’s been located!” Abigail gasped in relief.
“Where?” Deckert said, striding over to Dawson
“Triangulating,” Dawson
“That’s where those Mercs are gathering,” Deckert said in a whisper. “Damn!”
“Sir, we can’t let those Mercs have the Major!” Dawson
“Agreed,” Deckert said, almost too quickly. “Helm, plot a course and sound battle stations. We’re in for a fight.”
“Understood, sir,” Abigail said as her fingers flew across her holodisplay. Shenan took care of the rest. Alarm claxons erupted across the Gladius as the bow swung around towards its new heading. Abigail poured on the speed. The Gladius had taken the bait.
“I figured it would make for better bait,” Gavin said casually after Hughes finished screaming over the vox.
“Are you out of your mind?” Hughes erupted.
“That’s a rather interesting question, really,” Gavin deflected.
“Look Brains,” Hughes admonished. “They’re not going to play around now that they know I’m still alive. They’re going to come and take me back!”
“I’m sure you can explain your decision,” Gavin said stifling a chuckle. “Besides, this was your plan, if I recall correctly.”
“No,” Hughes said angrily. “My plan was for them to come for you, not me. You’ve put us, no, you’ve put me in a pretty poor situation.”
“These things generally have a way of working themselves out,” Gavin said wisely.
“Yes,” Hughes agreed, “but the trick is to make it work out in your favor. That’s the hard part nobody bothers to mention!”
“I’ll guess we’ll just have to see,” Gavin said cryptically before quickly shifting gears. “How’re the PDEs coming along?”
“Same as your asked five minutes ago,” Hughes responded immediately, but then came back a second later. “Hey! Don’t change the subject!”
Ignoring Hughes, the camera remote turned towards Kella who had been concentrating on her holo, her cheeks still red. “We’re probably going to need you in the Scythe. It’s rearmed and refueled.”
“Right,” Kella said nodded as she stood up, relieved to be back to business.
“Damn it, Brains!” Hughes roared over the vox. “Don’t ignore me!”
“Are you going to be ok?” Gavin asked Kella gently, completely ignoring Hughes.
“I guess I’ll just have to ‘fight like hell’,” she quoted. She turned and strode from the bridge. The remote couldn’t grin, but Gavin remembered how it felt to and wished like hell he could still do it. This fight would be a tough one, no doubt. It would be even tougher on Kella, however, going against her old family. Gavin knew she had more than enough strength to make it through the ordeal and come out standing at the other end, but the question was how much damage she would take in doing so.
“Answer me!” Hughes roared, cutting into Gavin’s concerns.
“Fine, what?” Gavin said tiredly.
“I’m not going back, Brains. You hear me?”
“Yeah, I hear you. Although, I’m not sure what all I can do to prevent it.”
“Fight like hell, of course,” Hughes said sardonically.
“That’s excellent advice,” Gavin replied dryly.
“Target location confirmed, Leader,” the Hunter called from his blister. “The fleet is in formation and awaiting your command.”
“Excellent,” Tenner growled. “Prepare for atmospheric entry of the first wave. I want that ship captured, not destroyed. Make sure the captains are aware.”
“Yes, Leader,” barked the communications officer.
Tenner sat back and watched the large tactical holodisplay glowing in the center of the bridge. It showed raw visual scanner footage overlaid with data from the tactical computer. It showed each individual course of the first wave of ships heading into the atmosphere and showed a large red icon denoting the location of the target. Timing was damn near perfect. Another few minutes, and they’d have to wait an entire planetary cycle, or expend fuel to acquire a higher orbit and catch up. Tenner loved it when things went his way. There was only one question remaining.
“Have we found the Military hyenas yet?”
“No, sir,” the Hunter replied. “We’re still scanning, but they’re either not here as we expected, or they’re on the other side of the planet.”
“Oh, they’re here,” Tenner said, nodding. “You can count on it. Don’t let them slip by you.”
“Yes, Leader!”
“First wave now penetrating atmosphere,” the tactical officer intoned.
Tenner turned back to the main holo. The visual scanners were picking up the fire trails of the decelerating ships, like glowing worms eating their way through a green apple.
