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UR RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT: APARTMENT COMPLEX
On the bedroom wall, a single button was pressed.
Shadows were gradually given form as the rectangular window shifted from opaque to transparent, letting in sparkling golden rays of morning sunlight. There was the extra-long bed with its haphazard bundle of unmade sheets. The open closet filled with an assortment of custom-fitted clothes and armor. The shelf lined with disks of popular music, hit shows, and old Academy lectures.
And at the center of it all, making everything else appear too small by comparison, stood the room’s single occupant. Her copper-colored skin was radiant, her outfit pristine, her expression resolute. She pulled on the last piece of her Neighbor Quartz armor, double-checked her gear pack, and grabbed her Lambda Hellfret double saber before quietly slipping out the bedroom door.
The living room was dark and still. Akasha tiptoed across the apartment to Kira’s room and pressed an ear to the closed door. Silence. Her roommate was probably still fast asleep in her bed. They’d been living together since graduating from the Academy, yet Akasha was still amused by her friend’s ability to sleep through just about anything. It certainly worked in Akasha’s favor that morning.
Sorry, Kira. I can’t get you and Ivan mixed up in this. Knowing you, you’ll probably be pretty mad at me. I just hope you can forgive me, someday…
The Newearl took one final look around. It occurred to her that this could very well be the last time she set foot in this apartment—assuming things on
Orpheus didn’t go as planned. But she’d accepted that. Letting out a soft sigh, Akasha opened the front door to leave—
—and nearly fell over in surprise when she spotted the two people waiting for her in the hallway.
“Morning, sleepyhead!” exclaimed an energetic Kira. “Ready for a walk on the wild side?”
“Don’t worry, we weren’t waiting long,” added Ivan, smiling politely.
Akasha took a moment to compose herself. “O-Oh, uh, hey guys! I didn’t expect you to be ready so early.”
“You weren’t planning on leaving without us, were you?” asked Kira not-so-innocently.
“Of… Of course not,” Akasha lied. “But are you two sure you want to go through with this? This isn’t your average, everyday mission, you know. I can’t ask you to risk your lives for me.”
“You’d do the same for us. Besides, we wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else,” Kira replied firmly. “Isn’t that right, sweetie?”
Ivan didn’t respond right away. “What, you mean
me? Since when do you call me ‘sweetie’?”
“Since today. What, you don’t like it?”
The half-Newman scratched his freshly-shaven jaw. “Coming from you, Spitfire? Honestly, it sounds a little creepy.”
A swift jab to the bicep forestalled any more snarky comments from Ivan. “Kasha, I know you’re not exactly good at accepting help from other people. You’re the big, tough girl who wants to do it all yourself. But sometimes, when your friends say they want to lend a hand, you need to learn to just smile and nod along.”
Akasha sighed and then laughed, defeated. “I can’t win against you, can I?”
“Never,” she grinned. “And don’t you forget it.”
* * * * * * * * *
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- One hour later -
DOCKING BAY 73C
The bay hummed with its usual early morning activity as Akasha and her friends entered from the north gate. A number of uniformed techs and pilots were hard at work cleaning, prepping, and refueling the assortment of spacefaring vessels scattered throughout the extensive hangar. To their left they saw several civilian shuttles of varying make, model, and color. To their right was a bevy of privately-owned transports and luxury yachts, ranging from the ultra-fancy to the horribly dilapidated. Straight ahead rested a single ship, what looked like a retrofitted transport with a pair of military-grade turrets mounted on its sides. It was slate gray in color, decorated with an elaborate pattern of dents and scorch marks, and probably at least several decades old. Unadorned lettering on its starboard side identified the craft as
Rico’s Folly.
Strolling down the boarding ramp was a familiar-looking black and red CAST. Spotting the new arrivals, she immediately headed in their direction. “You’re early,” Aki02 commented without preamble. “Good, I like that.”
“Didn’t wanna be late to my own funeral,” Akasha muttered sarcastically under her breath.
Kira sniffed and folded her arms across her chest. “This is our ship? No offense, but… what a hunk of junk!”
