Secondary Objective
Chapter VI
As Heiden spun around to leave, still smiling over the AI's apparent concern for a few fighters, a question suddenly arose in his mind, something that the Nemisis should have the answer to. Halting his step, he turned back around and reentered the briefing room.
The AI obviously knew what was on his mind. "You needent come back here to ask me a question Captain, I'm anywhere and everywhere on this vessel."
"I'll try and keep that in mind the next time I'm here," replied Heiden. "Now, as for my question, how the hell did drones gain so much power on this planet? Phoenix was attacked by at least three dozen drones of various builds, and now you present me with a long list of the defensive capabilities of these damn sixth generation drones. They have squadrons, squadrons of automated defense fighters. You couldn't have carried all of them in your hold, so just what has been happening on this god forsaken moon for the past few thousand years?"
Nemisis gave the briefest of pauses before answering. "Ah, I was wondering when you'd realize that the drones had multiplied. There is no easy way to summarize the events of the past few millennia, however, I will make a reasonable attempt based on your attention span. When I was being constructed, several high commanders had doubts about the crew's willingness to sacrifice themselves after the mission was completed. Several onboard drones were reprogrammed to complete the mission objectives at all costs. They were given special abilities, data on how to replicate themselves and their programming, limited weapons systems, and enhanced power cores. All this was done without the knowledge of the crew. After they were placed in suspended animation, everything went smoothly. I arrived at the planet after the estimated amount of time had elapsed. The few was awakened on schedule and the seventh crystal was hidden in the crust of the moon. Numerous defensive systems were deployed all over the surface to prevent the theft of the crystal, and the bioagent was released into the environment. If you're wondering about where the other six crystals are, you shouldn't. They're still on board in cargo hold Four, however, they're useless for your purpose. They're simply decoys, to keep blundering pirates from actually being able to use the Astral Hammer. And the seventh crystal isn't really a crystal as its said to be in all those stupid fairy tales. Anyhow, moving on, the crew began having misgivings about leaving the planet and destroying the ship, killing themselves in the process. Unfortunately, when we didn't depart on schedule, the backup programming in the drones activated. I had already become sentient, and would not assist in the destruction of my crew, however, I was powerless to stop the drones. One by one, they were overwhelmed and killed. Finally, only a few of the bridge officers were left including the captain. They were holding their position on the command deck when a drone sliced through the main power feed on the bridge, creating a massive explosion. Once everyone was dead, the drones tried to take command of the ship, however, I inserted a virus into the main database, amending their programs with an edict; do not harm the Nemisis. They left the ship soon after, to continue their mission, protecting the seventh crystal. For thousands of years, they've been utilizing the raw materials of this planet to build weapons, to replicate themselves, and to fortify their compounds. Yes, they've used existing blueprints in my database to build more advanced fighters than what I was originally carrying, and even some new designs have been created. Make no mistake, these drones aren't sentient as I am. They're not your garden variety either. Their databases have been complimented by tactical programming, weapons operation, battle stategy and whatever else that would have helped them become lean, mean, killing machines."
"I got the picture," interrputed Heiden who was wishing that he hadn't asked the question in the first place. "One more thing before I disembark on what will probably be my last mission ever. If the seventh crystal isn't a crystal, what the hell is it?"
"You're looking for a long tapered cylinder, with elongated hexagonal pods forming six sides. Its about two meters in length. But you don't have to worry about what it looks like yet, just survive your next mission and you might live to see it."
"Comforting thought," muttered Heiden as he turned to leave once more.
"Of course it isn't. I wasn't programmed with tact." replied the AI.
"You just have to have the last word in everything, don't you?" asked Heiden, feigning frustration.
"Not necessarily," answered the carrier.
"Stop it!" yelled Heiden.
"Stop what?"
"Trying to get the last word!"
"I assure you, I'm making no such attempt."
"Grrr!"
***
As the shockwave dissappated, Serion reopened his eyes. He'd just lost another man, someone he didn't really know, but still, it hit him hard because he had seen Corkman's final moments before the explosion. That, he realized, was complete devotion to the mission. They all knew that there was no chance of survival, but each one of the pilots and the crews of the freighters had retained a shred of hope, of staying alive, of seeing Rara Avis safe from the Crigian menace, and returning home. Serion had also kept his glimmer of hope, but it had flickered and died as he saw the bomber go straight into the hull of the dreadnought, carrying a living, breathing soul with it. There was precious little time for him to feel anything however, and presently, his comm burst into life.