“Five minutes to target.”
“Excellent,” Tenner approved. “Have the second wave standing by.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Commander!” Abigail called as her holo display went mad.
“What is it?”
“Scanners are reading fifteen blips have successfully reentered the atmosphere and are headed directly for the Major’s location.”
“Step on it,” Deckert ordered.
“Hold on to your seats,” Abigail said with a grin as she loosed the throttle on the engines. The ship lurched forward and shot across the sky at nearly twenty times the speed of sound.
“Well,” Gavin said over the vox as he watched the scanners. “It appears the party is just about to start. Kella, you good with the plan?”
“Hit one side hard enough to get them to follow and then run to the other,” she answered with a hint of sarcasm. “Piece of cake.”
“Yes,” Gavin allowed. “On paper anyway. Bug out as soon as you get them to commit.”
“Roger that,” she acknowledged.
“Hughes, we need those PDEs working,” Gavin said, shifting gears. If the emitters weren’t ready to go, they were merely sitting targets, and it didn’t matter who won the impending fight.
“I’m working on it!” Hughes snapped. “It’s not like this work is easy or anything! These emergency emitters are crap, and I won’t be surprised if they fail as soon as you start them!” Hughes continued to grumble on the Military’s version of a spare tire, but Gavin closed the channel. Time was quickly running out, and either they’d be ready, or they wouldn’t be.
“Captain, we’ve arrived at the coordinates. What are your orders?”
Captain Sarkol looked over the tactical display fitted on a swing arm attached to his chair. Leader had ordered him not to destroy the prize, but he didn’t say anything about damaging it.
“Launch Fangs and instruct them to strafe the target. They are to target wings and emitters only. If one of those pilots so much as grazes a critical system, I’ll detonate him myself.”
“Understood,” the flight ops officer acknowledged. He turned back to his console and entered the commands.
Down below, a large red light switched over to green and two small fast attack fighters sitting on their launch rails were catapulted forward by the mass accelerator running along the bottom hull of the Deep Wolves’ attack cruiser. The small Fang-class fighters cleared the edge of the ship in a rush and were flung outwards into the green sky. They quickly formed up with Fangs launched from the other fourteen cruisers in the attack formation. The thirty fighters, as one group, dove towards the wounded Praetorian.
Gavin watched the scanner as the double wedge of attack craft made a beeline for their position. He had already placed the ship in battle mode, and all of the Praetorian’s numerous laser stubs and missile tubes were standing ready to fire. But Gavin didn’t give the command. He merely waited. It didn’t take long either. As he watched, three blips suddenly disappeared off the scope. He switched to the visual scanner and watched Kella go to work.
Hughes whistled in amazement over the vox as several more fighters exploded. “She is something else.”
“That she is,” Gavin replied.
“Sir!” the Hunter cried out from the blister of the lead attack cruiser. Captain Sarkol looked up with annoyance.
“What is it? You better not tell me the plane exploded.”
“No, sir! An enemy mech is attacking our fighters! It appears to be a Cavalier, but it’s much too fast!”
“Show me!” Sarkol growled as he quickly stalked to the blister pod and leaned over the Hunter’s shoulder. The Hunter quickly made his visual scanner the primary screen and watched in horror as the mech easily began to obliterate the fighter wing.
“Recall the fighers,” Sarkol said in horror as another fighter exploded. The mech twisted and danced away; far more maneuverable than the attack fighters. His attack cruisers didn’t carry mechs, and the only way to properly engage one in this situation was with the attack cruisers. They didn’t need to be maneuverable; they just needed to bring their multiple lasers and missiles to bear. “Prepare to engage enemy mech directly.”
“Directly, sir?” the weapons officer asked from inside the bridge.
“Yes, damn it,” Sarkol barked as he returned to his chair and strapped in. “Coordinate attack patterns with the group.” No matter, it’s only one mech. He’d destroy it and return for the prize. It’s not like it was going anywhere.
“Understood,” several officers replied around the bridge.