“It may not look like much, but it was the only ship available on such short notice. At least, the only one that met our parameters.”
“Who’s Rico?” asked Akasha, her attention still drawn to the transport.
“For that answer, you would have to ask the person who named it.”
“Right... I just hope we have better luck than they did. I’d rather they didn’t rename it ‘Akasha’s Folly’ after this.”
Ivan approached Aki and extended a hand. “Oh, uh, nice to meet you. My name is—”
“I know very well who you are, Mr. Malloch,” said Aki, shaking his hand anyway. “I share my sister’s memories. I know everything she knows about you.”
“This is going to take some getting used to,” Ivan whispered to Kira.
* * * * * * * * *
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“I still wish you weren’t going,” said Dr. Rauth through the ship’s on-board visiphone. His face, along with that of Aki’s brother, Alpha, were visible on the small screen.
Seated alone in the transport’s cockpit, Aki regarded him with a sober smile. “It’s a little late to back out now. And besides, I need to do this. For myself as much as them.”
“Will you be away long?” asked Alpha, his expression more curious than concerned.
“Not long, no. At least I hope not,” Aki replied. Speaking of being away, she couldn’t help but notice there was one person missing from the conversation—her support partner. “Where’s Luna? She isn’t with you?”
The doctor idly adjusted his glasses. “She left early this morning, said she was going out for a walk. I think she’s still a little hurt you’re not taking her along.”
Aki nodded thoughtfully. “When she gets back, tell her I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to her later.”
“Will do. And Aki… be safe.”
“In my experience, whenever someone tells me to be safe, things usually don’t turn out very well.”
Rauth winced. “Let’s hope this time is the exception, then. You have almost a week until the Navy launches its counterattack, more than enough time to get in and out of that awful place. I won’t pretend like it’s going to be easy. Just remember, you have people here who care about you. Make sure you come back in one piece, okay? Good luck.”
“Thank you, Doctor. Take care while I’m gone. All of you.”
The visiphone faded to black. Pensively, the red-haired Caseal leaned back in her seat, her gaze still fixed on the blank screen in front of her. She’d contemplated telling Dr. Rauth her
other reason for going on this mission, but in the end had decided against it. No need to worry him more than he already was…
* * * * * * * * *
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A few minutes later, when the last of the cargo had been loaded and the gear stowed, Akasha and her friends joined Aki in the cockpit. Akasha strapped herself into the co-pilot’s seat while Kira and Ivan took the pair of navigator’s chairs behind them. With the flick of a switch, Aki started up the transport’s computer systems. The display in front of her glowed to life and the words “
Initializing Systems – Please Stand By” appeared. One after another, green status lights illuminated to show that the ship was operating normally. Aki pressed another switch and the boarding ramp retracted, sealing the ship. On the screen in front of her, messages popped up informing her that the life support systems were functional and cabin pressure readings were at optimal levels.
“It’s going to take a couple minutes to start up the engines and complete the pre-flight diagnostic,” Aki explained. “As they say… ‘just sit tight.’”
The Caseal continued pressing buttons, pulling levers, and flipping switches. To Akasha it was like a foreign language—mostly beyond her understanding, but she paid attention as best she could. All the while, more messages were scrolling across the computer screen:
Cooling Systems Check… Cooling Systems Functional.
Initializing Navigation System… Calibrating… Nav Systems Active.
Engine Startup Initiated… Powering Up Forward Thrusters… Powering Up Rear Thrusters.
A faint whine graduated to a low rumble as the engines came online one after another. By the time the last engine powered up, the crew of
Rico’s Folly could feel the rattling deep in their bones—or, in Aki’s case, her metal chassis. They were buried in the belly of a great beast, one that possessed a life all its own. A beast that was about to whisk them away on the most dangerous adventure of their lives.
All Systems Operational, the computer reported.
Ship is Ready for Take-off.
Aki depressed a button on the console. “Control,” she said, speaking into the microphone, “this is the transport
Rico’s Folly, requesting permission for take-off.”
