So, here the next installment. There is a bit of action in this one. The actual topic of the story should start to unfold in the next chapter.
Enjoy.
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‘This has to be a new record.’ Tagor had followed Val now for 12 tazuras around the universe, watching her establish trade deals and employ freighter pilots, and only now that she had made it half way through Ceo’s Doubt did she get herself into trouble. He could not quite make out what had triggered it or if those ships had been waiting for her. Nonetheless, she suddenly faced a group of three Perseus fighters and two Nemesis corvettes. The odds were anything but favourable but there was very little Tagor could do, his Mamba was fast but not fast enough to get there anytime soon. Yet, he had to try.
Hailing her was out of the question as he could only broadcast on an open channel. Hopefully she’d see him coming and move towards his position. The Barracuda would not be able to outrun the heavy fighters, even less the corvettes. Tagor was pressed into his seat when he engaged the boost drive.
She headed south, trying to split the fighter group. But the corvettes would catch her quickly. Soon a heated battle had started. Through the video enhancement goggles Tagor watched the sleek Boron heavy fighter dance through the streams of plasma. How long would she be able to keep this up? The battle that followed left him lost for words.
*
“Five enemy ships inbound from the North gate, three Perseus and two Nemesis. Your friend has also just entered the sector; though the East gate. Our ship can make it to the gate before the fighters reach us but not before the corvettes will be all over us. What do you intend to do?”
“Great, exactly what I need. Not enough energy cells for a jump and two corvettes with three of the best fighter ships available. Can you get me any weapons readings?”
“The lead corvette is carrying a Beta PSG at the front, rest HEPTs, all other ships max HEPTs.”
“Could have been worse, I guess. So I will need to take out that one corvette first.”
Val turned her ship away from her enemies and pushed the throttle to maximum. As the speed of the corvettes was significantly higher than that of the fighters she had to try to split them up. While heading for the South gate Val considered her options and strategies. Well, options, there weren’t any. She could head for Tagor’s ship but that would place him in danger and she did not know if he was willing to help. Avoid a fight by docking at a station? No, they’d just put the station under siege. So, there was only one strategy left: don’t get hit and make this as short a fight as possible.
When the lead corvette was almost in firing range Val turned the ship and headed at full speed towards it. She had to get there before the shields would take a hammering from the shockwave generator. At just over 1km both opened fire. The destructive concentric waves battered the shields of the Barracuda but the crew of the Nemesis appeared to have been thrown off by the drop in shield strength that the beam of the ion disruptor had caused. Val used that to pull alongside and maintain a constant target lock. For a moment too long she maintained this position. While bringing the shields of the lead Nemesis down to 13%, her own suddenly took a pounding by the other corvette. In a brief moment of panic she engaged the strafe drive and moved out of the line of fire. The stream of plasma that had been aimed at her ship now homed in on her target; in a matter of sezuras the Nemesis took hull damage. But the moment of relief was short. By strafing to avoid the incoming fire of the second corvette Val had manoeuvred the Barracuda into the fire arc of the top turret of her target, which immediately opened up.
“Shields at 28%, 23%, 18%. Video enhancement goggles destroyed.”
Val let out a croaky scream. Frantically she engaged the strafe drive again and began circling around her prey. The Barracuda danced through the incoming plasma. What may have looked elegant from the distance was nothing but a random change of strafing direction in a desperate attempt to stay alive.
The constant barrage of disruptor beam and plasma crippled the Nemesis and just before the heavy Paranid fighters entered the fray it exploded in a bright ball of fast extinguishing fire. Quickly Val realised that this had been the easier part. The real fight for survival had only just begun.
Streams of green plasma approached her position from all sides. These pilots certainly were well trained. Val targeted the Perseus that had just crossed her field of vision. No time to think just act. Kill or be killed. Her efficiency would be the deciding factor. She had to clear the area off those fighters before they could inflict major damage.
The white beam of the disruptor, mixed with green plasma of her Beta HEPT reached out for the fast and agile fighter. A prolonged burst that chewed away have the shield strength of the Perseus and change course. Target fixation would be her end. Another fighter came into few. Val pulled the trigger. While the plasma bolts were far off, the disruptor struck. A tight turn brought her back in line with her main target. Its shields were recharging slowly, too slow. Another barrage and she could see plasma charring the hull. Again she veered off, this time using the strafe drive to retain her target lock. Just a little longer, just a little more, done. The Barracuda flew through the debris of the exploded Perseus. In the last moment Val dipped the nose of her fighter to avoid a collision with the fast approaching corvette. The combat awareness system produced a screeching sound as the shields of the two ships interpenetrated.
