"Welcome aboard the Imperial Star Carrier Vigilant. I am
Major Katana Falcon, commanding officer of the Third Wing. You
five now constitute the latest addition to this ship's mecha
force."
Taeon made a quick survey of the briefing room. Four others
were present, most ranking no higher than sergeant. To his left
was a corporal, a pilot like himself. The corporal, though, was
far from being the average grunt trooper. Long blue hair draped
across his head and down his neck; unnaturally, yet, perfectly
normal for a man whose RN-450 gene had been modified before
birth. That gene controlled most primary motor control functions
in the body. Korzelli Syndrome, a paralyzing nerve disorder, was
caused by defects in that gene, and was only repairable by
embryonic gene therapy, the side effect of which caused blue-
tinted hair discoloration. Of course, like all genes, RN-450
could also be modified -- modified to superhuman capacity.
Either this corporal underwent genetic re-coding to correct
Korzelli Syndrome or his parents had his motor-reflexes out the
ceiling. If it was the former, God bless medical science. If it
was the latter...
"The Third Wing consists of twenty-four rapid strike
mechasuits. Our backbone is the Raptor class mecha, primarily
RTX-60 Raptors, V Raptors, and the new Raptor X class. We also
have several Vindicator and L-Geimour mecha with a few heavier
units for long range support."
"Aren't RTX-60s grunt mecha?" asked a fit and shapely female
pilot at the other end of the table. "I don't fancy taking on a
Coalition Gallant in a thirty ton chunk of walking rust."
"Yes, Sergeant Firewolf," replied Major Falcon. "The RTX-
60s are used mainly by non-com soldiers. Though I would hardly
call them chunks of rust, I suppose you could consider them our
basic trooper units. We have eight in our wing but you will have
access to newer models."
Firewolf nodded in approval. Taeon guessed she was twenty-
two, a little younger than himself.
"Let me give you a run down of the Vigilant. Massing nearly
five and a half million tons, and two kilometers from end to end,
we are one of the biggest ships in the fleet. Our crew is over
one thousand and we have sixteen mecha wings totaling nearly four
hundred mechasuits. The ship is equipped with both sub-light and
diverdrives, a pair of heavy turret antimatter cannons, several
hundred anti-ship missiles, a new point-defense grid, and the
most powerful energy barrier ever mounted on a capital ship."
The man with blue hair smiled, nodding his head slowly. If
his nervous system was genetically enhanced, he wasn't showing it
off.
"We're number three in the fleet echelon and rival the
flagship Invincible in both offense and defense," continued
Katana. She paused for a moment and moved her eyes across the
row of seated pilots. "This concludes your welcome-in briefing.
You have the rest of the day off to look around the ship and get
to know your fellow team mates."
The room filled with the grating sound of chairs scraping
against the metal floor as the team stood to leave.
"You're Corporal Taeon Toshio" said a short, boy-faced
sergeant. "I'm First Sergeant Michael Avenger."
Taeon frowned at the young man. "Sergeant? You're just a
kid."
Michael shrugged and ran his hand through his dark black
hair. "Don't sweat it, man. My father's a General and just
wanted to make sure I got a position to, as he would say, 'Carry
on our great family tradition' or some crap like that." He
turned around and waved his arms at the other pilots who were
quietly walking out the door. "Hey guys. Let's head down to the
Pilots' Lounge."
The other three looked at each other, unsure of their new
comrades.
"Sounds good," said the blue haired Ryo Gunn. "They serve
drinks to off duty pilots and officers."
"The lounge it is," confirmed Michael, bolting past his
team. "So what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
* * *
The Pilots' Lounge was reserved for mecha pilots and
squadron support personnel. Most crewmen resented such, as the
Pilots' Lounge had better facilities than the standard Crewmans'
Lounge. The argument was that mecha pilots were 'elite'. Of
course, that only made the crewmen more bitter.
Ryo sat on the couch and looked out the great panoramic
window. There floated the blue-green orb, blandly called Earth.
Being from Venus, the city of Avalonia, he found names rooted in
mythology were far more becoming of a great star empire such as
the ITR. But Earth...
"Hey," came a voice from beside him. "Sergeant Jane
Tacwell. I go by JT."
Ryo glanced to JT. Sandy brown hair fell over her face,
drawing attention to her deep, captivating eyes. Eyes that
seemed specked in a multitude of colors, bent toward a dark blue
tone, a blue that matched perfect with her uniform color. Ryo
had heard of people whose eyes took the color of their attire.
Chameleon eyes... Such eyes as those were normally engineered,
but it wasn't unheard for the pigmentation to occur naturally.
"You're eyes are lovely. Are they artificial?" asked Ryo,
and immediately regret it. That must have been the dumbest
pickup line in history of human civilization...
JT was taken aback. "Uh, thanks. But no. One hundred
percent na-tu-ral. Speaking of artificial..."
Ryo touched his hair and nodded. "Boosted motor-reflexes.
My parents, I think they wanted me to join the military. That's
what my uncle said. I guess you could say I was built for the
job."
JT blinked. "Are your parents..."
Ryo closed his eyes. "They're dead."
"I'm sorry," she replied, softly. "Did they die in combat?"
"Pirates. That's what I was told, anyway."
JT nodded. "I guess we should talk about something else,
huh?"
"You're not a pilot are you?" asked Ryo, more than happy to
change the subject. "You weren't at the meeting."
"I'm the head technician for the Guardian Squadron." She
smiled, "So you'd better get on my good side 'cause between
battles your mecha is mine!"
Ryo glanced over to the bar, cornered in the starboard-aft
side of the room. "Well then, might I offer you a drink?"
JT brushed a few strains of hair away from her face and
smiled. "Why you certainly may."
Ryo and JT walked together to the bar, passing by the gaming
tables. Though there were an assortment of games, only chess was
being played at the moment.
Taeon Toshio sat before the main chess table, playing a solo
game against the board's computer. He sat quietly, contemplating
his next move. His queen was in jeopardy and his king was in
check.
"Drat," he said, and switched off the game. The holographic
chess set vanished.
"Hey!" said Michael, as he and the young female pilot
stepped up beside him. "Taeon, right? Have you meet Lynn
Firewolf?"
Taeon looked up. "I believe she was at the meeting."
"Taeon Toshio," she said. "He's kindda cute!"
"Don't get any ideas, honey," Michael said to her. "I saw
you first, remember?"
Lynn giggled.
She didn't sound very tough for a pilot, thought Taeon. Of
course, neither did Michael. Rookies. "No need to worry. I
don't have time for romance. This is warship, not a cruise
liner."
Michael draped his arm around Lynn. "Hey, we're just
friends, pal! Anyway, you know that guy over there in the
corner?"
Taeon looked to the corner of the lounge. There in the
shadows sat a solitary pilot, dressing in dark civvies, lost in
the watery reflections of the drink before him and the small book
in hand.
"Who is he?" asked Taeon
"Destiny Gray," whispered Lynn. "They say he's the Ace of
Aces, but got demoted and sent to Guardian Squadron."
"Sent here?" asked Taeon.
"I think he was a captain in the Imperial Earth Guard."
Taeon whistled. "What could someone do to get knocked from
captain down to sergeant? I didn't even think that was
possible..."
"Beat's me," said Michael. "He wouldn't talk to me after I
mentioned it."
"Huh. With a veteran ace on our team, we might actually
have a chance. Let me see if I can get him talking." Taeon stood
up and made his way toward Destiny.
Sergeant Gray was occupying his mind with an old paper book.
Taeon cleared his throat, but the sergeant didn't look up. "Hi,
I'm Corporal Taeon Toshio."
"Sergeant," he replied, spitting out his rank as if it was a
maggot-ridden lump of meat, "Destiny Gray."
"I hear you're an ace pilot?"
