Ep.#1 - Aurora: EV-01 , page 16
“His significant other,” Nathan explained. “She runs the galley.”
“Oh, yeah. She’s nice.”
“Don’t let Josh hear you say that,” Nathan insisted as he pressed the gear button.
“Why?”
“He and Neli have sort of a love-hate relationship,” Nathan explained. “Gear up and locked. Take us to the jump point.”
Nikolas took a deep breath, trying to quickly calculate his next maneuver.
“You know, you can use the AI,” Nathan told him. “I’m not going to mark you down for it.”
“Josh said you like your pilots to do the flying and not the AIs,” Nikolas replied.
“I’ve got nothing against manual flying, but we have AIs for critical mission operations. Maybe for now, you save the manual flying for the sims.”
“Yes, sir,” Nikolas agreed, looking visibly relieved as he entered the flight command into the auto-flight console.
“Oh, and don’t believe everything Josh tells you,” Nathan added.
Josh dove his fighter at the compound, strafing the Gamaze defense line with staccato bursts of plasma energy.
“I thought we weren’t supposed to kill anyone?” Talisha asked over comms.
“Relax, my guns are set at one percent,” Josh replied as he rolled off his target and started to climb. “The most they’re going to get is a stain in their pants.”
“I’ve got six bogeys at bearing two four seven, Angels Six,” Kusya reported. “Range thirty clicks.”
“Talisha, you guys keep the ground pounders busy,” Josh instructed as he turned toward the incoming Gamaze fighters. “Kusya and I will take care of the bogeys.”
“There are six of them, Josh,” Talisha reminded him.
“Should be fun,” Josh joked.
“Uh…is there something I should know?” Allet wondered.
“Slave your auto-flight to mine and be ready to take control as soon as we come out of the second jump,” Josh instructed as he set up his attack plan.
“Copy that,” Allet replied. “Slaved.”
“Can you handle that, Dottie?” Josh asked his AI.
“Are you kidding?”
Josh smiled. Maybe these AIs weren’t so bad after all.
Kit paused, checking the tactical display on the inside of his visor. There were eight red icons positioned to defend the backside of the compound. “I’ve got this,” he told Mori as he rose to take action.
“Wait,” Mori tried to warn, but it was too late. “Be ready,” he told Jokay and Abdur.
Kit started running toward the enemy that he still couldn’t clearly see through the swirling snow. “Twenty-meter jump, on my mark,” he instructed his suit AI.
“Ready.”
Kit continued running, pulling small objects about the size of his palms from their attachment points on his thighs as he took one last step, then leapt up in the air. “Jump!”
Kit disappeared, reappearing six meters above the Gamaze soldiers, flying through the air. Just as he reached the top of his arc and started falling back toward the ground through the snow, he tossed the objects in his hands to either side. “Shields up! Jump me down…now!”
Kit’s combat suit glowed slightly as his shields charged before he disappeared again. A split second later, he hit the ground running and tucked and rolled, coming up facing the way he had come.
Two flashes appeared in the middle of the soldiers, dropping them to the ground, unconscious. Kit quickly scanned the area, checking to see if any of the Gamaze troops on the other side of the encampment had noticed the detonations. Luckily, between the automated gun emplacements peppering them with frightening blasts of plasma energy and the strafing runs by the Dragon fighters, the enemy was otherwise occupied.
“Come on in,” Kit told the other members of his squad.
Mori, Jokay, and Abdur came jogging up.
“A little showy, don’t you think?”
“You know how much I love flying,” Kit replied with a grin. “Let’s go get our people, shall we?”
Mori just shook his head. “One, Zulu Three.”
Two Dragon fighters suddenly appeared directly beneath and slightly ahead of the six Gamaze fighters that were streaking toward their embattled comrades on the surface. Two missiles launched from each of the Dragon fighters as their guns opened fire.
The Dragons rolled in opposite directions just as their missiles impacted their targets. Four of the Gamaze fighters burst into flames, their pilots immediately ejecting into the worsening blizzard. The other two fighters broke formation, also in opposite directions, each trying to come about to engage their attackers. But it was too late. The two black Dragon fighters had disappeared.
“Two, Tango One!” Chief Anson called into his helmet comms. Right on cue, he and Corporal Teece rose up and opened fire from the east side of the Gamaze encampment while Sergeant Tuncay and Specialist Roose attacked from the west. With all of the Gamaze forces concentrated to the south edge of the compound to defend against where they thought the main force was attacking, they were caught off guard. The four Ghatazhak easily dropped the rest of the Gamaze troops with stun blasts, then moved in quickly to secure them.
“Jump complete,” Loki reported from the Aurora’s helm station.
“Is our cloak active?” Cameron inquired.
“Cloaking device went active the moment we came out of the jump,” the Aurora’s AI replied.
“Contact,” Ensign Soray announced. “Gamaze cruiser.”
“Did they spot us?” Cameron asked her sensor officer.
“They have redirected their sensor sweeps in our direction,” Laza replied. “However, their course remains unchanged. They appear to be maneuvering into a different orbital path.”
