Chapter 18

Chapter 18

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I flailed my arms wildly as I plummeted into the void. Everything seemed to move in slow motion: the screams of my companions became distant and hollow, the Swarmers passing by moved sluggishly past, paying us no attention, and all my fear seemed to melt away. This was not reality, this was a dream. For some reason, I didn't care about anything; I couldn't grasp the situation I was in, so I blocked it all out. I could tell we were about twenty seconds away from death (were we not in the reduced gravity at the center of the ship, we'd have been killed by now) but I paid the fact no attention.

I began to reminisce, as one does before they embrace death.

I started out on Kharak, when I was being prepped for the cryo-tubes of the Mothership. I remembered being so thrilled by my parents being chosen for the Freezing. Normally, no persons were allowed for freezing unless they were between ages 17 to 55, but my parents, as prestigious in the field of genetic engineering as they were, had pulled in favors to have the selection committee disregard my two years junior to the minimum age. The last thing I remembered before being enveloped in the cold was, At least I'll get to see the Homeworld.

My life was not that simple, unfortunately. Even through their favors, my parents could only get me in the Cryo Trays by placing me on one other than theirs. I had been heartbroken, but rationalized that it really didn't make much difference in the big scheme of things. But, upon awakening, and on top of learning of the Burning, I had found out that one of the Trays, the one my parents were on, had been incinerated by Taiidan Assault Frigates in Hiigaran orbit. I was orphaned at fifteen.

This having happened to many people, the crisis was sorted out by terms of kiith. Though our leaders had claimed that the Exodus would herald a unification of all Hiigarans, the kiith lines were very tight binds indeed, and the only people who I would have trusted were other Sjet.

The Sjet were the scientists of the Kushan race, and they always had been, much like the Soban were the soldiers, or the Somtaaw the farmers. My family, as well as my foster family, was no different. But the sciences did not interest me, and it was not until I was asked to transport some biological equipment to the Angel Moon research base that I had found my true calling.

It was a fairly simple job; transport some of my family's equipment in a stock Salvage Corvette up to the moon. I would never forget the first time I broke through the atmosphere; I had been Awakened on the Hiigaran surface, and had never seen true space. But when I first felt the air around my ship dissolve for the first time, I felt a wave of true inner peace pass through me.

I was, of course, not alone; a co-pilot came along to survey my controls over the very automated flight. However, when a freak accident involving the collision of an emissary Taiidani Corvette with an Ion Frigate, the spacelanes got very hectic. The co-pilot ordered me to head back, but we were almost half of the way to the moon anyway that I felt compelled to go forward.

The trip was rather simple until we ran into a dogfight between several Hiigaran Scouts, who had claimed that the collision was an act of war, and the Taiidani Republicans, who had a similar belief of conspiracy. Bullets whizzed violently back and forth through the vacuum, and my companion was literally on the edge of his seat, fearing the worst. I switched to manual flight and deftly maneuvered between the attacking craft, despite the inherent gracelessness of the ship I was piloting. I received a distress call from one of the Taiidan ships, whose engines were about to go critical, and I latched onto his craft with my grappling hooks and ordered the pilot to transfer to the salvette. I unlatched and flew away with time to spare before the Scout ignited, and this act of heroism forced both sides of the attack to reconsider their actions. Grateful for the rescue, the pilot (whose name I struggled to remember) promised to put in a good word for me with the Taiidan Naval Force.

My Hiigaran superiors were quick to reciprocate.

I began with easy missions in the combat ranks, settling petty squabbles between rival merchants and the like, but I consistently impressed my squadron leaders with my proficiency in flying, especially Interceptor-class vessels.

It was one day, after a full four years of service in the Navy, that my commanding officer called me in for a "special discussion." He informed me of a special new military unit, tentatively known as "Angel Squadron," headed by Kaar Naabal and Ral Liir Hra, two fighter pilot sensations during the Exodus, which was designed not only to create a unit of the elite of the elite, trained to perform the most arduous military tasks if and when they should crop up, but also to instill a more patriotic feeling in Hiigarans towards the military, a feeling which had stagnated in the decade after the Landfall. I accepted, as would have any opportunistic pilot, and was placed through rigorous training with one thousand other applicants for this most prestigious position. Only five were accepted, along with three prototype 1R combat robots, to create a small squadron of ten.