"Yes," answered Destiny, still focusing his attention on the
book.
"So I heard. And you were once a member of the glorious
Imperial Earth Guard?"
Destiny looked at Taeon, his expression darkly stoic.
"Don't rub it in."
Taeon gazing out the window to the starry sea beyond. Some
day he would be in the Earth Guard... Someday... Then, only
then, would he have the glory and honor to return to Eridani and
claim his inheritance as Baron of Falmore-Glave. "We are proud
to have someone of your great skill on our team."
"You don't know anything about me."
"Well, let me tell you about myself. I am Taeon Toshio, son
of Baron Balmor Toshio, Lord of Falmore-Glave, City of the Seven
Spheres and holder of the Scepter of Shpara. I am second in line
to inheritance of the third greatest dominion on all of Eridani!"
"I'm no body," stated Gray, coolly. "Leave me alone."
"We are all part of your team," said Taeon. "You can't be
alone."
"My team died half a year ago," he replied darkly, "and all
my friends are rotting in hell. All because of me."
Taeon found himself at a loss for words when Major Katana
Falcon walked into the lounge.
"Listen up. It's time for you to run some sims against each
other."
"I though you said we had the day off!" replied Michael.
"Uh... Ma'am."
Katana smiled. "Even when off duty you must be prepared for
battle. If a fleet of Coalition warships suddenly attacked I
don't think you could tell their commander to hold off because
you were sipping tea."
"Why not?"
"Sergeant!"
"Sorry, ma'am."
Katana pulled out a note pad and consulted it. "Sergeant
Avenger, you will fight Sergeant Firewolf in simulator pair
alpha. Corporal Toshio will fight Corporal Gunn in sim beta.
Sergeant Gray, you will fight me in sim delta. Sergeant Tacwell,
I want you to get a crew of techs together and field-strip an RTX-
60."
"You get the guy with a modified RN-450 gene," Michael said
to Taeon. "Lucky you."
"Hey, maybe his genes were modified to correct Korzelli
Syndrome," suggested Taeon.
"Nope," answered Ryo with big, evil grin.
* * *
The computer-generated battlefield was flawless in its
simulation of reality. The rolling hills were covered with tall
grass, waving like the tides of a golden ocean. A lush forest
grove rustled quietly in the breeze just beyond a crystal lake in
the foothills of a snowcapped mountain range. Clouds floated
lazily through the sky, covering one of the orange suns, casting
all shadows in a new direction.
Beneath the gentle silver sky, a flock of birds gracefully
road a cool autumn breeze, then suddenly scattered in terror as a
forty ton V Raptor launched on a plume of roaring plasma fire.
Ryo grinned as his targeting computer locked on to Taeon's
now airborne mecha. He shouldn't have launched so soon. An
error which would certainly end the match early. He tightened
his hold on the control grip and poised his finger above the
firing trigger.
Taeon spotted Ryo hiding in the forest grove, as his own
Raptor lifted into the sky. He straightened his V Raptor's arm
and launched all three plasmeon missiles. The rockets fell out
and blasted toward their distant target. The deadly rockets left
snaking smoke trails in their wake as they wound straight for the
Ryo's Raptor X.
At the last second the missiles spun off course and slammed
deep into the forest, well behind their intended target. The
grove exploded in torrential blue and white fireball sending
fragments of burning timber flying across the battlefield.
Taeon smashed his fist against his console and cursed.
Raptor Xs had missile jammers too, just like his V Raptor. If
only V Raptors had smart missiles...
Before he could act again, the Raptor X's chest opened
unveiling an array of super-conductive energy focusing lenses.
Arcs of wild energy jumped across the array, focusing into a
blinding beam of pulsating thermo-electric energy.
Taeon grabbed his controls and attempted to dodge but doing
so was futile; the beam traveled at practically light-speed.
Thankfully, the bulk of the energy surge missed. Even so,
several lashing arcs of energy clawed their way through the
Raptor's modest armor.
A warning light came on above the thruster status readout,
then a klaxon screamed the final warning. The after shock of the
blast had knocked out the main thrusters! Taeon cursed again.
If only Raptors were EMP shielded...
Ryo grinned and watched Taeon's V Raptor fall three hundred
fifty meters to the ground. He was disappointed when he failed
to see an explosion, and further disappointed when his sensors
detected the V Raptor's dynamo reactor still functioning. Only
one thing left to do, he concluded. Hike a kilometer of now
burning hills and smoldering meadows to finish off his prey.
Normally, Taeon would have been knocked unconscious from a
fall such as that, even with the protective field of the
mechasuit's momentum buffers. But this was a simulation and
simulations can't knockout the pilot from impacts or G-forces.
His V Raptor was another story. According to the damage readout,
his mecha had barely survived the fall. Had this was a real
battle, he would have been forced to retreat or eject. But this
wasn't a real battle. It was only a sim. A sim against one of
his fellow team mates. If he lost, that meant giving in as
second best. Taeon was second to no one. He was the son of the
Baron of Falmore-Glave.
Taeon marched his V Raptor half a klick north and took cover
behind a hill. He propped the mecha's auto-laser rifle over the
crest and prepared to fire. Though he didn't expect to hit Ryo
at this range, there was always the chance.
As Ryo cleared the lake he saw Taeon's V Raptor coming over
the crest of a hill. His targeting system locked on and he
opened his energy array to fire again, but Taeon got the first
shot.
Lances of laser energy staggered across the burning sea of
sun-dry grass and fell a few meters short of Ryo's position.
Ryo's weapon energy display lit to nominal and he returned fire.
A pulsating stream of destructive energy exploded from his chest
and ripped through the air mercilessly. This time his hit was
true. The crest of the hill exploded, vaporizing Taeon's laser
rifle and his mecha's entire right arm.
Taeon jerked his mecha back as fire and debris erupted
overhead. His right arm was completely blown away and his main
gun destroyed. He had already spent the missiles in his left
arm, those in his right were now lost. The only thing he could
do now was take Ryo on in all out hand-to-hand combat. So far,
that looked impossible. The Raptor X's thermo-electric energy
array was far too powerful, but he had no choice but to try.
Try, or be labeled a weakling by his own comrades.
The wounded V Raptor climbed over the devastated hill as
Taeon shoved the throttle stick forward.
"Give up, Corporal," said Ryo on the comm. "You have no
weapons. What do you plan to do now? Kick me?"
"Great idea!" replied Taeon.
Ryo watched the V Raptor charge over the battle scorched
landscape like a blood-crazed Celt. He checked his energy
capacitors. There was barely enough power to fire one last mega-
pulse from the thermo-electric array. And one shot was all he
needed. A brilliant beam of energy pulsated from the super-
conductive focusing cells and screamed toward Taeon in a wake of
seething destruction.
But the wave of energy passed and Ryo watched in shock as
the V Raptor continue its charge. He missed! Missed with his
last mega-blast. Before he knew it, his foe was upon him.
Taeon pushed his direction controller down, then pulled back
hard, sending an attack command to the mecha's battle-control
computer. The mecha shifted all its weight to its left leg and
brought up its right to kick. The huge leg thrust toward the
Raptor X with the force of freight train at top speed.
Ryo saw the Raptor's foot swinging at his mecha's head. If
it hit, his sensor would be demolished by the impact. Should
that happen he would be blind and unable to fend off any further
attacks. Ryo pumped the firing trigger in his right hand
activating the two low-power plasma lasers.
A pair of energy blasts exploded into the V Raptor's torso,
annihilating what little remained of the mecha's support
structure. Taeon's mecha fell backward to the ground, and a
blinding white flash swallowed everything on his view screen. A
few shocking second's passed, then two words appeared before him.
"Pilot Killed."
"No way!" screamed Taeon. "I never even hit him!"
