Chapter 62

ISV Liberator

Stariek Orbit

25 March 3303

Alpha watched the tactical plot carefully. Their ship was just a few hours out from Vertyn now. The large station was growing steadily larger with each passing hour. By Omega’s calculations, a burst from their engines at precisely the right moment would bring them to the dormitory where Skylar Reid should be resting within. Once their ship attached itself to the outer hull of the station, they could carefully extract the boy.

The plan was relatively foolproof, though Alpha hated thinking so. Whenever he believed he was on the verge of success, it had a habit of being ripped from his grasp. Just as it had six years ago when he tried to extract the boy and his father. This time, he was leaving nothing to chance.

“Any signs they’ve noticed our approach, Omega?”

The android turned slightly to face Alpha. It currently pored over one of the other displays monitoring the sensors that were passively scanning the system.

“None, Master. The Star’s Eclipse’s arrival has diverted much attention to its protection. We should reach the terminus point in approximately three hours, seventeen minutes, and twenty seconds.”

“Approximately?” Alpha couldn’t help but smile. The android was nothing if not precise. Though it did not seem to share in the humor instead simply tilting its head to one side. “Is everything prepared?”

“The plasma cutters are positioned at the port side docking clamp and have been modified to dampen their energy output.” Omega moved to a different station and looked at the engine output level. “Our Harrington drive is fully cooled down and has been upgraded to allow for a jump directly after the extraction. Coordinates to deep space rendezvous point gamma are programmed into the navigation computer. There should be no delay in our departure.”

“Very good.”

Alpha took a deep breath as he paced the room. They were close. Closer than the last time, and certainly better prepared. There were too many unknowns six years ago, but now they’ve worked through all the different scenarios. Failure was not an option. Not after all this time and planning.

“Creator, our scanners indicate new contacts are arriving.”

“Populate the board as usual, Omega.” Alpha moved back to the tactical display in the center of the small bridge to see who showed up. Instead of seeing just a few dots, however, over a dozen appeared. Followed by another dozen. And another. The dots continued appearing until there were several thousand new contacts. And all of them were converging on the space station.

Alpha’s stomach twisted. His hand morphed into a fist, and he barely stopped himself before putting it through the nearest monitor. All of their efforts, all the time they put into this, was about to go to waste.

“Omega, it appears we have a situation.”

“I concur with your assessment, Creator.”

“Do we have the location of the boy?” Alpha gripped the edge of the tactical overlay projector, hanging his head. “Could we move in now and retrieve him?”

“Sensors indicate he is either in the general’s office or in the cafeteria.”

“Ah, right. The second one is also there.” Alpha had paid no attention to the other boy since there was no point in worrying about him. Their analyses indicated long ago that Skylar Reid was the better candidate for their cause. Maxwell Dietrich, while strong of personality and physically, would not be as receptive to their ideals. As such, he had foolishly forgotten Maxwell was even on board the station. He filed the thought away to kick himself for it later. “Do we know which one is him? We’re only going to have one shot at this.”

“Our tracing does not go back far enough to accurately tell which is the boy and which is the second one. However, based off previous analysis, the boy is typically in the cafeteria at this time of day.”

Alpha considered for a moment. They really only had one opportunity. If they were wrong on the location of the boy, they would not get a second chance at retrieving him. At the rate the ships were approaching, their time was rapidly dwindling. They needed to act now.

“Reactivate all systems. Full speed ahead to the cafeteria. We’ll cut through the wall there and retrieve him, then get out before the Arcadians arrive.”

“Yes, Creator.”

Omega busied himself with the different consoles. The ship hummed back to life and accelerated hard, forcing Alpha to hold onto the projector. He kept an eye on the tactical overlay. Still more contacts were appearing. It would have to be enough time.

#

Prime Directive

Stariek Orbit

Cycle 19.468

Nergal watched through the eyes of his flagship, the largest dreadnought in the fleet he constructed over the last six years. Group by group, more and more ships were appearing. Some were from the Nova Imperium. Others were his constructions. Yet more were the Druthagar forces. All interfaced directly into his tactical network to allow for seamless communication between each of the differing forces.

When over four thousand ships had jumped into the system, Nergal figured it was about time to keep his promise to Tober, even if he disagreed with it. He activated his choice of avatar for a video transmission, a human on a sunny beach, and sent a communication request out on a wideband message to everyone within a light year.