I thought over my accomplishments in the squadron; my swift promotion from Cadet to Captain in only a year, my several battles against Turanic, Taiidan, and now Kadeshi, and my failure to properly command loyalty from my squadron…

Through my nostalgia, something happened that really gave me a wake-up call. One of the Swarmers passing by us, too close to properly maneuver, plowed through us like a battering ram. I was unharmed, and didn't have time to see who had crashed into the ship, but I was suddenly fully alert. The surge of adrenalin must have triggered an idea in my brain, for with no time to think things through I shouted, "USE YOUR GRAV-BEAMS!"

I turned to face the ground rushing up to me and I activated my glove-weapon. I triggered it, and let fly with a powerful surge of gravimetric energy towards the ground. It took a while for the clashing laws of physics to help us, but I and the others began slowing down when about five meters away from the ground, and we slowed to a complete stop at one meter. I shut my weapon off, and fell to the hangar ground with a painful thud.

I quickly collected myself and began racing towards the docked ships when I heard a loud crash behind me. I was swept off my feet from the shock (for perhaps the tenth time in the last hour) and felt several small stabs as shrapnel penetrated my legs. I winced, and looked behind me. I saw the smoldering remains of the Swarmer that we had just met with; the occupant clearly dead. But I also saw a body lying broken and bleeding on the top of the ship, too badly cut up and burnt to identify.

I looked over at my other teammates. Jacyn was fine; so were Aryl and May; Nolan was sporting a reddening arm wound, but seemed fine; and Mara, while clearly shaken up from her recent experience, was unharmed. But…that was only five. I looked back at the wrecked Swarmer, and I realized the agonizing truth: it had hit Hal.

Hal, the quiet, sometimes tardy but incredibly loyal squadronmate. Hal, who had risked his relationship with his fellow pilots to support me when the more turbulent Tengo and Myla did not. My God, I thought. I had never believed him to die on me; he was too talented, too cautious. No…

A grav-beam knocking a supply crate towards us brought me back to my senses. Now was not the time to mourn ghosts, but the time to prevent more from joining Kara and Hal in death. I stood up and fired at the few remaining Kadeshi pilots. On the top hangar floor, only five or six Swarmers and Fuel Pods remained.

As did the Concealed Treasure. I ran over to it with my crew following behind. I heard fleeting conversation between them about Hal; some had not deduced yet what had happened, and the others were quick to oblige in informing them. I approached the ship's airlock and tapped in the eight-digit code to deactivate the safety mechanisms. I walked inside and approached the bridge.

I sat down in the pilot's chair and began the preflight procedure, flipping switches here and tapping buttons there. The engines came online with a rumbling hum, and the ship lifted into the air. Jacyn jumped into the seat next to me and operated the sensors.

A sharp bang on the ship's hull forced me to revolve the ship around to starboard, where I saw an active Swarmer intent on attacking our seemingly helpless ship. I nodded to Jacyn, who began to reveal to the Kadeshi pilot why our ship was called the Concealed Treasure, as our six heavy plasma cannons grew out of the hull. I gripped the joystick and pumped the trigger with my forefinger twice, firing two powerful flares of light towards the smaller fighter, cremating the hapless person inside.

We continued to stimulate the ship's engines until they were fully active, and we pivoted to face the gaping exit of the tunnel up ahead of us. We set thrusters to full output and shot out of the massive ship into the bloody skirmish.

* * *

I switched our IFF beacon from our false Kadeshi wavelength to our standard Angel Squadron frequency to avoid friendly fire, and called out to the Angel Base, "This is Captain Sjet to the Angel Base. I am commandeering the Concealed Treasure, and have accomplished my mission. I have a man down, but the rest of us are fine. Where do you need us?"

Commander Paktu's troubled voice responded, "Captain, the rest of the Angels are out in the open; Iliom Se is down, and I'm not sure about the others."

"Acknowledged. Should we join them?"

"Negative. The Base's hull is critical, I need you to come over and help evacuate."

This last sentence struck me hard. "The Base is going down?"

"Sorry, Jake, but this girl can't take much more."

I looked at Jake and we shared a troubled glance. Except for Nolan, who was currently unconscious in the back of the ship, none of our other teammates would feel the same way about the Angel Base dying. It had lasted only a year, a small miracle considering her line of work, but we had learned to call it home. I cycled through the different ships in my targeting computer, and confirmed that the Troop Transport's fusion reactor was ruptured; it would not last long under such duress.