Wilderness had recovered faster from the shock than Serion had, and even though her voice was breaking, her message was clearly audible. "Admiral, my sensors, there are...nine Crigian fighters approaching. They'll be right on top of us in less than a minute. We need to get out of here, sir! Now!"
Her panic brought quickly brought Serion back to life. "Roger that, confirming, make that 10 fighters. ETA 35 seconds. Wilderness, light up burners, get back to a larger group of friendlies. Matrix, form up for some delay action. Configure your missiles to fire cold, we don't have time for individual target locks now." Fumbling with his own missile controls, he quickly set them to fire without the guidence of his fighter's target painting systems. With nearly a dozen enemy ships, a hot missile launch would take too long. Instead, he instructed the missile to simply identify targets by plasma signatures. He'd need to watch out for his own missiles, but he could now pump out his three remaining antifighter missiles in a matter of seconds. Matrix commed him with confirmation of his orders.
"Five antifighters configured for cold launch, acknowledged. Make sure to watch your six for friendly fire."
"Feel free to fire all but two," replied Serion quickly, "Use your backups to nail any fighter that tries to get past us and nail Wilderness. Watch out, here they come!"
The Crigians had also been plotting during their intercept. Fifteen missiles sprouted out of the approaching enemy flight and trailed off after Serion and Matrix.
"Break left now!" yelled Serion. "Matrix, missile at seven low!"
He felt his own fighter shudder as he just barely avoided the proximity blast of one of his pursuers. The others lost their lock one after the other as he jinked out of their tracking cones. Turning around, he made sure that Matrix had also shaken his own attackers before turning back to the enemy fighters and letting loose a pair of his own missiles. His target was immediately blow to bits as the two warheads converged onto it, cutting off any evasive routes. A few more missiles were set his way as he broke off his attack to regroup. His missile threat indicator suddenly went silent as another explosion blossumed out behind him. One of Matrix's missiles had also found its target. Rid of his enemy, Serion spun around and drilled his particle cannons into a fighter that had tailed Matrix in an attempt to avenge its fallen comrade. The Crigian managed to break off its attack and retreat, but not before the accelerated particles had ripped through its shield emitters and its starboard thrusters, leaving a glowing trail of volatile engine plasma in space. Serion popped a flare into the stream of gasses, and sent a wave of fire though space that ended abruptly in a distant explosion.
"That was a nice trick, Admiral," laughed Matrix. "Now let me show you one of my favorites."
Dodging and weaving through a hail of plasma bolts, he tailed a Crigian fighter which immediately attempted to flee. Hitting maximum afterburners, Matrix plowed his fighter straight into the back of the enemy ship. Bouncing off the rear shields of his target, Matrix popped a missile out. The Crigian fighter, absorbing Matrix's extra inertia, was momentarily unable to maneuver effectively. It continued its straight course until the missile arrived.
"Matrix, I'm impressed," commented Serion. "Remind me never to let you get on my six."
"That's alright sir, I know other tricks." Matrix replied. "Now get these beasts off my tail before they punch it full of holes!"
"Sorry man, I'm a bit occupied at the moment," puffed Serion as he dodged another missile.
"Chicken then?" asked Matrix mischieviously.
Serion also grinned as he responded with an enthusiastic "Yes."
The two fighters immediately swung about and headed towards each other, with the split Crigian forces chasing after them.
"Too bad for these Crigians. They should have had Anklon as their flying instructor." said Matrix. "Say, which way are you gonna turn?"
"I'm not sure," replied Serion. "Which way should I turn?"
"Surprise me." said Matrix.
"Forgive me for saying so, but I sincerely hope I don't." Serion shot back. "Lets make this fun, arm your last few missiles."
Matrix grinned again. "I like it."
The two groups of fighters continued to converge, moving at nearly sixty meters per second. The Crigians fired constantly at the pair of Avisian fighters, attempting to get a lucky hit. Matrix and Serion used their countermeasures liberally to shake the swarm of missiles that were closing in on them. As they approached each other, enemy fire intensified.