The simulator pod opened and Taeon looked up to see Major
Falcon. "Good work Corporal."
"But, I lost..."
Katana shook her head. "You're mecha was out gunned and
outclassed, but you fought with both bravery and skill. Not a
weapon on you but you kept on coming. We need more pilots like
you. There's nothing the Coalition fears more than an enemy who
never gives up."
"Thank you... Ma'am. Oh, who won your battle? You or
Destiny Gray?"
Katana smiled and cross her arms. "Mutual destruction in
thirty-eight seconds flat."
* * *
"Okay team, listen up," said Major Falcon to the pilots of
the Guardian Squadron. "The flagship ITR Invincible is heading
to the Eridani system to strengthen our boarder defenses. She
needs two powerful escorts in case the Coalition tries something
stupid. We're one of those ships, along with the battleship ITR
Dauntless, the fleet's stand-by flagship. Our flotilla will be
departing for the Eridani system in two hours. We should arrive
in three days."
"Excuse me," said Michael. "Isn't it a bit foolish to have
the three top ships together in one flotilla?"
"What do you mean?"
"If the Invincible gets destroyed, the Dauntless will take
her place. If the Dauntless is destroyed this ship will become
the flagship. If all three ships get destroyed..."
"Then the ITR Sri Lanka will be the flagship. Having the
three most powerful ships together is almost perfect insurance
that we'll not be faced with that situation. I doubt a fleet of
thirty ships could defeat us."
Michael nodded in partial agreement.
"As I said, we have three days. If we do run into trouble I
want you all ready for combat, so keep up the sims. Admiral
Sylvia Steele is aboard the Invincible and you know she has been
a major target for the Coalition due to her powerful diver
abilities in both telepathy and precognition. Now, if there are
no other questions, the briefing is over. You may return to your
duties."
* * *
"JT!" called Ryo as he walked into the Mecha Bay 3.
"Hey, Ryo," she replied, looking up from a diagnostics
console. "Been pretty boring around here, huh?"
"Diverspace isn't much fun unless you're a diver."
JT shrugged. "Just think how bored divers are in
realspace."
"Heh, yeah. I came down here to find out when those new
dynamic neural network systems being installed on some of the
mecha."
"Actually, we're installing them now."
"Are the Raptor X's being upgraded?"
JT nodded. "You betcha. All Raptor Xs, V Raptors, Cyclops
Powersuits, and L-Geimours. We'll be upgrading more when we get
another shipment from Datrax Corporation."
"What exactly will this upgrade do for my mecha?"
JT shrugged. "It's a pseudo-biological logic processor
which uses axon-like circuit configurations. Basically, the
circuits can reconfigure their shape and position using nano-
mechanics systems. This allows them to learn, remember, and
process information much like our existing static neural nets,
only a hell of lot faster as the links are hardwired and can
adapt to new situations at a greater success rate than the old
SNNs."
"Naturally," replied Ryo. "So this will improve my mecha's
performance in what ways?"
"I thought that would be obvious! This new system will
enhance the mecha's AI command/control computer. You should see
a vast improvement in you sensory detection system, electronic
countermeasure control, navigation, human/machine interfacing,
and most other systems as well."
"Hmmm," said Ryo. He looked around the busy mecha bay.
Twenty-four mecha stood solemnly in the their independent
maintenance scaffolding. The mecha of Third Wing. He looked
over at bay twenty-four, in the back of the mecha bay. There,
his Raptor X was being worked on by several techs. No doubt they
were installing the new neural net. "While you're at it, could
you install a turbodrive dynamax booster for my reactor core?"
"Sorry, Corporal. You're not cleared for that," explained
JT. "Besides, those things screw up your power distribution
system, and that's hell to repair."
"Well, having that extra juice sure would help me out in
battle. An extra boost to my thermo-electric cannon's capacitors
might save my ass, you know."
JT squinted her eyes. "You know I can't give you equipment
you don't have access to."
"Well, I had to try."
JT smiled. "Aren't you supposed to be on duty or
something?"
"Central computer room at 1300," replied Ryo.
"Its 1302."
"Oops."
* * *
Ryo sat down at the main terminal and plugged the card into
the reader. On the screen a device status box appeared. He
entered a few commands and the reader began backing up the crew
archives on to the data card. "So this is what pilots do when
they're not flying," complained Ryo.
"Suits me, man," said Michael. "Better than swabbing the
decks like all those grunt crewmen."
"Besides, we're in diverspace," said Lynn. "You can't
expect us to sit back and do nothing but sims for three days.
It's only fair that we have duties, too."
Michael shrugged and walked across the computer room to the
network control terminal. "If you say so."
"Just out of curiosity," said Ryo, "what's a kid like you
doing in the Guardian Squadron."
"Like I told Taeon, my dad's a General. General James
Avenger. For the past eight generations all the men in my family
have been in the military. So my dad, or rather, General
Avenger, pulled some strings had me stationed here."
"That's comforting," grumbled Ryo. "How about you Taeon?"
Taeon looked up from his terminal. "Huh... What?"
"Why did you join the military?"
Taeon smiled. "My father is Baron Balmor Toshio, Lord of
Falmore-Glave and..."
"Right, right, whatever. Don't start with that nobility
crap."
Taeon frowned, but continued anyway. "I am second in line
for inheritance to Falmore-Glave. My older brother, Kanis, is
first in line to inherit Falmore-Glave, but my father doesn't
think Kanis will make a good ruler. If I can prove myself a
greater warrior in combat, he can default all birth rights to me
by Imperial law."
"Well gosh, don't set your goals to high," replied Ryo. "I'd
hate for you to accidentally end up ruling half the galaxy."
"And yourself?" asked Taeon.
"Well, I had no place else to go really. My parent were
killed by pirates many years ago... I've been looking for
answers ever since. Looking for those responsible for destroying
all I had..."
"Revenge is sweet, isn't it, Lynn?" said Michael.
Lynn looked down. "Maybe."
"Is that why you're here?" asked Taeon.
Lynn walked to the middle of the room where the four main
databanks towered. "I'm from Siria."
Taeon nodded his head. Siria was destroyed in 2363 by a GSC
attack. Those Coalies roasted the planet from orbit with nuclear
missiles and heavy energy beams. "You must have been only four
or five..."
"Five," she replied. "I escaped with my aunt. Both my
parents and my brother died. My whole family was lost...
Annihilated along with two billion men, women, and children. I
don't know how or when, but someday I will make the Coalies pay
for what they did!"
"Say, did anyone sign up because they actually wanted to
serve the Empire?" asked Michael.
Before anyone could answer, the door to the computer room
hissed open. A man in a tan crewmen jumpsuit charged in, welding
a 10mm autopistol in hand. Before anyone could react, he grabbed
Lynn and shoved a pistol against her neck.
"Anybody moves and I'll blow her head off!" yelled the man.
He looked to his left and spotted Michael standing in shock near
the network terminal. "You! Get away from that terminal. Stand
against the wall over there near the computer core."
Michael edged his way to the back of the room as the man
instructed.
"You! At the terminal over there! Come out and stand
against the wall. And keep you're hands where I can see 'em!"
Taeon looked at Ryo. Ryo nodded. A pair of databank towers
were between Ryo and the door where the intruder was standing.
The intruder had spotted only Michael and Taeon, but couldn't see
Ryo...
Taeon put his hands up and walked around behind the second
set of databanks. As he fell out of the intruder's view, he went
for the Nyron 8mm machinepistol on his belt.
"What the hell are you doing?" yelled the intruder. "Come
out where I can see you!"
Taeon looked back at Ryo, gave him a quick, "go" signal. He
dove to the floor and rolled into full view of the intruder,
aiming his Nyron directly at the intruder's head. "Let her go,
now!"