“Shields critical.” Even Arox’ voice appeared to reflect some sort of fear.
‘I know how you feel.’ Val thought.
In a wide irregular spiral she cleared the danger zone and gave the shield generators time to regenerate. She could not afford another pass like that. In her attempt to clear the fighters she had completely lost the corvette out of sight. A mistake not to be repeated.
Unflinchingly she turned the Barracuda towards the closest Perseus and headed straight towards it. Gentle use of the strafe drive kept her clear of the incoming plasma bolts, while she drained her weapon banks into the shields of the heavy fighter. Just when she passed her target her ship shook violently. The second remaining Perseus had managed to lock onto her ship and land a number of full hits.
“Shields at 5%. If you consider to get out here alive I’d recommend you do something about that.”
Crickey, with her already low shield energy it had only taken a few hits to drain them again to dangerous level. A barrel roll followed by a hammerhead brought her behind her opponent. But before she could pull the trigger the missile alert sounded. One, two, three, four Wasp missiles made their way dangerously fast towards her position. While relatively weak, with her battered shields these fast missiles could well do some damage. Val weaved her fighter in a random pattern, trying to get the missiles to overshoot so she could pick them off. No avail. Another plan was needed. Sweat ran down her forehead. The helmet suddenly seemed to suffocate her. The closest missile was only 60m away, closing fast. Val pulled hard at the yoke and threw the ship into a tight turn, then widening the radius and tightening it again to stay clear of the other missiles. With blazing guns she headed towards the approaching corvette, rolling the Barracuda to avoid incoming fire. The greatest weakness of the Nemesis became obvious here and then, the single front mounted weapon.
The distance between the two ships diminished rapidly and in the very last moment Val dipped down, rolling around the M6. The pilot of the corvette realised too late what she attempted and the four missiles slammed into the forward shields of the large ship.
Val let out a scream of relief. No rest for the wicked. Quickly she targeted the closest heavy fighter and opened fire. Its shields tumbled quickly and the plasma picked shreds out of its hull. Her previous onslaught must have damaged one of the shield generators. Suddenly she saw a spacesuit next to the ship. It was too late to change course, the Barracuda slammed into the floating pilot, sending him tumbling off to the side. The small cloud of escaping gas indicated that the suit must have taken damage. If not the internal injuries, the lack of oxygen would mark the end of his life. Through wide-open eyes Val looked into space. Shock over what had just happened had paralysed her for a moment.
“Wake up! It was not your fault! Move or you will be the next one to die!”
Val shook her head as though to rid herself of the guilt. There was no time to waste. Arox’ words were supported by plasma bolts plunging into her shields. The single Beta HEPT could not drain her shields very fast, however, she also did not want to stay put for as long as it would take.
Throwing the ship around she targeted her last opponent and opened fire. Her blank expression reflected the shock of the past mizuras. It was different to shoot down a ship and, by doing so, kill the pilot with it. But running into the floating body of somebody who had surrendered was a different story, something she had not come across before.
The fight was short. An intimidated crew surrendered shortly after the first electrical parts of the corvette became victims of the destructive force of the ion disruptor. This had not gone according to plan. Who could have expected a single fighter to come out victorious at such odds?
*
“Congratulations. I was afraid you’d not make it.” Tagor had arrived the moment the crew of the corvette had abandoned the ship.
“You should get yourself a faster ship if you want to partake in the fun next time.” Val was torn between feelings. On one hand she was glad to see a more or less friendly face. On the other hand she was just tired and wanted to be left in peace.
“I am sorry, I really did try to get here as fast as possible but you don’t make stalking you all that easy, you know. What are you going to do now? Do you intend to leave the crew of that ship floating in space or take them to the authorities?”
“Well, you are an ‘authority’ aren’t you? So do you suggest I hand them over to you? The ships I will take to Lucky Planets.”
“You could indeed leave them to me and we may be able to find out why they waited for you. It could save you a lot of hassles.”
Val thought about the proposition. There was really nowhere she could take them, or would want to take them. But would they have any knowledge that might provide the Argon government details about her past? Should she just leave them and give them a chance to attack her again?
“Ok, you can have them.”
Tagor started picking up the six floating space suits. “Do you wish me to join you on your way to Lucky Planets? I will head for Light of Heart. So most of your journey will also be mine.”
“Might be a good idea. Thank you.”
The small group of ships headed towards the East gate. Damaged drive units of the corvette and Perseus fighter slowed the convoy down considerably. This was going to be a long journey. On the bright side, they were going to enter Boron space, which should be much safer.
“Do you know why these ships attacked you?”