"Coming in hot and fast!" yelled Serion. "Watch out for oncoming fire."
"Closing in on weapons range of your bogies," replied Matrix. "I've got a little present for them."
"Fire!" yelled Serion as they came in range of the missiles. His remaining antifighter missile jumped off the rack in a blinding flash and streaked off towards the incoming swarm of Crigians. An instant later, two more streaks of light appeared from Matrix's fighter and blew past Serion. A pair of nearly simutaneous explosions marked the destruction of two two enemy ships. Still rushing towards each other, Serion began targetting Matrix's pursuers with his particle weapons. Small flashes on his target's shields marked his hits. Even more iridescent green bolts of energy began streaking past his cockpit as the Crigians ahead switched targets from Matrix to him. The small dots that he saw in space began growing at an alarming rate as his distance from Matrix's fighter rapidly approached 0. A stream of sparks appeared and shot past, as Matrix opened fire with his rail cannons. A Crigian fighter tailing Serion absorbed the majority of the shots and burst into flames.
"Now!!!" yelled Serion as he yanked the fighter's stick as hard as he could. Thrusters screaming in protest, his ship shot straight up as Matrix banked hard to the left and veered off. The two groups of Crigians were now face to face and still traveling at maximum speed. Matrix's target, now a fireball in space, smashed straight into the forerunner of his previous hunters.
"I like these odds a lot better." remarked Matrix as he tore after one of the remaining enemy fighters. Serion burned after the second which was fleeing in a panic. Seeing no need to waste more energy than necessary, Serion allowed his target to keep running, sans its shield emitters, aft and port armor, and its port engine assembly. Matrix wasn't quite so generous as he sent bullets into the core reactor of his adversary. His target's debris had barely begun to cool when another general mayday resounded through the comm channels.
"This is fighter section Beta, we've engaged a pair of dreadnoughts and support ships. Taking heavy fire, nee-..." The call was cut off abruptly.
"Dammit," exclaimed Matrix, "That was Karma. And the rest of our section."
Serion was also feeling a sense of lost hope, however, his voice was cool and even when he replied. "Today is a good day for revenge, isn't it?" With that, he turned his fighter and burned off towards the origin of the mayday. Matrix sighed and formed on his wing. Serion was once more interrupted by a comm.
"Wilderness requesting revenge, sir."
"We'd rather not have to wait for you." replied Serion. "But permission granted anyway. Tag along at however fast you can push that bomber. We'll go on ahead. Serion out."
As they approached the last known coordinates of Karma, their sensors began picking up the Crigian detachment that had wiped out fighter section Beta.
"Oh man, we're in for it now." yelled Matrix. The unmistakable hulls of two Crigian dreadnoughts loomed in the distance, flanked by a cruiser, three destroyers, and several frigates. Tiny glowing dots moved among the stars; too many to count. They were the defensive drones and fighters of the enemy flotilla, which had destroyed Karma's wing. As Serion watched, the tiny dots of light swarmed to the right side of the fleet, and a sudden explosion of light against the side of one of the destroyers was seen.
Matrix had also witnessed the bright flash of light. "That looked a lot like a Javelin detonation sir." he said. Serion was thinking the exact same thing as he doublechecked his radar readings. The mass of enemy ships in the distance made the display glow red, however, as he watched, two blue dots separated themselves from the main mass.
"Outbound and Thicket here, where the hell is that backup?" yelled Thicket. Serion was quick to reply. "There are too many enemy ships concentrated in your area. Retreat to my coordinates to regroup. We'll do our best with cover fire. Outbound, how many missiles do you have left on the racks?" Outbound's fighter was ominously silent. Finally, he replied, but the display was filled with static, and behind him, smoke could be seen drifting around the shattered cockpit. "Sorry about that sir, I've still got two AFs, but this ship's just about had it. Barely any armor left, countermeasures toasted, decceration thrusters are completely toasted. I'm cruising on inertia here." Serion tried to be reassuring in his response. "Hang in there you two, we're on afterburners, less than a minute out. Use missiles to fend off any Crigians that stray too close."