The man pressed his gun harder against Lynn's neck. "Drop
the gun or I'll blow her away!"
"No! Drop your gun!" yelled Taeon.
"What are you doing?" asked Michael. "This guy's serious!"
"I don't want to die..." choked Lynn.
Ryo jumped out of his seat, which made an unfortunate
squeaking sound, and ran around the databanks to get behind the
intruder.
"What the hell?!" screamed the man, hearing the squeaky
chair. He spun around, still holding onto Lynn, and spotted Ryo
coming around the edge of the databanks. "Freeze or she's dead!"
Ryo stopped, mentally cursing the unoiled chair's wheels.
He would have to speak with maintenance about that.
"Now listen up!" said the assailant. "If everyone
cooperates, everything'll just be cool. I want a copy of the
data specs for that new..."
Before the spy had a chance to finished his sentence, Taeon
fired off a round. The shot missed, but the man's itchy trigger
finger jerked back in reflex. Blood exploded across the
databanks. Lynn let out a scream that abruptly ended in a
gurgling sputter as her vocal cords were ripped apart by the
mushrooming projectile.
The assailant released Lynn and she collapsed to the floor.
He stood in shock, having lost his only hostage and all his
playing cards with her. "Damn it! Look what you made me do!"
"Lynn!" screamed Michael.
"You son of a..." started Ryo as he charged the spy.
The spy turned around and clicked off a shot at Ryo. As the
bullet whistled past his head, Ryo grabbed his energy sword with
one hand and tackled the attacker's legs with the other. Both
men fell to the floor and the spy fired off a few more rounds
that went wildly into the ceiling.
Nearby, an alarm went off. With all the gun shots, Taeon
couldn't image how it failed to go off earlier. He aimed his
autopistol at the intruder but couldn't get a clear shot past
Ryo.
"Lynn..." called Michael. He looked at Taeon. "You made
him shoot Lynn!"
Ryo activated his energy sword. With a sharp crackle, an
electro-plasmic blade of energy shot out of the seemingly
bladeless hilt. He swung it at the attacker but the man fell
back out of harms way. Ryo swung again, this time ripping a
sizzling scare through his uniform jacket, revealing the armored
vest underneath.
As the attacker dodged Ryo's energy sword, Taeon had a clear
shot at him. He pulled back on the Nyron's trigger and the
machinepistol roared to life. A dozen deadly titanium slugs tore
into the spy's chest. The armor stopped the first two bullets
but by the time the remaining ten drilled home the weak armor was
hopelessly in tatters.
Ryo stood and looked at the bullet-mangled corpse on the
floor "Looks like he gained a few pounds of titanium-lead alloy."
"No, I think most of the bullets went clean through him,"
stated Taeon.
"Clean is not the word I would use," replied Ryo.
"She's still alive!" exclaimed Michael, kneeling next to
Lynn.
"What?" asked Taeon. "He blew her neck out!"
"He must have missed the spine," said Michael. "But she's
dying... Someone... Someone do something!"
The door slid open and several guards rushed into the room.
"We got him," stated Ryo.
"Get some medics," ordered Taeon. "She's been hit bad."
"Understood," answered one of the guards.
"She's bleeding," cried Michael. "Both arteries have been
blasted open... My God... Don't die, Lynn... Lynn..."
* * *
"I don't know what the spy wanted," Taeon told Major Falcon.
"He started to ask for some kind of data, but I cut him off
before he got finished with his demands."
Katana nodded and folded her arms across her desk. "You did
a good job in stopping the spy, although I come to question your
tactics, Corporal Toshio."
"Well, ma'am. I don't like bargaining in a hostage
situation."
Katana flipped a pencil around between her fingers.
"Corporal Gunn, how would you judge Corporal Toshio's actions?
Did he put Sergeant Firewolf at unnecessary risk?"
"Under the circumstances, I would be inclined to say
Corporal Toshio did all that was within his power to stop the spy
from causing greater harm to this ship and possibly the Empire."
"The question is, did he put Sergeant Firewolf at risk?"
"I think the spy was the one who put her at risk. He was
the one with the gun to her neck."
"Of course," said Katana. "Sergeant Avenger has filed a
formal charge against Corporal Toshio. He charges that Corporal
Toshio neglected to consider the safety of a higher ranking
soldier when he fired upon the spy."
"He has?" asked Taeon, seeing his future of honor and glory
come crashing down before his eyes.
"Yes. But, as Sergeant Firewolf is still alive, she must co-
sign the charge to make it official."
"How is she?" asked Taeon.
"She's in the med-bay undergoing reconstructive surgery. She
should be as good a new in a couple of weeks."
"That's good," stated Taeon.
"Personally, I commend you both on your actions," said
Katana. "Hostage situations are tough and your solution resulted
in only one fatality, and that was the bad guy. Dismissed."
Taeon and Ryo turned to leave the room. "Oh, one more thing
Taeon," said Katana.
"Yes?"
"Stay out of Sergeant Avenger's way, at least for a little
while. I don't want anyone else in my team getting hurt."
"I can handle him if he starts to cause trouble," stated
Taeon.
"Yeah. And I don't want him hurt. He's the General's son."
* * *
The three greatest warships in the ITR phased back into
normal space. After three days of diverspace travel they had
finally made it to the Eridani system.
Captain Richard Armour looked up as the bridge display
screens flickered to life. "Admiral," he said, giving her a
perfect salute.
Admiral Sylvia Steele acknowledged with a node. She was
only forty-five but wrinkles already lined her face -- a sign she
had pushed her extraordinary powers to their very limits.
"Captain, the enemy fleet is waiting for us."
Captain Armour looked to his first officer. Commander Klar
Kileon consulted the sensor board and shook his head. "I'm sorry
Admiral our sensors do not detect anything."
Admiral Steele closed her eyes. "Go to red alert and launch
all mecha."
"Yes ma'am," replied the Captain, still unsure but knowing
he must follow her orders. "Red alert. Commander, order all
mecha pilots to scramble."
"Aye, Captain," replied Commander Kileon.
"Sir!" called the sensor operator. "Four Coalition warships
surfacing out of diverspace in system sector 895-879-214... Sir,
that's only two hundred thousand kilometers from our position!"
Admiral Steele's eyes remained closed as she gave a break
down of the enemy forces. "Two battleships, one carrier, and a
heavy cruiser. Total mecha complement, six hundred fifty.
Between our three ships we should be an equal match. There is no
diver of significant abilities in their flotilla. However, I am
sensing that the enemy crewmen are willing to die to accomplish
this mission -- a dangerous thing for us indeed."
"I think it's time to test that new weapon of yours,
Admiral."
The Admiral opened her eyes. "It is not a weapon, Captain.
No more than radio amplifier could be called a weapon." She
turned away and the screen shut off.
"New weapon?" asked Commander Kileon.
"It's top secret," said the Captain with a sigh. "You'll
see what it is soon enough. And so will they."
* * *
"I hear the Invincible's got some new kind of weapon," said
Michael.
Ryo took his helmet out of the locker. "Now is not the time
to talk about it."
"A new weapon?" asked Taeon. "What is it?"
Michael looked at Taeon and clenched his teeth. "If I were
you, I'd just keep an eye out for 'friendly fire'. Ten percent
of all deaths in combat are caused by friendly fire, you know?
Be a real shame for you to pull up that statistic."
"Cool off, both of you," said Katana as she walked into the
ready-room. "We're going into battle. If you want to survive
you can't be pissed off at each other. We're still short one
pilot so, it's up to you three and Destiny Gray."
"Where is Sergeant Gray?" asked Ryo.
"He managed to suit up and get into his mecha in the time
you guys have been arguing. Now move!"
"Yes ma'am," all three replied.
Taeon grabbed his gloves and slipped them on. "Major, does
the Invincible have a new secret weapon?"