Tagor saw Val hesitate then shake her head. “No, I have not spent a lot of time in Paranid space, so would not know why they attacked me. Mind you, they are allies of the Split.”
“Split? Do you have any quarrels with them?”
“Of course I do. Thanks to you guys. Remember Ore Belt and Cloudbase South East?”
“Fair enough.”
There was silence for a few mizuras.
“Where do you know Ban Danna from? What made you send him the message drone?”
“You are not going to start this all over again, are you?” Her eyes narrowed.
“Don’t worry. We are all grateful that you have provided as much information as you did and I am not going to press the matter.” ‘Not now anyway.’ He thought, attempting to give her a reassuring smile.
“Whatever. Ban Danna is a well-known person. The information appeared important enough to send it to the top of the food chain.”
“Did you get into fights with these ships?”
”Only briefly, I found it very advisable to stay clear of their guns.” Val shivered visibly at the thought of her encounter with the pyramid ships. Tagor did not fail to notice.
“That bad?”
“Worse. They have some sort of beam weapons that drain your shields in next to no time. I was not going to stay long enough to find out just how long it would take them to shred my ship.”
“How did you get there in the first place?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to get anywhere near these creatures.”
“I believe you, but that doesn’t answer my question.” Tagor smirked, even managed to make Val laugh. “No kidding, ey?” She did look gorgeous when she smiled but he had no time to enjoy it. In a matter of sezuras the hard, yet concerned look returned.
“Are you going to tell me how you got your hands on that Boron beam weapon?” He said casually.
“I salvaged it from a wreck in Atreus’ Clouds.” That was going to be as much information as she would provide. Val knew he had been near when she rescued Bola Ti but he was probably not aware that the Boron scientist was still alive. And it was better if it stayed that way.
“Have you heard of a Boron scientist named Bola Ti?”
“Of course I have. You guys contracted me to take him to Kingdom End. Incidentally that was the first time I came across that weapon and also received this ship. But you know all of that, don’t you?”
Ouch, it had indeed been a silly question but Tagor had to ask it to see if he could trick her into a lie. Yet, her response appeared to be perfectly honest. Perhaps she told the truth.
“I am sure the Boron would appreciate if you returned the weapon to them. As far as I know it was still in its testing phase.”
“Well, what do you think I am doing? I am testing it as well as I can. It works pretty good already, don’t you think?” Again a smile flit over her face. “Rest assured, I will return it once I have tested it sufficiently.”
There was nothing that he could do than believe her. Force was certainly not a good idea.
“Now, we have always been talking about me, what about you? Is there anything I should know?”
Tagor gave a sad smile. “Not really, orphan, never seen my real parents, adopted at the age of four, sheltered youth and adolescence. Grown straight into the service. No real place to call home apart from the house of my foster parents on Sonra. Friends are a luxury that I had to reduce to a minimum due to my line of work. Life in the cockpit really.”
“Uhh, exciting. Are your foster parents in the service or how did you get to ‘grow’ into it?”
“Well, yeah, my father is, mum isn’t. She enjoys life at home nursing the garden. Not that bad really, she loves it and her garden is probably the most beautiful one in the entire universe.”
“Pride of a son.” Val interrupted him laughingly.
“Yeah, perhaps, but it really is beautiful. The only place I can find peace when I need it.”
“When you need it? Is that only occasionally the case? I kind of wish I’d be left in peace at all times. Some people appear to disagree, unfortunately.”
“I noticed. Did you always get into trouble that easily?”
Interesting question, Val thought. In fact, she could not even remember correctly. The years at the clan provided a sheltered life for her. Not a lot of action apart from the occasional tracing attempts when she hacked into a more sophisticated computer. Writing AI code was exciting but not dangerous. Well, apart from that one little mistake where the program almost spaced the entire station crew due to an error in a emergency subroutine. Before the clan? That was quite some time ago. He was not the only one here without parents. Val had dim memory of being brought up by an Argon couple but then being passed on to an old Paranid for reasons beyond her knowledge. Home? There was no such thing, closest possibly the old spade, the first revision Orinoco that the old Cromancketal had owned. He was the closest thing to family she could think of. But where did he go? Was he still alive? Eight jazuras ago Crom suddenly vanished, leaving her with Sor t’Nkr, the lead programmer of the Dragon clan and a friend of his. Sor, he had also become her best friend, like a brother. Yet, she did have no clue if he was still alive and if so, where he was hiding. Her ties with the past were truly and thoroughly cut, at least those to her friends. The only remains of the past were dark shadows of assassins. Val wondered if she should envy Tagor for his rather dull life.
Tagor could virtually see her brain waves buzzing by and wondered what she had been through. The concerned look on her face didn’t imply a too pleasant past.
