Chapter 8

In space there is no sound, just a void, but if there was sound it would be filled with the sounds of weapons fire and explosions. The UPDF ship had been working its way through a small asteroid cluster when they were attacked by the Shankaries. They hid behind the rocks, and were not seen until they attacked.

Explosions appeared all over the ship, its armored hull so far withstanding against the barrage of missiles and other weapons fire.

Jason was half sprinting, half scrambling with all the explosions going off, to try and get to the launch bay. It was a good job he was in his jump suit; all he had to do now was get a helmet and emergency air supply and jump in his MAW. He burst through the changing room, scooped up his helmet from on top of his locker and put it on while still on the move.

The rest of squad 16 was already well underway with the preparations and by the time he got into the cockpit they were ready to go. He quickly plugged himself into his life support system and said, �Control room, squad 16 ready for deployment.�

The response was flashing red lights and a warning siren telling everyone to get out of there before depressurization.

There was a whoosh as the big outer doors opened and the air was sucked out.

When the doors were fully opened Jason shouted �Deploy now!� and using their thrusters, went out into the void.

Zero G combat is one the hardest forms of combat. It takes precision to stop a quick turn around from spinning out of control.

Jason, like the rest of the squad, was using the thrusters to duck and weave though the enemy fire, to get into a position to fire back with ease. It wasn�t proving that hard, they had done lots of simulations like this, and most members of the squad had been in space combat.

It was all going well with very few casualties for the UPDF when Jason spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He wasn�t sure what he saw, and tried to focus on the spot.

He slowly made out the outline of a Black MAW, but it was different from the other MAWs, it seemed more heavily armored with what looked like a large gun on its shoulder. Jason watched as it turned to face a squad coming towards it. It was squad 12. The large gun seemed to glow, and then suddenly a huge beam shot out of the end and enveloped the squad. Jason winced against the bright light, and when it died down, squad 12 was...gone. Completely vanished. Jason felt his eyes widen in terror. With one shot a whole squad... Jason thought.

�Shit,� he shouted. �A new MAW, black, got a massive gun on its shoulder. Took out squad 12 in one shot!�

He didn�t need to add �Be careful�

With most of the other MAWs taken out, Jason could concentrate on this new MAW.

He quickly composed himself.

�Ok,� he thought. �Ok. New MAW with devastating weaponry. Hum. There must be a weakness somewhere.�

He thought back to the debriefing after the N-type explosion simulation. Legs were out of the question, thrusters could be used. He could destroy the weapons and thrusters but they looked too heavily protected to destroy. That left the CCS.

He thrust forward, keeping a careful eye on his opponent. His hands danced over the controls to enable scanning mode. A new display came up with a percentage and range counter. The range was how close he needed to close the gap before the scanners could kick in and the percentage was how much of the scan was done. He needed to find the CCS on this thing, there had to be one small bit of armor that was thinner than the rest. He looked at the distance gauge. His MAW wasn�t really built for scanning, and thus the scanners weren�t that powerful, meaning he had to get closer. He made an approximation. It would put him within a 75 feet radius from the MAW, which was way too close for comfort. He opened up a data stream with the ship, that way, even if he was taken out, there would be some data on this thing.

He moved in closer.

His approach did not go unnoticed and the black MAW started to turn to face him. Jason pushed the controls to make him go around the MAW in a slowly decreasing circle, which would keep him out of the firing arc of the enemy. The enemy soon realized what was happening and started to turn faster to compensate. Jason reacted by changing his pitch, to make himself a moving target at least. He finally got within range and the scanners started. It scanned the shoulder weapon first. It was an Ionized particle accelerator, that could create a beam of pure energy. The only defense that could stand up to it is an energy shield, which would explain why it hadn�t attacked the ship. All ships had this shield to enable safer travel, but due to the energy requirements, MAWs did not have this shielding. The scan continued.

The Black MAW seemed to grow impatient and started firing its cannon to try and stop Jason.

52% done.

Hurry up, Jason thought.

78%.

The beam kept on getting closer and closer.

95%.

It was nearly clipping his heels know.

100%

The location of the CCS came up on the screen.

Yes!

Jason threw the controls and his MAW quickly cut back on itself, spiraling under the beam. The spinning created an artificial gravity which put a stain on Jason�s body. He felt like he was being pulled apart. He quickly cut out of the spiral, zero gravity returning and focused on the target. It was small, perhaps only a meter in diameter. It was a long shot.

He only really had one chance; otherwise the beam would hit him on the next fire. He had to make this shot count. He aimed his weapons to where the target would be as the other MAW continued to turn around. Jason focused as the targeting locked on.

Now.

He fired off the shot. Everything just seemed to slow down as he watched the shell head home towards its target. It�s a hit Jason thought. It was no more than 10 feet away when the other MAW seemed to move. There was a blur as it dropped about 2 meters down and to the right, making the shot miss.

How can anything move that fast, Jason thought.

But before he could finish his thought, the beam fired.

Jason was lucky.

The combined velocities of him and the turning of the other MAW meant that it wasn�t a direct hit.

But it still hit.

The left weapon and part of his thruster and generator vanished, the metal around it turned molten by the heat.

The power went and Jason felt his MAW slowing down. His screen flickered and most of the consoles were dark. Jason would only watch on as the Black MAW loomed over him and he saw the weapon start to charge up.

Jason felt a drop of cold sweat run down the side of his face.

Jason saw something that diverted his attention, it was small and fast and heading away from the ship. It looked like an escape vessel. The black MAW saw it as well and watched it leave, and then disappeared from view. In fact all the enemy MAWs were leaving.

Jason let out a huge breath and felt himself collapse in his seat, breathing hard.