“
Rico’s Folly,” a slightly static-laced voice replied through the ship’s speaker, “you are cleared for departure. Have a safe journey.”
Releasing the magnetic docking clamps, Aki gently nudged the throttle, easing the ship forward. They glided through the bay, past the row of shuttles, past the cluster of luxury yachts. Past the safety of civilization. Ahead, deep space awaited them. A silent moment of realization swept through the crew of
Rico’s Folly then; it was the knowledge that their mission was finally underway. There would be no turning back. Win or lose, live or die, they were committed. The thought was humbling.
And then, suddenly,
Ur was behind them. All around them, a hundred billion stars sparkled like a hundred billion precious jewels. Somewhere out there, among all those glittering jewels, was their destination.
As Akasha watched Aki enter a series of coordinates into the navigation system, her brow furrowed in sudden concern. “It might be a bit late asking this, but… you
do know how to find
Orpheus, right?”
Aki cocked her head slightly to the right and raised an eyebrow. “Trust me,” she said.
A moment later, the ship jumped to warp.
* * * * * * * * *
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The Raltheon System was a relatively unimportant star system, at least as far as Oracle was concerned. It hosted only three planetary bodies, none remarkable and none capable of supporting life. The first was too small and too hot, the second was decently sized but freezing cold, and the third was a brilliant blue gas giant. It was here, midway between the second and third planets, that a shimmering pool of light tore open the fabric of space.
This portal, a jump gate, facilitated warp travel and made Oracle’s spacefaring society possible. It was said that a jump gate resembled a pool of water suspended in space. This description is apt, though the composition of the portal was decidedly
not water. Rather, its purpose was to provide a conduit between two distant points in space, allowing travel between them at a fraction of the time normally afforded by sub-warp speeds.
It was through this conduit, this tear in space, that
Rico’s Folly emerged nearly an hour later. Aki had plotted several jumps designed to bring the transport as close as possible to
Orpheus’s current location. Or rather, its expected location. The fallen colony ship was traveling on a more or less straight-line path towards Sector Prime, suspected by many to be the clandestine construction site of the space station
Terra Nova. The only challenge was pinpointing its exact position.
“I don’t see
Orpheus out there,” said Akasha, visually scanning the starfield ahead for any sign of movement.
“That’s because you’re looking with your eyes,” Aki replied. She glanced behind her seat. “Kira, what do the long-range sensors say?”
The orange-haired Gunner studied the console screen. “It’s there. At least I think it is. It’s a long ways out, but with that size… it can’t be anything else.”
“You were right,” Akasha admitted to Aki, shaking her head in disbelief. “You found
Orpheus. But how’d you know where to look?”
The Caseal regarded her with an amused smile. “You don’t watch Ur Nightly News, do you? Sylva Greene has been covering it all week.”
* * * * * * * * *
One final micro-jump brought the transport within visual range of
Orpheus. Upon exiting the jump gate they were immediately assaulted by great bursts of light off the port bow and Aki was forced to bank the ship hard to avoid getting caught in the explosions.
“What’s going on?!” shouted Akasha. “Are we under attack?”
Aki increased power to the craft’s forward shields. “No, space mines. The ARKS have been laying them throughout the system. It’s part of General Valias’ plan to slow down
Orpheus long enough for the Navy to complete preparations for its counterattack.”
Indeed,
Rico’s Folly was skirting the edge of a vast minefield—one that
Orpheus was currently approaching. The black behemoth swelled in their forward viewport as they drew closer, its colossal size almost beyond imagination. Oracle citizens were accustomed to the magnitude of the great colony ships, but to see one like this, so monstrous and grotesque, took their breath away. The name of the vessel, once prominently stamped on its prow, was now mostly obscured by a thick shell of organic-looking armor plates. Its surface was rough and uneven, punctuated by spiny ridges, barbed tentacles, and other baffling appendages. The entire ship—if it could still be called that—pulsed with an otherworldly crimson glow that seemed to emanate from the cracks between its protective plates.
As they continued staring, a powerful energy beam lanced out from between a pair of hooked appendages at the bow of the colony ship. The beam arced across the minefield, detonating and destroying hundreds of space mines in a single sweep. For a long moment the inky blackness was transformed into a burning maelstrom of blinding light.