“You know, orphan, raised by foster parents that vanished at some point, then under the custody of a Paranid who vanished at some point, then a Split who vanished at some point. It appears people have a tendency to just disappear all around me.”
“What is your profession? You obviously are a formidable pilot and considering what you found out about me also either very proficient hacking computers or have contacts in the right places. Where did you learn these skills?”
“Thank you for the compliment.” Val smiled and left the question unanswered.
“Pirates then, I guess. Or secret service? Probably not, too high profile as of lately.” Tagor looked at her, trying to catch a reaction. Nothing.
*
After nearly two tazuras they parted at the Rolk’s Fate West gate, Val continued her slow journey through the gate to the shipyard in Lucky Planets, while Tagor headed for the trading station in Light of Heart.
“What will you be doing after you got the ships to the yard?”
“Why do you ask? What would you get paid for if I told you?”
“Fair enough. Try to stay out of trouble for a while. So long.”
“I’ll do my best, thanks for the company. Take care.” With these words Val entered the activation zone of the gate.
Tagor hit the boost and headed for the North gate to Montalar. Now that he could go at maximum speed it took less than three stazuras to cover the distance. As he aligned the Mamba with the gate it activated spitting out three Orinocos and four Bayamon medium fighters. The first salvo almost stripped his shields. Suppressing the paralysing shock he hit the boost and cleared the gate area. The missile alert sounded, two Silkworm and four Wasp missiles came his way. While the larger Silkworms were no immediate threat as he could outrun them, the Wasp missiles could do significant damage to the lightly shielded Mamba. Tagor weaved the ship frantically; hoping the particle bolts of the medium fighters might take out one or two but no avail. All he could hope for was that the fast small missiles would run out of fuel and self-destruct. The computer announced the destruction of two of them but shortly after the launch of another four. Suddenly the Mamba shuddered under the fire of one of the Orinocos.
‘How? Engine overdrive.’ This was getting worse by the sezura. Tagor had to put an end to it before they turned his ship into space dust.
He turned the ship toward the fast Orinoco and opened fire. Fifty megawatts of shielding were a lot but BHEPTs did make an impression. A short burst was all he could afford without being hunted down by the missiles. The turn was enough for the fast Bayamon fighters to catch up. Pink particle bolts streamed by his cockpit.
‘Change target. Pick the weakest.’ Thoughts ran through his mind. He targeted the closest Bayamon and attempted to align his ship. Before he could open fire the Mamba shuddered again under the hits of the other fighters.
“Shields 15%.”
“I see that!” Tagor put his ship into a wide barrel roll, forced one of his pursuers to overshoot and opened fire. After the Mamba cleared the debris he targeted the next one. Turning the ship tightly he avoided the incoming plasma bolts of the two Orinocos.
“Shields critical. Engine tuning destroyed. Hull damage.”
Avoiding the plasma had taken him straight into the path of the remaining three Wasp missiles.
“Engine tuning destroyed. Video enhancement goggles destroyed. Hull at 89%.”
“Arrgh. Shut up and give me some options!”
Only just he avoided an attempted collision of one of the Orinocos. It gave him, however, the brief chance of a snapshot at one of the Bayamons. The pilot, taken by surprise, veered away and crashed into the second Orinoco, leaving his ship crippled. Tagor made short work of the wreck. Slowly his shields began to recharge. The situation looked more pleasant now. Still there was no time to rest. His fast reflexes saved Tagor from the incoming fire of the two remaining Bayamons. Though, his move took him straight into the flight path of an Orinoco. The pilot fired a Wasp missile at point blank.
The impact caused the Mamba to shift sideways. Shields almost down again. Tagor tried to calm himself down, an almost impossible job when panic crept up every other sezura.
‘Target next Bayamon. Easy meat. Fast but no shields. Target next Bayamon.’ Tagor muttered.
There it was, a hammerhead manoeuvre brought him right behind on. He pulled the trigger hard and screamed in triumph. His hand ached from the force he used. Tagor wiped the sweat off his palm and took a firm hold of the yoke again.
‘Three down, one to go. Then the heavy fighters.’
After a few fast turns, he lined up behind the remaining Bayamon. A prolonged burst of plasma marked the demise of the pirate ship. Tagor was just about to shout out his triumph when the gate activated and another mixed group of Bayamons and Orinocos entered the sector. This was just not his day.
Red Glow - Chapter 12 (05.02.2006)
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Red Glow - Chapter 12 (05.02.2006)
Last edited by KiwiNZ on Sun, 5. Feb 06, 20:49, edited 1 time in total.
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