"I don't know about any secret weapon," replied Major
Falcon. "But let's say we are winning by some magical twist of
fate."
* * *
The four mecha of the Guardian Squadron blasted out the
mecha bay and straight into the heat of battle. Ryo was in his
Raptor X, Taeon and Michael both had V Raptors. Destiny was in
his knightly L-Geimour.
The void of space, at the edge of the Epsilon Eridani
system, was littered with explosions and flashes of particle beam
energy. One could hardly distinguish the background stars from
the distant flares of exploding mecha.
"Let's see how these new logic circuits work," said Ryo.
"Computer..."
But he froze mid-sentence, interrupted by a massive ball of
swirling bluish-white energy that materialized only a few hundred
kilometers from the Invincible's bow. The blazing ball of light
blasted toward one of the enemy battleships and engulfed it
entirely in a maelstrom of fiery destruction, swatting it out of
existence.
"Computer, what the hell was that?!"
"Sensors detected a massive pulse of high energy psion
particles at twenty-two thousand kilometers. Residual psionic
radiation levels at three point eight million p-count."
"What do you make of it?"
"This is no time to test your new logic circuits!" yelled
Michael over the radio. "It's clearly the new weapon. That
blast was what I'd call a superweapon!"
"I don't know if you noticed it, but that energy pulse
materialized out of nothing several hundred kilometers away from
the Invincible," said Ryo. "It was psionic energy, too. I'll
bet Admiral Steele did that."
"No way!" exclaimed Michael. "Not even a class ten
telekinetic could do that!"
"Silence," came the dark voice of Destiny Gray. "My sensors
are picking up eight enemy Gallant class mecha. Sergeant
Avenger, you and I will take on four of them. Corporal Gunn and
Corporal Toshio, you will take out the other four. Over."
"Copy that, Sergeant Gray," replied Taeon. "C'mon, Ryo.
Let's take 'em down."
Ryo's and Taeon's Raptors broke formation and headed toward
four of the incoming Gallant class mecha. Taeon consulted his
sensor readings. The enemy mecha looked like Gallant type GS4-
X9s, massing forty-seven point eight tons, eight tons more than
his Raptor. But that mattered little, the Gallant's were
sluggish. His Raptor was twice as maneuverable and could
accelerate nearly twice as fast. The Gallant's primary weapon
was a Vulcan minigun rifle, capable of spilling out a hundred
rounds of depleted-uranium tipped bullets per second. Each clip
for the Vulcan rifle had enough rounds to sustain that rate of
fire for over a minute straight and they typically carried three
such clips.
The biggest threat, though, was its missile launchers. The
gallants had two alpha swarm pack bays, holding twenty-five light
strike missiles. Mounted on each hip was a large quick-kill
missile, massing a ton and carrying enough explosive power to
take out a mecha in one hit.
"Here they come," stated Ryo.
Two of the mecha opened fire with their Vulcans. They
missed, being six hundred meters away, a distance far too great
to allow those bullets any reasonable accuracy.
Taeon responded by grabbing his autolaser rifle off his
shoulder and flipping on his missile jammer. Ryo activated his
jammer as well, and powered up his Raptor's deadly thermo-
electric array.
Grabbing the controls of his mecha, Taeon slammed his feet
on the booster pedals. His V Raptor veered away in a tight spin,
confusing the enemies' targeting computers. Using the wireless
handgrip control in his left hand, Taeon maneuvered his mecha's
left arm around and aimed it at one of the enemy Gallants.
"Eat plasmeon missiles, Coalie!" Taeon grinned, and gave a
quick click on the control trigger.
A single missile darted out of the Raptor's arm and blasted
toward the enemy mecha. But the pilot of the Gallant was good
and dodged his mecha out of harms way.
"Damn!" screamed Taeon.
The Gallant responded with a mega-missile. Taeon's defense
computer screamed the warning, but such a warning was hardly
necessary. The Raptor's missile jammer was more than adequate in
confusing the missile's rather stupid tracking system.
Meanwhile, Ryo turned to face the Gallant nearest to him.
He shut of the booster pack, to conserve fuel and prepared for
combat. Raptor Xs were not equipped with standard thrusters, but
for space missions such as this it was given a temporary non-
reusable booster pack. The pack had a limited amount of fuel so
conservation of what little he had was critical.
The enemy Gallant brought up his Vulcan rifle to fire, but
never got a chance. The Raptor's chest open and one hundred
sparkling thermo-electric cells lit up like a nuclear inferno. A
pulsating beam of devastating energy surged from the Raptor and
exploded into the approaching mecha. When the hellish storm
passed nothing was left but sizzling hot debris.
"Why didn't I get assigned a Raptor X?" asked Taeon on the
comm.
Ryo smiled, considering Taeon's question. Indeed, his
Raptor seemed superior to Taeon's V Raptor. If only Taeon knew
that his capacitors had barely enough energy to allowed him to
make that mega-blast three times. Three times and it was down to
two small plasma guns and a much lower yield thermo-electric
laser. On top of that, the extra weight from the cumbersome
booster pack made it difficult for him to control his mecha. And
he wasn't even as fast as a Gallant, let alone a V Raptor. "Be
happy with what you have," said Ryo. "Trust me."
"Yeah, right," replied Taeon, targeting his attacker with
the remaining two missiles in his left arm. "I won't miss this
time," he stated.
The two heavy missiles launched out of the V Raptor's arm,
and their flight was true. The burning remains of the humanoid
war-machine tumbled through the devastating fireball and
cartwheeled wildly through space. The fireball was quickly
extinguished in the vacuum, leaving nothing but a charred metal
skeleton spiraling into the dark void.
The two remaining Coalition mecha blasted away from Ryo and
headed toward Taeon. "Uh oh, Taeon. You must have taken out
their squadron leader," stated Ryo.
"Crap!" exclaimed Taeon. He aimed his autolaser rifle at
the nearest Gallant and fired. Pulses of high-energy
electromagnetic radiation stabbed into it but did little more
than superficial damage.
In return, the first Gallant launched a mega-missile and the
second opened up with its Vulcan cannon.
Knowing that a hit from the mega-missile would be his doom,
Taeon veered to the left taking the spray of anti-armor bullets
head on. The rocket missed, giving him another few seconds to
live.
The depleted-uranium bullets ripped into the mecha's armor
and tracked up his torso. Several bullets punctured Taeon's
autolaser and a stream of white-hot plasma jetted out the side of
the gun.
"Warning," stated the damage control computer. "Dynamic
thermopile capacitor ruptured."
"Dammit!" screamed Taeon. He tried to release the rifle,
but it was too late. The gun exploded, engulfing his mecha's
entire right arm in a sphere of near-fusion temperature plasma.
"I lost my three remaining missiles again!" Just like in
the sim, the thought. Only this was real...
"Hang on," said Ryo. "I'm coming."
Down to one weapon, thought Taeon. He reached for his hip
with his left hand and grabbed the beam sword hilt. The energy
beam shot out and was grasped in the glove of the powerful
gravity containment field. The energy condensed, forming a
deadly blade of fusion energy.
The closest Gallant paused and seemed to consider the danger
of this awesome weapon. But the second Gallant didn't hesitate.
Its chest bays opened and unleashed fifty low yield rockets at
the Taeon's V Raptor.
Taeon grabbed the controls and dodged his mecha to the
right, hoping his missile jammer would confuse the missiles.
Most missed, but a few hit, if for no other reason than by chance
of shear numbers. After all, it's hard not to be hit when fifty
rockets are fired at less than two hundred meters range...