<Hyperion forces. My name is Nergal. Your emperor is weak. He is incapable of defending you. We are here to liberate you from the authoritarian force that dares to call itself your government.> Nergal resisted the urge to sigh through the avatar. Before he even had a chance to finish the message, the station was arming its weapons and beginning to target his forces. <We do not wish to harm any of you. Should you stand down and surrender to our forces, we will allow you to live. If you fight, you will be exterminated. Consider the choice carefully: You are outnumbered seventeen to one. The odds of your survival are less than one percent by my calculations.>

Several seconds passed—an eternity for the AI core—as his ships steadily made their way closer to the space station. Then, not surprising him at all, it attacked. Magnetic cannons loaded with EMP rounds followed by neutron beams slammed into one of the closest ships. Luckily, it was one of his, and its shields held up against the brief onslaught. Positive reinforcement flowed through each of his cores, and his avatar, still visible to any who were still accepting the transmission, smiled.

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At least he gave them the chance. Never would it be said he did not keep his promises.

<Very well. Alea iacta est.>

Less than a second later, his ships arranged themselves into the predetermined formations that would allow them to wreak the most havoc on the Hyperion fleet in orbit. He transmitted orders to the Nova Imperium and Druthagar. Seeing them immediately follow the commands sent another surge of positive reinforcement through him.

Soon, the space between Nergal’s combined fleet and that of the Hyperions, as well as the station, was full of flashes of light. Neutron beams lashed out. Magnetic cannon rounds sped at a quarter the speed of light, slamming into shields in some places and hull in others. Blue flashes of EMPs and red globules of plasma splashed through the void. Thousands of small, single seat fighters flew out of the hangars of the Star’s Eclipse. They swarmed over his own ships, the point defense and magnetic cannons slowly whittling them away even as they battered his shields and hulls.

For as many enemy ships as there were compared to his own, they proved especially fierce. The location of their jumping into the system was carefully chosen to put the station between as many of the Hyperion ships as possible. While this gave them protection, it also served to prevent them from fighting back until they got into position. Which meant that they would be easier to pick off one by one, before they had an opportunity to consolidate their fire. That did not mean, however, they were without loss. Their barebones crews meant that it was not as great a loss as it would have been otherwise.

Each time one of the enemy ships erupted in an explosion, or the hull broke and vented all the oxygen within, or drifted aimlessly before crashing into an unwary ally, a surge of positive reinforcement went through Nergal. He could hardly believe after all his planning and scheming, they had reached this point. So many things had to go right for this moment. Pieces he carefully put into place. Finally.

They would have to be careful to avoid damaging the station, which was already taking hits from stray missiles, magnetic cannons, neutron beams, and everything else that was being sent between the two fleets. It was good that Tober Delargivic did not know the true reason for his choice to attack Space Station Vertyn. If his analysis of Marduk, the last Ciovyr, was correct, then at least one of the subjects he implanted the chip in would be on the station. Once captured, that chip could be used to locate the last Ciovyr. The only one capable of putting a stop to Nergal. If Marduk were to meet an unfortunate end, nothing could stand in his way.

But first, there was a fleet in his way. He focused his attention into one of his ships, seeing as if through its nonexistent eyes. Its weapons hammered into the closest Hyperion ship. After a few moments of an onslaught of everything his frigate had, the Hyperion vessel blew apart in a dazzling array of colors. The positive reinforcement returned and would not dissipate.

#

Reid Flight Academy

Mornage, Stariek

“You’re sure about this, Luca?”

Amelia looked through the metal bars of the fence that served as a barrier between the two of them and the pair of starfighters that would allow them to reach the space station in orbit. There were dozens—hundreds, even—of flashes of light coming from around the station. News stations were reporting an unknown force was attacking. Some stated it was Druthagar forces that had broken through and were making another desperate attempt to take out Vertyn. Others hypothesized it was the start of a civil war as some of the attacking ships appeared Hyperion in design. But the vast majority of the four thousand ships that appeared in orbit were of a completely unknown origin.

“As sure as I can be.” Luca turned to her and smiled. Branches of the bushes they hid in obscured part of his face. “According to my calculations, those two fighters are going to be unattended for the next ten minutes. Plenty of time for us to climb this fence and get them out.”

“I’m nervous,” she whispered, more to herself than anything. Her breathing slowed as she gripped the bars with both hands. It was all she could do to keep from shaking, though tremors ran up and down her arms. “I’ve never flown one for real before. What if I mess it up?”

Luca put his hand on her forearm. The gesture felt hot, as if a burning ember landed on her. She glanced down at it confused for a second before looking at him.