“The Gamaze ship is changing their orbit to better support their shuttles on the surface,” Aurora reported.
“Any weapons locks?” Cameron asked.
“No weapons are currently trained on this ship,” Aurora replied.
“Are they within our weapons range?”
“Affirmative.”
“Aurora, target their jump emitters and weapons. If they try to jump, take out their emitters. If they fire on us, take out their weapons.”
“Understood,” Aurora confirmed. “Target locks acquired. Estimated time to disable target’s jump and weapons capabilities is thirty-eight seconds.”
“Damn,” Cameron said to herself. “Ensign Dass, open a hail to that ship. All channels.”
“Hail ready on all channels,” Ensign Dass replied.
“Gamaze ship, this is the Confederated Systems Alliance ship, Aurora. We are conducting rescue operations on the surface. Power down your weapons and shields, and hold your current orbit, or we will disable your ship. You have thirty seconds to comply.”
Robert stood near the hatch, hands on the wall, listening as best he could to the commotion outside the compartment in which they were imprisoned. His crew was gathered around him, also listening.
“What the hell is going on out there?” Cori wondered.
“Was that weapons fire?” Mick asked.
“My guess is a rescue,” Robert stated. He turned to look back at his crew. “They will probably come for us, to use us as bargaining chips. We may have to seize the moment,” Robert explained. “It might be our only chance.”
“I thought you said we weren’t going to resist?” Tika exclaimed.
“That was before. This is now.”
The racket outside the compartment suddenly stopped. Robert immediately moved to the side of the hatch, ready to pounce on whoever came through next. Mick took similar precautions on the other side.
The hatch slid open, revealing a Ghatazhak in non-reflective, black combat armor.
Robert leaned in, realizing it wasn’t the Gamaze who had opened the door.
“Captain Nash, I presume?” the Ghatazhak soldier’s voice sounded though his helmet loudspeaker. His visor lifted, revealing Kit’s face. “Lieutenant Vasya, Ghatazhak Alpha QRF. Would you like a ride home?”
Robert felt a wave of relief wash over him. “What took you so long?”
“Well, we did have to travel a thousand light years to get here,” Kit joked. “Who are they?” he asked, noticing the three women huddled in the corner.
“I don’t really know,” Robert admitted. “They were already in custody when we were tossed in here.”
“Are they Gamazan?”
“They claim not to even know what that is. I think we should take them with us.”
“Seiiki is inbound,” Mori warned over Kit’s helmet comms. “One minute.”
“Well let’s get moving,” Kit urged. “Our ride is a minute out.”
Robert turned to the three women in the corner. “You can come with us if you like,” he offered.
“Where will you take us?” Marti asked.
“I really don’t know,” Robert admitted. “But I do know it will be a far sight better than this frozen rock.”
“Target is locking weapons on us,” Laza warned from the sensor station.
“Aurora, fire!” Cameron ordered.
The windows lit up with red-orange flashes of light that translated into the bridge as the ship’s AI opened fire on the Gamazan cruiser. Streams of rail-gun projectiles and bolts of plasma energy bombarded the enemy ship without mercy. Twenty-eight seconds later, it stopped.
“Target has lost all weapons and is unable to jump,” Laza reported with surprise.
“I apologize for my inaccuracy,” the Aurora’s AI said. “I over-estimated the capabilities of their shields. It seems they were less effective against projectile weapons than against energy weapons.”
“No problem,” Cameron replied. “It is your first day on the job after all.”
Josh jumped in directly behind two Gamaze fighters, his wingman Kusya jumping in behind him. “Got you!”
The Gamaze fighters jinked left, then went to full power and began climbing for orbit.
“What the… WIMPS!”
“Did they just bug out?” Kusya asked over comms.
“Looks like it,” Josh replied.
“Shouldn’t we go after them?”
“ROE say we only engage threats,” Josh reminded his wingman.
“But they could just as easily jump down from orbit and attack, right?”
“And if they do, we go after them.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound right.”
“Tell me about it,” Josh agreed. “I was just starting to have fun.”
The Seiiki jumped in, coming to a hover just outside the Gamaze shuttle compound a meter or two above the snow-covered ground. Its gear extended, and the ship settled onto the surface as its back cargo ramp began to deploy.
Icy wind blasted Nathan and Marcus in the Seiiki’s cargo bay as the ramp passed the halfway-open point and continued down to the surface.
“Jesus, I hate snow,” Marcus complained.
Nathan looked puzzled. “Doesn’t it snow in Montana?”
“Yeah, and I fuckin’ hate it. Why do you think I’m here?”
Nathan chuckled as he and Marcus headed toward the cargo door, arriving just in time to meet Robert and his crew heading quickly up the ramp. “Good to see you, Robert,” Nathan greeted. “Is everyone okay?”
“We’re good,” Robert assured him.
“Who are they?” Nathan asked, noticing the three women in strange, layered clothing coming up the ramp.
“Prisoners, as far as I can tell. They didn’t seem to even know who the Gamaze were. I’m guessing they were stranded here somehow.”
“Did you ask them where they came from, or how they ended up here?” Nathan wondered.