Ignoring the warning cries from his damage control computer,
Taeon dove through the multitude of fiery explosions. He brought
his beam sword back over his shoulder and swung it in front of
him as he came into range of the first Gallant. The beam of
concentrated nuclear-plasma sliced into the enemy mecha's
midsection, bisecting its torso straight through the pilot's
cockpit. The two halves shot past Taeon, carried by the momentum
of its exploding thruster pack. Behind the V Raptor, the Gallant
vanished in a swelling ball of burning white fire. As the mini-
sun died away, Taeon turned to face the final Gallant.
The enemy pilot was stunned for a second by the bright
explosion. He couldn't see Taeon's approach, being masked in the
light of the new fireball. When the pilot finally spotted the V
Raptor, Taeon was already on top of him.
He swung down with his beam sword, confident he would finish
the Coalition mecha. But the enemy pilot hit his thrusters and
skillfully dodged away from Taeon. Even so, the sword struck and
sliced clean through the Gallant's left leg.
The Gallant went spinning out of control, unstabled by the
loss of its leg thruster. Ryo spotted the careening Gallant
tumbling toward him. He triggered another blast from his thermo-
electric cannon. The Gallant was bathed in hell and the short
battle was finally over.
"You weren't even hit!" exclaimed Taeon. "Again! Talk
about luck."
"No," replied Ryo. "Talk about skill."
Taeon shook his head and looked at the sensors. Their fight
had taken them away from the main battle, and there were no other
enemy units nearby. But something terrible caught his eye in the
distance. "My God! Ryo! The Dauntless!"
"Huh?" asked Ryo consulting his sensors. On the screen, the
icon of the battleship Dauntless flickered and died away.
Off in the distance, a bright point of light flared to life
then faded away. "They took out the Dauntless! I thought our
flotilla was invulnerable!"
"Guardian Squadron," came a voice over the comm, "return to
mecha bay 3 for repairs and briefing."
* * *
"I take it the battle is not going well?" asked Ryo looking
out the window to the distant battle raging outside.
"Yes," replied Katana. "They sunk the Dauntless. A lucky
shot with a plasmeon torpedo hit her stern and ruptured the
antimatter core furnace."
Ryo looked around the ready room. Michael, Destiny, and
Taeon were in the room as well. Everyone in the Guardian
Squadron had made it back alive. "Can you tell me what we're
fighting for here?" asked Ryo.
"To reunite the humanity and crush the fascist Coalition, of
course."
"No, right now. In this battle."
Katana looked down at her datapad. "Let me get a link to
the Combat Information Center and see if intelligence has
reported anything new," she entered the commands and the
information scrolled up on the datapad screen. "Hmmm... This is
interesting."
"What?" asked Taeon interested in learning about the battle
himself.
"Earlier our tacticians had guessed the Coalition was trying
to steal the new weapon, in light of the spy whom you killed.
However, the Coalition forces' attack methods are not consistent
with a strategy to steal the Invincible. As a matter of fact,
they're trying their damnedest to destroy it."
"So what do they want?" asked Taeon.
"There's an anti-psion field being broadcast from one of the
enemy ships. That means they equipped it with some massive
psionic generators. The APS field is low power though, designed
to counteract normal psionic activity. Of course, it's having no
effect on the new weapon."
"So the new weapon is psionic," said Ryo.
Katana smiled. "Yes. It's a psionic amplifier for the
Admiral. At any rate, the power level of the new weapon is so
high the enemy static field is useless. That means even though
they did not know about the new weapon, they did expect to find
Admiral Steele. CIC estimates a high probability that the
Coalition's goals are to capture or kill Admiral Steele."
"What about the spy?" asked Taeon.
"Let me see..." Katana ran through some more screens. "Yes.
CIC isn't sure, but it's quite possible he was only after data on
our ship. The Vigilant has several state-of-the-art systems that
would prove invaluable to the Coalition. It could have been a
completely unrelated incident."
"Major!" called Michael. "The Invincible is going down!"
All three joined Michael and Destiny at the window. In the
distance, explosions could be seen erupting from the hull of the
once great flagship of the ITR.
"No..." whispered Katana. She looked at her datapad. "The
Invincible has been destroyed. Most escape pods have launched,
including the Admiral's pod."
The Invincible, still firing its arsenal of missiles and
pulse beam cannons, vanished in a flash of light brighter than
the sun itself. The antimatter core had gone critical and the
greatest ship ever built was obliterated from existence.
"Impossible!" exclaimed Destiny. "The Invincible had the
best crew, the best weapons, the best defenses! Nothing could
have destroyed her. Nothing!"
"Wait..." said Katana looking at her datapad. "She was
rammed."
"What?" asked Ryo.
"The last enemy battleship rammed her and detonated it's own
reactor core!"
"A suicide run..." grumbled Michael.
"The enemy carrier has also been destroyed. That leaves the
one cruiser. That should pose no problem for us."
"So much for the superweapon," stated Taeon.
"But at least the Admiral is still alive," said Destiny.
"An enemy mecha is approaching the Admiral's escape pod,"
reported Katana.
The group tensed and gathered around the Major to watch the
reports scroll across the datapad.
"He's not firing," said Katana. "The mecha has grappled the
pod and is towing it toward the cruiser."
At that moment, an alarm went rung out through the ship.
Captain Armour came over the intercom. "All mecha squadrons
launch. Repeat, all mecha squadrons launch. Enemy forces have
captured Admiral Steele. It is imperative that she is rescued.
The mission priority is to rescue Admiral Steele at all costs."
"But my mecha's legs still need to be repaired!" objected
Michael.
"You don't need legs in space," stated Destiny Gray. "Move
it."
The four pilots ran into their mecha bay. The first thing
Taeon noticed was that only fifteen of the twenty-four mecha of
the Third Wing were in the bay. The rest must have already
launched. That, or they didn't make it back after the first
wave...
"Wait!" yelled JT. "I haven't fixed your mecha's arm,
Corporal!"
Taeon paused and looked at her. "Did you reload the left
arm?"
"Yes, but you can't aim a rifle weapon without both your
arms intact."
"Great. All I've got are my three missiles and my beam
sword."
"You'll get wasted!"
Taeon took a nervous breath and ran for his mecha.
As Michael ran past JT she stopped him, as well. "Hold on!
I haven't finished with your mecha's legs!"
"Oh, well," replied Michael. "I guess I can't run and jump
and dance around anymore, huh?"
"Over half your thrust power comes from the leg boosters.
Your speed will be cut drastically with only your main thrusters
operational. There's no way you can do any good out there."
"I have to try," he stated, and ran for his paraplegic
mecha.
"Ryo," JT called.
"What? My mecha is fine! I didn't get a scratch."
"I know. I... Just come back alive, okay?"
"I plan on it." Ryo gave her a half smile and joined the
others on their way to the mecha bays.
* * *
Ryo glanced at his enhanced sensor readings. "The enemy
mecha are forming a wall between us and the departing cruiser."
"No kidding," replied Michael. "I can't keep up with you
guys. JT was right."
"Get back to the carrier."
"Not a chance. I'm a perfect linebacker. I'll hold them
down while you brake the line."
"That's suicide!" exclaimed Taeon.
"Only if I fail," replied Michael.
"Speaking of falling back," said Ryo, "my booster pack's
about fifty klicks slower than your thrusters."
"Nonsense," replied Taeon. "Overload the burn cycle timer
and you should be able to keep up with me. You'll ruin the pack
and empty the fuel about three times faster, but why miss all the
fun?"
Suddenly, Destiny's L-Geimour broke formation and blasted
far ahead of the rest of the attack group. "Stop complaining
about speed," he said. "I'm faster than all of you so I'm going
in to weaken their defenses. I'll make an opening at 885-894-
210."
"Got it," came several replies from various surviving
members of the Third Wing.
Taeon looked at his sensors trying to locate the whereabouts
of the other wing groups. There were sixteen wings aboard the
Vigilant. All were converging on the mass of enemy mecha. Three
hundred seventy-two mecha remaining on their side. Four hundred
nineteen mecha remained on the other.