I set a course and had begun to make preparations to board the ship when I felt several sharp impacts rock the ship. I checked my sensors, and saw that a pack of Swarmers had come out to play. I activated the ship's shields (cleverly disguised from the Kadeshi inspection teams as an auxiliary power generator) and ordered Jacyn to man the conn while I raced back to operate the turrets.

As I jogged to the aft of the ship, Aryl, May, and Mara joined me. We entered a small mess room that we'd converted to serve as a tactical HQ, where we came into contact with six large chairs. Originally, even with Carn Telos' modifications, the Treasure had not had fully articulated turrets, but a short go-over by a Hiigaran tech crew had changed that, and had also installed complete turret-control units, much like the ones found on a Multi-Gun Corvette.

I sat in one of the chairs and strapped myself in. The vidscreens in the ship's helmet activated, and before my eyes came a sweeping panorama of space. The turret's crosshairs lit up, and I was now ready to fight. I rotated the turret around until I saw the Swarmers, pecking at us with their fiery stingers. I fired three times at the lead vessel, which raced past me and evaded all three shots. I dismissed it and searched hungrily for another one, and when I saw it I fired violently at it. It exploded, but it did so too close to my turret's camera, and the flames from the blast temporarily blinded me.

When the dark blotches left my eyes, I spotted two others, and I set my sights on them. I shot once at the closer vessel, and the hot plasma boiled off its port hull, and the force of the attack knocked it into its wingmate, grazing the topside of the spheroid craft and pushing it away from the Treasure.

I looked for another target, and found something more tempting. In the distance, I saw a lone Multi-Beam Frigate hounding a damaged Support Frigate. Thinking quickly, I fired four blasts at it, which didn't hit it, but instead detonate writhing plasma all around it. Fortunately, it did force the ship to turn around, after which it began to approach us, blue beams a-blazing. I heard several sarcastic comments from Aryl, commenting, "Oh, nice work Jake!" but I was unshaken by the threat.

I said, "Everyone, switch your control to the starboard turrets; let's carpet-nuke this bastard." The four of us opened fire on the vessel, which meant that an impressive amount of firepower was let off. Dozens of reddish projectiles flew away; many missed, but far more hit the front part of the ship, devastating the cockpit. The front part melted down, fusing the cannons and releasing the occupants into vacuum. This also meant that the frigate no longer had power over its course, and crashed into our engines as we passed. Jacyn yelled over the comm., "What the hell are you doing? I'm trying to fly here!"

I smirked, "Well, I guess you're not doing a good enough job."

"Cut the chatter," he suddenly ordered, "We're approaching the Base. Get ready to board."

I unstrapped myself and raced over to the airlock. I did not go into the cockpit, but I knew we had arrived when a small tremble passed through the ship, indicating that we had docked. I opened the lock, and was about to enter the ship when a blast of heat pushed me back. I could see into the flaming walkways of the ship, which had clearly taken its toll from the battle, and stood back to allow several wounded soldiers and personnel to enter our relatively undamaged ship. I went inside when a break in the influx occurred, and motioned for the rest of my crew to remain onboard to tend to the others.

I made my way to the bridge, where I knew at least one person was still onboard. Commander Paktu had firmly chosen to stay onboard. "The captain always goes down with her ship, Jake," she said.

"Commander, I realize the situation, but I'm not letting you stay here. We have only a few minutes before the reactor blows."

She looked at me and narrowed her eyes. "If you want to join me, that's fine. But I'm not leaving, and you can't make me."

I got angry. "Oh, can't I?"

A few seconds later, I was carrying the unconscious body of my CO down to the airlock where the Treasure remained. I had felt a small moral dilemma when performing my decision, but I understood that it was really the best thing to do. When I got back to the ship, I passed her limp body to the inviting arms of Jacyn, who inspected her swollen eye and knew what had happened. "You know you're going to regret this later."

I shrugged. "Just call me Ensign Sjet."

Jacyn beckoned me in, but I stayed out, closing the airlock on my side. I caught his question before I fully shut him off, and replied, "You take care of the fighters; I have some unfinished business to attend to."

I left the Corvette docking bay quickly and arrived at the Fighter Bay, where my Interceptor laid waiting for me. I noticed that Jacyn's, May's, Nolan's, and Hal's Interceptors still remained; I suppose the evacuees did not want to be mistaken for military pilots, yet Jacyn's Bloody Dagger and Nolan's Black Runner had been swiped; I suppose that an invisible ship and a thicker-hulled craft were more tempting prizes for any ship-jumpers.