The Deep Wolves attack cruisers changed position, their PDEs firing up creating the tell-tale purple spirals. The attack cruisers were highly modified versions of the Military’s own Wardancer class attack cruisers. They were more heavily armed, armored, faster, and more agile. The mercenaries achieved this by installing the biggest engines they could find and attaching them in any manner possible. This resulted in a mishmash of technology that was notoriously unstable. If you knew where to hit, that is. The Mercenaries also reinforced the armor in the same way. It was haphazard but effective.
Kella, having been part of the Deep Wolves for so long, was well aware of the weak points and made full advantage of her familiarity. She made a beeline for the head attack cruiser in the formation. The Deep Wolves were intelligent, and their formations were well thought out, but she knew the vulnerability there too. She twisted in past the sudden onslaught of laser beams, dodging and dancing around them, knowing the typical attack spreads. As she closed, she unleashed her Scythe’s considerable weaponry and watched with a mixed sense of satisfaction and sorrow as several of the attack cruiser’s modified systems overloaded from the strain and damage and exploded. Several of the over-powered engine pods detonated and sheared off.
“Captain!” the Hunter in the blister pod shouted in alarm as warning claxons roared across the ship and it began to list severely to starboard. Explosions rocked the deck and consoles erupted in sparks and glass shrapnel. The helmsman’s cry of sudden terror was cut short as his console exploded, killing him. The radio chatter told the same story all over the ship. The ship was losing altitude as more systems began to overload and fail. The ship was doomed, and Sarkol knew it. It had been too easy. All of their defenses, weapons, and formations had been neatly evaded by the one solitary mech. He had failed his Leader.
He pulled up his monitor which was thankfully still operational. He quickly inputted the communications code and opened a channel to Tenner. The Leader had to be told. When Tenner’s face came up on the screen, hard and unsympathetic, Sarkol made no excuses, but quickly relayed his message while there was still time.
“We’ve been betrayed, Leader.”
Tenner watched as the bridge collapsed in flame and wreckage around the failure of a captain Sarkol and the communication cut off abruptly. Tenner glanced back to the tactical display and sneered as the entire flight of fifteen attack cruisers winked out of existence one at a time. A small red triangle danced through the formation of blue triangles and with every loop a blue triangle disappeared.
Sarkol had relayed a very important piece of information, and Tenner had paid a high cost for it. His wayward pup was indeed still alive, and not only that, fighting against him. The knowledge of that betrayal flared his rage from its usual slow burn to a wildfire.
“Order all ships to follow,” Tenner growled. “Helm, take us in.”
“Leader, this ship is far too large for reentry,” the helmsman corrected.
Tenner, indulging his anger, strode over and backhanded the man with his closed first across the side of his head knocking him to the floor. Tenner felt the man’s skull crack under his fist. Tenner cracked his knuckles and turned around to face the bridge as a replacement helmsman came forward to take over the station. Tenner turned to the new officer and leaned down near his ear.
“Take us in,” he whispered.
“Yes, Leader!” the man barked in response and began laying in a course, overriding the VI warning messages. Tenner turned and walked back to his chair and sat down. He didn’t need to say anything else. His crew, now with a renewed sense of fear and obligation, carried out their orders. Tenner felt the pull around his gut as the main engines fired and his command ship, a stolen Military Man of War class capital ship, angled down towards the green atmosphere.
The Man of War class was easily one of the Military’s biggest warships, or at least had been during the Krix Wars. Tenner had scavenged the burning hulk from a fresh Military battlefield. His Wolves had moved in and eliminated the surviving Military crew, taking the ship for his own. Tenner had spent enormous sums rebuilding and modifying the ship, finally naming it the Vicious. The ship became the symbol of Tenner’s power.
Now, his pride and joy, the flagship of his mercenary fleet made its lumbering way down into the atmosphere of Falldown. No one missed the trail it left in the sky as it decelerated. Tenner smiled at his ‘blaze of glory’.
“Well now,” Gavin said in amazement as he watched the massive warship finish its entry into Falldown’s atmosphere and form up with the entire Deep Wolves fleet. “I’ll go ahead and say they’ve committed. Kella, I hope you’re ready to run like mad.”
“So am I,” she came back.
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