“You will not. How many years have you trained for this moment?” He squeezed her arm. “You will do great, I promise. Now, we will only have a few minutes once we hop the fence to get into the starfighters and take off before the Hyperions try to stop us.”

“What if they’re locked?” Part of her hoped that once they got to the fighters, they wouldn’t be able to get into them. But as the thought crossed her mind, she was shocked. Why did she hope their plan would fail? This was the first step to finding his brother, wherever he ended up.

“We use these.” Luca held up two small black disks, each the size of his palm and as thin as a leave. They had a metallic sheen to them. “All you have to do is stick it somewhere on the ship. It will do the rest.”

“What are they?”

“Something that should be able to bypass any encryption on those and unlock them automatically. A nifty bit of tech if I do say so myself.”

“Alright.” She took one and noticed her hand was shaking. A tinge of fear creeping up, she quickly withdrew it to hide the fact.

“Are you ready?” he asked, looking her in the eye. She nodded. He took a deep breath and looked towards the fighters. “Alright. Go!”

He leapt to his feet, closing the distance between them and the fence. Amelia followed close behind. It was a twenty meter dash. Nothing compared to her track and field competitions back in high school. They closed the distance quickly. She pushed off the ground and jumped at the fence. Her fingers wrapped around the bars three meters up. With all her strength, she pulled herself up until she reached the top. Vaulting over, she deftly fell to the ground and landed on the balls of her feet.

Immediately, an alarm went off elsewhere in the complex. Her feet felt as if they were rooted to the spot by cement. She tried to keep her breathing under control but failed. Each of her breaths was more rattly and shallower than the last. Every limb was shaking. She couldn’t do it. They never should’ve come here. Luca shouldn’t have trusted her. Now she was ruining all his hard work.

“Come on,” Luca hissed in her ear as he landed beside her, gripping her by the bicep and pulling her along.

They ran together to the two sleek, silver jets. Their bodies were designed for both atmospheric and space flight and were about twenty five meters long. Their wings reached out eighteen meters from tip to tip. Four engine nozzles, currently extinguished, sat at the back of the craft. Dual gun barrels connected to heavy-duty power conduits under each wing. Hardpoints for a dozen and a half missiles between both sides currently sat empty.

“No missiles,” Luca hissed as they neared them. “That will make our job harder. Hopefully we do not need them.”

Amelia grunted her acknowledgment. The two of them were closer to her goal than she expected them to get. Ahead of her, the pair of fighters were no more than a dozen meters away. Luca was heading for the one slightly further away. She turned for the closer one. As she reached it, she scrambled up the ladder. Her foot slipped. She cursed. With a quick, deep breath, she regained her footing and pulled herself to the canopy. A press of the button on top did nothing until she slapped the metal disk onto the metal plating next to it. It slid open with a hiss.

She pulled herself in and settled against the seat. It was not unlike the simulations she went through for one of her classes. An array of controls—redundant backups for if her CAM interface failed—sat in front of her. Flicking a switch to her right, the fighter roared to life. At once, it linked to her CAM and gave her control. The first thing she did was disable the transmitters connecting it to the traffic control towers. Then, she began accelerating, turning towards the long runway ahead of her. Out of the side of the canopy, she saw Luca doing the same.

<I am going first,> Luca said in a message to her. <Stay close behind me and do not stop accelerating.>

<Confirmed.>

She took a deep breath. This was her chance. She was finally going to be one step closer to her brother. One step closer to finding him and bringing him home.

Time seemed to slow as she watched Luca’s engines blaze to life. The speed at which he started down the runway was awe inspiring. She followed close behind. Her heart hammered in her ears. She wanted to throw up. Now wasn’t the time though. Her stomach twisted. Did Ethan feel like this when he was flying? Like he was making a mistake?

She shoved the thought from her mind. Not now. There was only one thing that mattered right then: Get into orbit, land on the space station, and figure out the next step towards her brother. Then, what was the next step? She and Luca hadn’t discussed that.

<Faster, Amelia, or you will not clear the runway.>

Amelia glanced at Luca’s rapidly shrinking starfighter as it continued streaking ahead of hers. With a thought, she pushed the engines harder. She was pressed against the seat by the acceleration. The end was approaching. She pulled up and felt the wheels leave the ground. For a moment, she was weightless. Then gravity returned, the nose of the fighter pointing towards the sky. Luca let out a whoop of triumph. The ecstasy sent over the link was matched by what Amelia felt herself. In just a couple minutes, they’d be in space. And she’d be a step closer to her brother.

I’m coming, Ethan.