I hopped into my curvy ship and, instead of waiting for the blast shields around my vessel to release me, I blew two flaming holes into the shields and blasted away. I skidded down the length of the Troop Transport, hopping off when I heard an explosion behind me. I brought up a view of the Angel Base from behind me, and its vision appeared in my cockpit canopy. The flaming ship seemed tranquil at first (this was not real-time; it was a recording,) but then it collapsed into flame so violently that I had trouble believing what I saw at first. I replayed the recording and closed my eyes. First Lara, then Hal, then Iliom Se, and now the Angel Base herself. I sighed; it was a fine ship. I dodged the burning shrapnel that rocketed away from the explosion and tried to force the image of the burning ship out of my mind.

Time to take back my command. "This is Angel One, coming back in command. Sorry to deprive you of command, Tengo."

The pilot chosen to take over the squadron in my absence (not my decision, of course, but that of Commander Paktu) groaned in disappointment.

I continued, "Angels, what gives with all the plasma launchers?'

Myla Sjet responded, "Captain, a week after you left, the Corporate fleet came up with a powerful new weapon system. Our own plasma launchers had not been perfected by Fleet Command, so in respect with our temporary alliance they shared the technology with us. Every ship in the fleet is being retrofitted with the new weapons, sir. Including fighters."

I whistled. I fired a few more shots into space and watched the shots fly out. This little addition was a very welcome bonus to our already advanced ships. And now, I was going to prove it.

I targeted one of the Fuel Pods closest to the Arkship. My mission was not to take out as many ships as possible, though I was planning to do that on the side, but my plan was to take out that Arkship. From the inside.

I realized that the only way we could possibly win was to get rid of the ship, which in itself had a greater population than all of Hiigara. And what with that QAR core thing fueling the massive PDAs, they would have a near limitless supply of enemy vessels at their disposal. The only way out was to take out that core. And I planned to do it.

I got near the Fuel Pod, which started firing its lasers at me, and dodged its attacks, returning with my own. Two Taiidani Bombers flanked me, and I called out to them, "This is Captain Sjet of Angel Squadron. I could use a little help in taking this boy out."

A familiar voice called back, "This is Commander Larkin of Khel-ma squadron. Where do you want to hit it, Captain?"

I smiled, recalling the turbulent Taiidani from the peace talks back in the Gemstone. "Let's pull this guy's tail a little. Go for the engines." I slowed down so that the slower craft could catch up with me, and I saw them toss out some powerful blue flames at the Pod's exhausts. The blue explosions mixed with the reddish engine fumes to produce a beautiful, violet light. The ship slowed down, shunting power from its damaged engines to increase its firing rate. Even the Bombers were agile enough to evade the lasers, weaving an intricate, deadly ballet through the void, illuminated only by the blinding lasers of the Fuel Pod and faraway explosions of expired ships. I destroyed some of the turrets of the ship and left it to the eager Bombers, whose flames devoured the ship with gusto.

I received a call from one of my pilots; Tengo, as it happened. I banked hard to port and raced past all the individual dogfights to reach my brazen wingmate. I found him trying to shake off an Advanced Swarmer while pouncing on a Multi-Beam Frigate that was attacking a Taiidani Assault Frigate. I fired one shot at the Swarmer, not intended to hit, but intended to get the pilot thinking twice about his actions, and started off on a broad curve that would get me on top of the Kadeshi frigate. I brought up my missile targeting reticule and watched it track the enemy vessel. It went from red to green as it made contact with the ship, and a sustained tone along with a flashing line of text informed me that I had a target lock. I fired two of my three missiles at the ship, and the back half of the ship distended in the resulting shockwave. Unfortunately, it forced the ship to tumble forward, and it plowed into the Assault Frigate. The bigger ship's coolant tanks were ruptured in the explosion, and the blaze engulfed them both.

I shook my head; yet another victim of this conflict.

I saw that Tengo had managed to loop around the confused Swarmer, and swiftly demolish it. "You alright, Four?"

He sounded a bit shaken, but otherwise fine. "Yeah, One. And…thanks for getting Mara out of there."

I allowed myself a little relief, there was hope for the two of us yet. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be a good leader now, would I?"

He allowed himself a little laugh to escape. "No, I suppose not, One."

I brought my ship about and brought all weapons power into the engines. I had set my sights on the Arkship, and that bitch was not going to be happy to see me again.