The resulting shockwave came quickly and without mercy.
Rico’s Folly was buffeted by the blast, tossed about like a pebble in a tidal wave, but its shields held. After that Aki wisely chose to widen the distance between the transport and the mines.
It was at that point Ivan noticed a tiny blip on the sensors. He looked up, trying to spot the object through the viewport. Sure enough, a small shuttlecraft was streaking ahead in the distance, its bluish-white efflux trail the only discerning feature against the darkness of space. “Look, over there!” he exclaimed, stabbing a finger towards the vessel. “A shuttle!”
Akasha’s eyes widened. She knew immediately who was piloting it. “Shankar.”
“The brother you told me about?”
She nodded solemnly. Her brother had been telling the truth—he really was going to
Orpheus, and now it looked like he was going to get there before them.
“Shankar? You sure about that?” asked Kira.
“Who else would be crazy enough to fly
towards that… that monster?” Akasha replied, then added with a twinge of irony, “Besides us, I mean.”
“Good point.”
Before they could discuss it further the shipboard alarms began howling, denoting multiple weapons locks. Aki threw the transport into a spinning dive relative to
Orpheus as spearhead-shaped projectiles rocketed past. “What are those things?!” Kira cried.
“Darker missiles… I think.” Aki remained maddeningly calm as another salvo came uncomfortably close to blasting
Rico’s Folly into oblivion. Most of the “missiles” flashed past faster than Aki and the others could see, but a few stragglers gave them a glimpse of what they were facing. They looked similar to Dagan eggs: cone-shaped, with several tentacles trailing behind them. The red, bulb-like portion was gone, replaced with a rear vent that fired super-hot gases to generate propulsion. The projectiles’ jet black color made them difficult to spot against the backdrop of outer space.
“They’re coming around for another pass!” Ivan reported, his tone urgent. “I think they’re tracking us!”
Aki gave the engines a burst of power.
Rico’s Folly momentarily shot ahead of its pursuers as the missiles looped around behind the transport, but the gap closed quickly as they formed up on their target. There was no way Aki could dodge them forever. Their only option was to take them out. “Kira, man the port turret. Ivan, you take the starboard side. Keep those Spearheads off our backs.”
“Aye aye, cap’n!” replied Kira, throwing the Caseal a mock salute. “Just try not to rock the ship too much. I don’t think my stomach can take much more of this spinning!”
The transport’s side-mounted guns swiveled towards the rear of the craft. Kira and Ivan opened fire on the incoming missiles, twin streams of blazing light tearing through one Darker weapon after another as space exploded into fiery clouds of brilliance. Twelve became eight, eight became five, five became two. The final pair of Spearheads emerged from the inferno unscathed, spiraling around each other as they closed in on
Rico’s Folly. Aki juked the ship left and right in a vain effort to lose them. When that didn’t work she attempted the wildest maneuver yet, sending them into a high-speed corkscrew spin that had them holding onto their restraints for dear life. The Spearheads, in their effort to chase the ship, spiraled closer and closer to one another until one missile struck the other—and detonated.
Rico’s Folly flew on to safety.
Kira put a hand to her mouth. “Urgh, I think I’m gonna lose my lunch!”
“You haven’t eaten lunch yet, Spitfire.”
“A technicality,” she retorted.
“Where’s Shankar?” asked Akasha, looking for any sign of the shuttle. The Newearl was right—he was gone. Somehow, during the chaos of battle, the other ship had completely disappeared from view—and their sensors as well.
“Worry about that later,” said Aki as another alarm began wailing. “We’ve got incoming!”
“More Spearheads?”
“No, just one this time… but it’s bigger.”