But those GSC mecha were dead already, and their pilots knew
it. Their carrier and battleships had been sunk. The cruiser
was not equipped to carry that many mecha so the sixteen enemy
wings were stranded in ITR territory. They all knew death
awaited them, and they stood their ground to insure their mission
would be a success -- that their deaths would not be in vain.
Taeon wiped sweet off his forehead. His side was
outnumbered and was now fighting a foe that was not only strong,
but also obsessed with glory. It would take a miracle to get
through that line of mecha...
And that miracle was already at work. Taeon watched
Destiny's mecha intercept the enemy forces. The L-Geimour's
powerful plasma lance spat out charged particle death for
kilometers around. In seconds he had stirred the enemy forces
into a mass of angry hornets.
"He's dead meat," stated Michael.
"You'd better hope not," replied Ryo. "Because we'll be
there in about a minute."
"Looks like most of the mecha wings have already hit the
line," stated another pilot in the Third Wing.
Taeon looked at his main display screen. Far away in the
starry black void he could see flashes of light flickering on and
off, each one signifying the conclusion of a pilot's life story.
"In someways I'm glad Lynn's still in the infirmary," said
Michael.
"How so?" asked Taeon.
"I don't think many of us are going to come back from this
mission. If Lynn were here, I fear she'd be one of those in the
unlucky majority."
"But, didn't she beat you in all the sims?" asked Ryo.
"Well, that doesn't say much for my future, now does it?"
replied Michael.
Taeon started to laugh, but all jovial thoughts took flight
from his mind as warning alarms blared through the cockpit.
"Incoming missiles!" he screamed. He flipped on his missile
jammer and dove into an evasive maneuver. All around him,
explosions erupted like a Bloody Fourth of July. "Good God!
Half our wing bought it! Ryo? Michael? You still there?"
"Yes," came the two replies.
"Destiny? Are you out there?"
"Don't distract me, Corporal!" came the reply. "I'm holding
them open! Get through now, while you have the chance!"
Taeon and Ryo pumped their speed to the max and blasted
through the enemy lines. Energy beams laced past them and tracer
fire staggered across their line of flight. There was a clear
shot to the departing cruiser and they knew they had to make it.
"Taeon," said Ryo, after nearly a minute of high burn
flight. "I think we were the only ones who got through.
Everyone else is still engaged in the battle behind us."
"What?" asked Taeon. "Destiny? Michael?" he called into
the comm. "Are you there?"
"Get the Admiral!" called Destiny. "It's up to you now!"
Taeon tightened his grip on his control sticks. In a matter
of seconds they closed the distance and landed on the cruiser's
hull next to an airlock. The magnetic plates on their mecha's
feet kept them anchored to the warship's hull.
"The cruiser's diving," Taeon reported consulting his sensor
readings.
"We haven't much time. Exit your mecha and follow me down
to the airlock."
"Right," replied Taeon.
Taeon made sure his helmet was secure and that his pressure
suit was fully sealed. Then he depressurized the cockpit and
opened the main hatch in the front of his cockpit. He followed
Ryo down to the airlock.
Ryo punched the hatch control button and the airlock door
slid open. The two mecha pilots floated in and closed the door
behind them.
"That was close," said Taeon. "I think we got in a second
before the ship completely sunk into diverspace. I'd hate to be
caught outside in diverspace."
"No kidding. I'm glad the airlock didn't have a security
code," said Ryo. He punched the button to open the second
pressure door.
"We need to look like Coalition crewmen," said Taeon.
"Guess we'll have to mug some officer," replied Ryo,
checking the hall to make sure no one was around.
"No. We can put on these Coalition pressure suits."
Ryo stepped back in the airlock. "Great idea. But how do
we explain the need for them inside a ship?"
"I don't know..."
"Hmmm," thought Ryo. "We can say we just came from the mecha
bay and needed to report something to our CO."
"Sounds good. Here, take this suit."
Ryo and Taeon switched their ITR suits with the Coalition
ones. All they needed was for no one to find their ITR suits in
the airlock. They stepped out into the hall and looked around.
"Okay," said Ryo, "you find the Admiral. I'll cause a
distraction."
"Right," replied Taeon. "Good luck."
* * *
Ryo jogged down the hall to the front of the ship. Though
carriers and battleships held the bulk of a fleet's mecha force,
even cruisers have a small hanger bay for mecha, used mainly for
defense. This was a Tomashi class cruiser, and if he remembered
correctly, the hanger bay was in the forward most section. As he
moved on down the halls, several crewmen gave him odd glances,
but no one questioned him about his pressure suit.
He turned out to be correct in his recollection of the
layout of a Tomashi class. Ryo quietly slipped inside in mecha
hanger bay and looked around. There were spots for a full wing
of mecha, but only fifteen were in the bay, most being given
heavy maintenance. One large mecha was in fairly good condition
and its cockpit was wide opened...
* * *
Taeon walked down a nearby corridor and spotted a crewman.
He was a midshipman first class by the rank his collar.
"Midshipman," said Taeon, hopping he could find out from
this crewman were Admiral Steele was held captive. "We must get
down to the brig immediately."
"Um... Sir?" asked the crewman suspiciously. "I haven't
seen you before, sir..."
"Oh, I am Lieutenant Juan Shuller of the mecha wing. I was
recently assigned here before this mission, but that's all
irrelevant. I need your assistance in the brig immediately. This
is in regards to the new prisoner."
"The Imperial Admiral? Say, why are you in a pressure suit,
sir?"
"I just got back from the hanger bay. Now let's go." Taeon
pushed the crewman on ahead of him, hoping he would lead the way
to the brig.
"That's not a mecha pressure suit, sir."
"Who said I was in a mecha?" asked Taeon. "You never know
when an accident might happen on the flight deck. I always wear
a pressure suit. I know it's weird but I'm your superior no
matter how loony I am. Now I'm ordering you to take me to the
brig!"
The crewman nodded and began walking down the hall. Taeon
walked next to him, but a slight step behind to make it look as
if he knew where he was going, while at the same time follow the
crewman. He hoped all would be this easy, but he knew such was
impossible. Nothing is ever as easy as it seems.
* * *
"Hey, you!" called a tech from a nearby maintenance
scaffold. "What the hell are you doing in Major Briggs' Titan?
If Briggs finds out you're dead!"
Titan? Thought Ryo. That the Coalitions the top of the
line assault mecha. "Don't worry, I'm just trying to destroy
everything," Ryo replied, starting up the mecha as he grabbed the
controls.
The canopy closed, encasing him in a sphere of holographic
displays. "Wow! VR controls, plasma thrusters, carbonite armor
plating, pulsar particle cannon, loads of missiles, and a 30cm
heavy rifle... This sucker kicks ass!"
He swiveled the mecha around and stepped out of the
maintenance scaffolding. "Pretty sluggish though."
So far, none of the other mecha had scrambled. It was only
a matter of time until they did, unless he took them out. Ryo
grinned and targeted the nearest mecha with his main cannon and
fired.
* * *
As the crewman and Taeon walked into the brig, an intruder
alarm rang out. For a second, the crewman thought Taeon might
have been the intruder. But, when the intercom reported the
intruder as being on the flight deck, he loosened up a bit.
"Quick!" said Taeon to the crewman. "Get down to the mecha
bay and find out what's going on!"
"Sir..."
"Hurry! Before it's too late! The fate of this ship is in
your hands! Move! Go! Quickly!" said Taeon ushering the
crewman out the door. "And don't report back to me."
"Yes... Yes, sir," replied the crewman reluctantly. He left
and the door slid shut behind him.
Taeon looked around the brig. There were eight cells, only
one of which had its holding field active. There was one guard
in the room and he was coming toward Taeon.