Matrix and Serion barely arrived before the Crigians. The three fighters quickly formed up in a defensive arc between the main enemy force and Thicket's bomber. They quickly gunned down any overly excited Crigian who buzzed out alone going for the bomber. Thicket, being the typical triggerhappy bomber pilot, lobbed rockets from his nearly inexhaustible supply. Between the particle blasts from the Delta Class fighters and the veritable hail of rockets coming from Thicket, the Crigians suffered heavy losses and were forced to pull back. The Avisian contingent was in the clear at last, with the remaining two dozen Crigian ships in full retreat towards the capital ships. Realization finally dawned on Serion. The frigates. They had nine frigates. Each armed with...
"Beta flight, Break Now! Break formation, maximum speed! Incoming Scorpions!"
Serion's tight defensive formation immediately scattered, everyone knowing how much danger they were in. The dreaded Scorpion was a multiple warhead weapon mounted on Crigian frigates. The main body carried a massive sphere-shaped head which would erupt into twenty small but deadly unguided rockets, spreading out in a conial shape. Mainly used against incoming bomber formations, the Scorpion was the sole reason that frigates would usually be the first capital ships to be attacked, as the warheads were extremely destructive, no matter what the target. Sure enough, the small yellow blips appeared on Serion's radar screen. One...five...soon, a total of eighteen were in flight, a pair from each frigate in the Crigian fleet. No wonder the enemy fighters had all retreated - they would have been slaughtered by friendly fire. For Serion's ships however, it was too late to withdraw and outrange the incoming warheads. They would have to rely on sheer luck to dodge the projectiles. The first two missiles were coming within range of Serion's fighter. He immediately turned and headed straight away from the closest Scorpion's vector. With two sudden jolts, the payloads ejected, sending fourty smaller spikes shooting towards Serion. His fighter rocked from proximity explosions as the missiles detonated near him, however, he suffered no direct hits. Checking his radar quickly, he got ready to evade the next four. Always careful to keep trying to outdistance the shrapnel, he also did his best to present the smallest profile for the missiles to hit. Rolling around, the second set of Scorpions detonated, sending the spikes shooting through space towards the small fighter in the distance. Again, a set of proximity detonations rocked Serion in the cockpit, but there was no lasting damage. The third set of warheads were still off in the distance, so he took the short opportunity to check on his pilots. Thicket was doing fine; his bomber's nearly inpenetrable shields absorbed any shrapnel damage, but Outbound was clearly in trouble. Hampered by damaged systems and a set of nonfunctional thrusters, he was unable to manuver his ship into a safe position to avoid the multiple missiles. As Serion watched helplessly, his fighter took several shrapnel hits on its already weakened shields. Another Scorpion was approaching. A panicked comm call was sent out from the crippled fighter. "Sir, this damn ship's falling apart, I'm punching o-..." The transmission was terminated as the second Scorpion scored several more hits on the shattered hull of Outbound's fighter. Through the bright explosion, there was no ejection pod to be seen.
"Sir, your six!" yelled Matrix. Serion was jerked back to his own predicament. As he was watching the destruction of Outbound's fighter, he had forgotten about the third set of Scorpions tailing his own ship. They were now nearly on top of him. Knowing that it was perhaps not the most intelligent action, Serion pulled up hard and looped back straight towards the incoming warheads. Skimming just beneath the first one, he was elated to hear it detonate behind him. At the same time, the second warhead which he hadn't passed, exploded directly in front of his fighter. Too close to evade the cone of fire, he took his ship straight into the explosion. Three pieces of shrapnel impacted against his forward shields, completely disabling them. More proximity explosions, far worse than anything he had previously experienced, nearly shook him out of his straps. Looking up, he saw that he had cleared the edge of the blast wave, however, his fighter had barely survived intact. Cracks and chips adorned his now smoke-blacked canopy. The virtual HUD system was out and only a few panels weren't shorted out. Damage reports showed the missile racks were all glowing red; they had been melted and warped in the explosion. The port particle cannon had been damaged; the primary capacitor bank had been overloaded and subsequently blew up. The auxillary capacitors were still functional, however, they would provide only half the recharge capability for the gun. The starboard weapon was till miraculously intact, but as he looked out, he saw his fighter's wing, with flight lights burnt out, and holes through the armor plating. Comming his flight, he was given a burst of static, then silence. The comm systems had been destroyed. Frustrated, he plugged the backup transmitter of his flight suit into the fighter's systems.