The solitary missile barreling towards
Rico’s Folly was bulb-shaped and roughly three times the size of the Spearheads that had chased them before. “Kira, Ivan,” commanded Aki, “get ready to blast it on my mark. Three, two—”
Before she could give the order, the missile burst on its own. There was no explosion. Instead, the bulb tore into pieces and its contents spilled out, peppering the transport with multiple impacts. At first Aki and her crew thought it was harmless debris, but they quickly realized what had actually emerged from the missile—a pack of Krahdas! The diminutive, insect-like Darkers clung tightly to the outer hull of the ship and immediately began tearing into the metal plating with their razor-sharp claws. They were tiny, but given a few minutes they could do some serious damage.
“Oh, this is bad…,” said Kira as she watched a Krahda rip open a panel like a can top.
It’s worse than that, thought Aki. There was no way to hit the Krahdas with the side-mounted turrets. Even if there was, they’d destroy the ship in the process. So what could they do? At this rate
Rico’s Folly might not even make it to
Orpheus, much less make it back.
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Desperate times called for desperate measures. Aki swung the transport back towards the mine field, a move that immediately had Akasha worried. “Wait, what are you doing? You’re not actually thinking of going back
into that mine field, are you?!”
“I was considering it, yes.”
“What?! Are you kidding me?!”
“I rarely joke,” the Caseal replied mildly, coaxing the engines to their limits.
Rico’s Folly plunged into the sea of mines at top speed. Activated by the ship’s proximity, the closest mines detonated with the intensity of a hundred tiny supernovas. Barely able to keep ahead of the shockwaves, the craft was rocked violently from side to side. Flames licked the edges of the transport. Inside, multiple systems flickered intermittently. Warning status messages flashed on every computer screen.
Then they were past it—past the mines, and past the Darkers. Every single Krahda attached to their hull had been vaporized in the mine field. Once again it seemed Aki’s risky gamble had paid off. The only thing between
Rico’s Folly and
Orpheus now was open space.
“One minute,” Aki announced.
One minute until they reached
Orpheus. The massive ship filled their viewport now, looking even more intimidating than it had from afar. Everyone waited breathlessly as the timer counted down the last few seconds, anxious to find out whether or not this was about to become a one-way trip.
“How are we getting inside?” asked Ivan. “I assume you have some idea.”
“There,” said Aki, pointing. Above and to the right of them, nestled between two giant armor plates, was a rounded hole in the exterior of the colony ship. It was perhaps thirty meters across, plenty large enough for
Rico’s Folly to squeeze through. Or it would’ve been, had it not started to close like some kind of misshapen mouth.
“We’re not going to make it!” Akasha yelled, looking on helplessly as their only chance continued shrinking right in front of them.
“We’re going to make it.” Aki pushed the throttle as far as it would go and held it steady.
All at once, red energy beams and Spearhead missiles came at them from multiple directions. And yet, miraculously, Aki maneuvered them past every danger without getting a single scratch. Up ahead, the entrance was disappearing fast. They shot through the hole just as it closed around them, barely scraping the tail end of the transport’s hull. Aki flew
Rico’s Folly down the throat of a long curving tunnel, desperately trying to slow the ship when a closed hatch suddenly came rushing into view. There was no way to stop in time. “Guns forward!” Aki shouted. “Shoot! SHOOT NOW!!”
Kira and Ivan let loose with everything they had. The turrets shredded the hatch just as
Rico’s Folly slammed into it, blasting through the wall into a cavernous, dimly-lit chamber. Aki activated the landing struts as the transport was thrown into an uncontrolled horizontal spin.
“This is going to be a rough landing. Hang on.”
The phrase “rough landing” may have been an understatement. The ship touched down going far too fast—and still spinning.
Rico’s Folly skidded across the floor of the chamber, sparks flying and stomachs turning. In the cockpit, the crew was pressed into the sides of their seats. The world itself became a vibrating blur. There was no time to think. No time to scream. It was all they could do just to keep from blacking out.
Just when they thought they couldn’t endure any more, the spinning slowed and finally came to a stop. The transport sagged on its struts as if letting out a long sigh.
A long moment of silence followed. The crew looked around in amazement, belatedly realizing they’d survived the incredible ordeal.
Akasha released the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “We made it…”
“Yes, we did,” Aki replied. “Now for the hard part.”
CHAPTER 7: END
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