"Hold it," said the guard. "Who are you?"
Taeon pulled out his Nyron 8mm and fire two rounds at the
guard. The guard grabbed for his side arm but it was too late.
The first round slammed into his chest and was stopped by the
armored vest. The second round went through his skull
terminating any further resistance on the guard's behalf.
Taeon walked over to the holding cell and looked in.
Through the invisible energy field he saw Admiral Steele sitting
calmly on a bench. Taeon fired a round into the holding field
control panel. With a blast of sparks from the panel, the energy
field shut down.
Admiral Steele stood up. "Do you see that donut-shaped
field generator near the guard's post?" she asked, pointing past
Taeon.
Taeon looked behind him and saw the heavy looking metallic
device in the back of the room. "Yes."
"That's an anti-psion static field generator. Deactivate
it."
Taeon fired a burst of bullets, punching several nasty holes
in the side of the generator.
The Admiral closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.
"Finally, that noise has been silenced. All the universe is
clear to me again. Your name is Taeon Toshio. Come Toshio. We
must take control of this ship," she paused and considered
something Taeon was thinking. "Your friend is causing a
distraction? Good. The ship appears to be on red alert. That
should provide adequate chaos for us to get to the bridge."
"What did they want you for, anyway?" asked Taeon.
"They never questioned me, but I believe they wanted to kill
me," she replied.
"Then why capture you?"
"They know I can project myself into the astral plane of
diverspace without keeping an active link with my physical body.
If they killed me, I would not truly be dead. I would still be a
powerful astral entity. Only another diver could have a chance
at shattering my being."
"Okay..." said Taeon.
"Come. We must take over the bridge."
* * *
A pilot scrambled into his mecha cockpit. Before he could
close the armored canopy, a 30cm rifle shell slammed right
through the pilot's compartment, blasting the mecha apart from
the inside out. Ryo turned from the smoldering wreckage and
launched a flight of missiles across the bay, peppering a pair of
mecha which had finished powering up.
Half a dozen guards came rushing into the room through a
door in the back of the mecha bay. "How pointless," said Ryo as
he raked the guards with his shoulder mounted pulsar cannon. "Do
they think mere mortals have a chance against this mecha?"
Ryo's comm unit started beeping. He pulled it out and
switched it on. "Yes?"
"Ryo," came Taeon's voice. "I have the Admiral. We've
taken the bridge. It was rather easy. We just walked in and
she caused everyone to fall asleep with her mind-control.
Anyway, we need you up here."
"I'm under fire," stated Ryo, as he walked the Titan through
the blazing inferno of what had once been mecha bay.
"Well, okay. Keep the crew distracted for a while. The
Admiral has altered our course. We're heading back to the
Eridani system. Once there our marines will take the ship and
make sure everything's secure."
"Got it," replied Ryo. He resumed firing.
* * *
"Congratulations, gentlemen," said Admiral Steele. "Without
your help, I would now be dead and the Coalition would have an
unprecedented edge in this war."
Ryo and Taeon looked around the room filled with the ship's
highest officers. Captain Armour and Commander Klar Kileon were
there, as was Dr. Edward Chrome, the ship's head engineer and
chief systems developer. Major Katana Falcon was present along
with four other wing commanders. "Thank you, ma'am," said Ryo.
"But we were just doing our job."
The Admiral nodded and handed them each a new rank pin. "In
light of your valiant deeds, you are both promoted to the rank of
second sergeant."
Taeon and Ryo took the pin and gave her a salute. That was
all, Taeon thought to himself. They save the Grand Fleet Admiral
of the Imperial Terran Republic and all they get is the rank of
second sergeant?
Admiral Steele turned her attention to the Captain. "As
both the Invincible and Dauntless have been destroyed, this ship
is now the ITR flagship."
The Captain nodded and rubbed his short, graying beard.
"Very well. We'll make preparations to transfer fleet command to
this ship."
"Unfortunately, we lost the Omega Psi-Amp when the
Invincible when down."
Dr. Chrome leaned forward. He was an elderly scientist,
youthful in heart and mind, but his skin was wrinkled and
cracked, his hair already receded to nothing but a gray crescent
in the back of his head. "It would be possible to construct a new
one from the plans."
"What do you know about this secret weapon Doctor?" asked
Commander Kileon.
"I helped with the preliminary designs back on Earth before
I was transferred here to supervise the fitting of the new tri-
phased force field deflection system."
"I will have the plans uploaded as soon as possible," said
Admiral Steele.
"What about that spy?" asked Ryo.
Major Falcon looked at Ryo as if he was out of line, but no
one else seemed to mind.
"The spy," said Admiral Steele, "was looking for the plans
to the psi-amp, as well as other technical information the nature
of which I was unable to ascertain. That is all the information
I was able to glean from the minds of the crewmen we captured
from the GSC cruiser."
"Then why put the spy on the Vigilant?" asked Taeon.
"There was something else he wanted on the Vigilant," said
Admiral Steele. "As I said, I couldn't get that information from
the crewmen, nor have I been able to hypothesize as to what it
might be."
Taeon nodded. "He didn't get it, whatever it was."
Major Falcon stood up. "Sergeant Toshio, Sergeant Gunn. I
believe the rest of the Third Wing is throwing a party to
celebrate your victory. Perhaps now would be a good time for it
to begin."
"Okay, great," said Ryo as Katana led them out of the room.
* * *
After a brief walk down the hall they came to the Pilots'
Lounge. "I hope Michael's not still upset with me," said Taeon as
they entered.
"Taeon!" yelled Michael. "You're still alive, dammit!"
"How's Lynn?" asked Taeon.
"Oh, she up and around," said Michael. "She was well enough
to sign the negligent action charge against you, but you know
what?"
"What?"
"She didn't sign it! Seems she doesn't think it was your
fault," answered Michael in a sarcastic voice. Then he laughed
and slapped Taeon on the back. "But after this battle, I've
decided not to press charges either!"
"Good thing, too," said Taeon. "We can't afford to be at
each other's throats. Our team will need to be at its best to
survive the chaos of this conflict."
He paused and looked out the lounge windows to the blue
green world, his own homeworld, the Emerald of the Empire --
Eridani. "I have a feeling 2380 is going to be a very long
year."
Written and Directed By
Mark Chase
http://www.meta-earth.com
Copyright 1998. All rights reserved.
Casting By
Mark Chase
Starring
Ryo Gunn - Mathias Russ
Taeon Toshio - Jonathan Fuller
Other Characters - Mark Chase
Michael Avenger
Katana Falcon
J.T.
Destiny Gray
Lynn Firewolf
Admiral Sylvia Steele
Captain Richard Armour
And Everyone Else
Mecha Designs
Raptor - Mark Chase
V Raptor - Mark Chase
V Raptor - Mark Chase
Raptor X - Mathias Russ
L-Geimour - Mark Chase
Gallant - Mark Chase
Recommended Theme Song
Megadeth - Blood of Heros
Recommended Musical Score
Metallica - One
- The Unforgiven
- Sad But True
Orbital - Holcyon+On+On
Megadeth - Sweating Bullets
- Psychotron
- The Killing Road
KMFDM - Virus
Bono - Korova 1
NIN - Wish
- Erase, Over, Out
- Hurt
Thrill/Kult - After the Flesh
J.M. Jarre - Rendez-Vous
Special Thanks To:
Everyone at R. Talsorian Games.
The Metal Storm saga is played out
on the Mekton Z role playing game
system.
And To:
The Daemon Sulton Azathoth, the
mindless nuclear chaos at the
center of the universe without
whose laughter this world would not
be.
(all mecha were constructed under
the Mekton Zeta© Role-Playing Game
system, by R. Talsorian Games, Inc)