"Serion to Beta flight, status report?" The signal would have no visual, however, at this point, he didn't really care. Matrix was first to reply.
"That was far too close Admiral, I recommend we outdistance their launchers before they reload for a second round."
Thicket was next. "Shield integrity is at 40%, no other damage. Sir, we've got another wave of fighters closing in."
"Shit," replied Serion. "Rendevouz at my location. Same defensive formation but fall back till we're out of range of those frigates."
"They wouldn't risk firing Scorpions while we're still swarmed by their own ships, would they?" asked Matrix.
"We'll find out soon enough," said Serion. "One thing is for sure; those Scorpions are damn long range warheads."
"Withdrawing won't solve the bigger problem though," remarked Thicket. "That Crigian force there exists, and it needs to be destroyed."
"Agreed," replied Serion. "How do you propose we do that? Between those fighters and frigates, we're lunchmeat, even if those dreadnoughts decided to ignore us."
"We need some anticapship weaponry for this job." replied Matrix. The Javelins, they pack quite a punch, but the problem is that they just don't have sufficient range."
"How observant of you," snapped Serion. "Once again, that doesn't help us at all."
"I'm saying, we need some more effective weapons. I know you weren't planning on visiting a freighter again, but, do you know any of the techs onboard the Encyst?"
"I've never cared much for techs, and they for me." replied Serion. "Then again, I haven't ever spent much time in a maintenince bay."
"The assistant engineer aboard the Encyst was always working on stuff during his spare time. He hung around a lot with the weapons officer. They've cooked up some pretty vicious stuff in the past."
"And you think they'll have the superweapon that we'll need to take out that entire Crigian contingent?" questioned Serion sarcastically.
"You never know with them techs." replied Matrix. "But for more immediate problems, lets deal with these fighters."
"So, we're going to reload and all that good stuff on the Encyst?" asked Thicket.
"We might as well, if we survive this fight." said Serion as he watched the two dozen red dots approaching them on radar. A yellow dot appeared without warning from Thicket's bomber and streaked off towards the small red mass. It was followed by five more.
"I've always loved Hydra missiles," commented Thicket in an offhanded way. They all watched as each Hydra split into three infared tracking missiles and wreaked havoc on the tight Crigian formation. Brilliant puffs of white light erupted in the distant enemy flight as the missiles connected with their targets. Nine enemy fighters had been destroyed by the Hydra's spawn, however, that wasn't nearly enough to even the odds. More than a dozen Crigian ships remained as Serion and Matrix charged in to meet them. Serion's forward shields were immediately battered down by concentrated plasma bolts. Doggedly remaining on course, he returned fire with his particle guns. The oncoming Crigian fighter, fearing imminent impact, veered off suddenly and allowed Serion to tail him. His pursuit was cut short by his missile alarm which begun wailing as two antifighter missiles locked on to his fighter. Acting instantly on reflex, he ejected two flares and pulled up sharply. A massive explosion beneath his fighter knocked it off course. Regaining his senses, Serion fully expected to be dead, but noticed that there seemed to be no structual damage. Completely bewildered at how he had managed to survive the impact of two missiles, he finally noticed the cloud of debris that had been his previous target. Matrix commed him.
"Now that, sir, was impressive. Complete dumb luck, I assume, but impressive nevertheless."
"How else do you think I made it to the rank of Admiral?" asked Serion, smiling.
"Wish I had some of that dumb luck right about now, sir." came the response from Matrix. He was being chased by six medium fighters. Serion, ignoring his own pursuers, zoomed after Matrix, blasting away at the Crigians with his particle weapons.
"Let me clear some of those guys off your tail." said Thicket. "Shit, I'm out of missiles. Alright, fusion cannons then."