“Never got to it,” Robert said. “They haven’t been very talkative. I don’t think they trust us. All I got was a first name of one of them. Marti,” he said, pointing at her as she came up the ramp.
“I’ll try talking to them,” Nathan decided. “You take your people inside and get them warmed up and settled.”
“Nathan, they know about Jess,” Robert said. “That’s the only way they could have ambushed us like that. They had to be tracking her signal.”
“That’s what we figured,” Nathan agreed.
“We have to get her out of there,” Robert insisted.
“That’s part two,” Nathan replied. “Rescuing you was part one. Actually, ambushing the ships that ambushed you was part one, but rescuing Jess is next, I promise.”
Robert nodded, then followed the rest of his crew deeper into the Seiiki.
“Keep an eye on them,” Nathan told Marcus.
“Where are you going?” Marcus wondered.
“To give a message to the Gamaze,” Nathan replied, turning to head down the ramp and into the blizzard.
“The Gamaze cruiser has powered down its engines, and is no longer attempting to change its orbit,” the Aurora’s AI reported. “It has also recalled its fighters.”
“Seiiki reports the Ancot crew is aboard, and they will be departing shortly,” Ensign Dass reported from the comms station.
“Instruct our Dragons to continue flying cover for the Seiiki until they do,” Cameron instructed. “Mister Sheehan, as soon as the Seiiki and Dragons have returned, jump us well outside Gamaze space.”
“Gladly, sir,” Loki replied.
The Gamaze officer’s eyes opened slowly, his head pounding and his vision blurred.
“Give it a minute to kick in,” an unfamiliar voice instructed him.
His vision beginning to clear, he could see a man in black combat armor. He suddenly realized that this was one of the men who had attacked them, and he tried to sit up.
“Easy,” the man in the black combat armor urged. “You’re going to be dizzy for a while.”
“What did you do to us?” the officer demanded, his head spinning.
“You’re lucky they didn’t kill you all,” another voice stated.
The officer squinted, looking for the other speaker, eventually finding him sitting a meter away, looking quite at ease. “Who are you?” the officer asked.
“I’m Nathan Scott, captain of the Aurora.”
“The Aurora was destroyed years ago.”
“We built another one,” Nathan explained. “Smaller but more advanced…and deadly…as six of your ships have just learned.”
“And two shuttles,” Kit added.
Nathan looked at Kit, smiling. “And two shuttles.”
“Why did you wake me?” the officer asked. “You obviously accomplished your mission.”
Nathan turned back to the Gamazan officer, his expression turning deadly serious. “I need you to deliver a message to your leaders.”
“What kind of message?” the officer asked.
“Simple, really. If any Gamazan ship fires on anyone outside of the Ilyan, we’ll be back, and we won’t be shooting to disable, we’ll be shooting to kill. Do you understand?”
The officer glared at Nathan.
“Do you understand?” Nathan asked again.
“I understand,” the officer reluctantly answered.
“And you will deliver this message to your superiors?”
“I’ll try to remember.”
“Would you like me to write it down?” Nathan asked.
The Gamazan officer glared at him again. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Excellent,” Nathan replied, drawing his weapon and firing. “Nite, nite.”
Kit couldn’t help but laugh. “That was cold,” he giggled. “I love it.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Welcome home,” Cameron greeted Robert and his crew as they came down the Seiiki’s ramp.
“Nice ship you’ve got here,” Robert replied. “Thanks for rescuing us,” he added, wrapping his arms around her.
“Well we were afraid of what Jessica would do to us if we didn’t.”
Robert smiled. “Have we heard anything from her yet?”
“Not yet,” Cameron replied. “But we’re not going anywhere until we do.”
“Thanks.”
“You and your crew had better get to medical,” Cameron insisted. “Doctor Chen wants to check everyone over.”
“Gladly,” Robert agreed, continuing toward the front of the shuttle bay.
Cameron turned back toward the Seiiki as the Ghatazhak and the three women disembarked. “Take them to medical and keep an eye on them,” she instructed Kit.
“You got it,” Kit promised.
Nathan, Marcus, and Nikolas were the last to disembark.
“I take it the Gamaze cruiser didn’t offer much resistance?” Nathan said.
“Oh, they tried, but Aurora shut them down in about half a minute,” Cameron explained. “I think her precision scared the hell out of them. It did me.”
“Great, but we should still get the hell out of Gamaze space.”
“The Dragons are landing now,” Cameron assured him. “Loki has orders to jump us out of here as soon as they’re all aboard.”
“Excellent.”
“What about our unexpected guests?” Cameron asked.
“I’ll talk with them after Doctor Chen finishes checking them over,” Nathan told her. “But I think we should keep them isolated for now.”
* * *
“How do we look?” Robert asked Doctor Chen as he put his shirt back on.
“Other than needing a shower, you and your crew seem to be no worse for wear,” Doctor Chen told him.
“What about them?” Robert asked, nodding toward the three women they had brought back with them, who were all resting.
“They’re all suffering from long-term cold exposure.”
“Are they going to be all right?”
“I believe so.”