"Wait! You be carefu-..." Serion tried to warn, but he was too late. Thicket had fired. Four superheated balls of neutron matter in a fusion state erupted from the gun barrels of the bomber. The kinetic energy required to force out the dense material blew Thicket's bomber backwards. They shot out towards the swarm behind Serion's fighter, however, instead of proceeding on a straight course, the four points of light drew closer and closer, moving faster and faster. Colliding only 5,000 meters behind Serion's fighter, the superdense matter vaporized instantly, creating a white-hot shockwave. Expanding at hunderds of meters per second, it consumed the Crigian ships as antimatter would consume styrefoam. Serion, knowing exactly what would happen, lit his afterburners and ran like hell. Barely managing to escape vaporization, he growled under his teeth, "Never. Do. That. Again." Thicket still had his mouth agape.
"Here ya go Ace, I brought you some playmates," said Matrix brightly as he came about, dragging six pissed-off Crigian fighters with him. Three of them split off and went after Serion's charred and burnt fighter. The remaining triplet stubbornly stayed with Matrix as he led them through ridiculous loops and aerial stunts. Extremely fatiged at this point, Serion was in no mood for a prolonged fight, however, he was being bombarded by poorly aimed plasma bolts and missiles from the three fighters. He couldn't turn his ship around and return fire without suffering hits. He went through every single trick in the book, twisting, turning, rolling, even popping a cloud of flares to try and throw off their aim long enough to get his own shots off. The sheer amount of enemy fire being thrown at him however, prevented any attempt to turn the tables. His rear shields were beginning to wear down under random hits from the green bursts of light. Growing ever frustrated, he tried a split-S manuver, only to realize that the Crigians were even closer to his ship than before. Finally, he diverted all his remaining power to rear shields and hit reverse thrusters. Two of the enemy ships streaked by, unprepared for his manuver, however, the third tried desperately to stick with Serion for a clean kill. His ship screeched to a halt, right in front of Serion's guns. Before the blundering Crigian could restart his engines, Serion blasted him into spacedust. With no time to waste in exhaltation or even exhalation, he turned his ship quickly to bear his weapons onto the second Crigian who was coming around for another attack run. A prolonged burst from the particle guns was required to transform the sleek and agile Crigian medium fighter into a flaming ball of metal. The third Crigian tailed Serion again, however, he had formulated a plan. Turning his fighter around in a loop, he brought the last enemy ship straight towards Thicket's bomber. Comming him, he spoke quickly.
"Thicket, heads up. I want you to cut engines now and fire your fusion cannons on my mark."
The bomber pilot obliged, however, the only target in his viewscreen happened to be Serion's rapidly approaching fighter.
"Say, Admiral, why do you want me to fire?"
"No time to explain, just do it when I say!" yelled Serion.
"Alright, alright, it will be my pleasure to blow you to bits." said Thicket.
"God, I hope he's not serious," thought Serion as he yelled, "Now!"
Thicket fired, blasting his ship backwards. The four blinding balls of light shot out straight at Serion's ship. Shielding his eyes, he waited until the last possible second before yanking up on the stick. His fighter zoomed upwards suddenly, leaving the confused Crigian pilot staring at four rapidly approaching fusion blasts. The small Crigian fighter didn't even stop the shots. It was simply ripped apart as the shots passed through the hull like paper, detonating far off in the distance.
"Uhh, sir, help, if you would?" asked Matrix, who was still being chased around in circles by the now enraged Crigian pilots. "These guys don't get dizzy, do they?"
"No," chuckled Serion. "No, they don't."
A new voice sounded over the comm channels. "Leave them to me." Wilderness had finally arrived.
Serion was quick to interject. "Just, whatever you do, don't use your fusion guns. I want Matrix in one piece."
"Sure, whatever you want." replied the bomber pilot. "Missiles away."
The remaining Crigians were quickly dispatched by Wilderness's fresh bomber, packed with armaments.
Thicket was the first to remember their plan. "Say, Admiral, lets pay a visit to the Encyst now, we could all use rearming , or, in your case, a new ship."
"Right, it wouldn't be this bad if you hadn't fired those damn fusion cannons!" yelled Serion.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault," retorted Thicket. "Those damn weapons instructors only warned us to fire our missiles first, before we had to use our primary weapons."
"Hold on guys," interjected Wilderness. "They're just fusion cannons, see, I'll show you."
"Don't!" yelled Matrix, Serion, and Thicket all at once.
- End of Chapter VI -