Star Runners 2: Revelation Protocol (23 page)

“Come on, come on,” Austin said. He keyed for transmission. “Atlantis, Rock. You have an incoming bandit. Looks like he’s headed for the civie hangar.”

“Roger, Rock. We’ve got the defense cannons ready.

“I hope you don’t need them.” Austin adjusted his course. The enemy Trident stayed on course, unaffected by Austin’s search for missile lock. The pirate must not know how to detect an attempted missile lock.

The crosshairs turned blood red. “Got you.”

Austin pulled the trigger. The missile launch rocked the fighter as it shot away from the Trident. He pulled up, heading back for the surface. Glancing back at his targeting computer, he watched as his missile crashed into his enemy. The dark ocean water lit up, a shockwave rippling out from the remains of the pirate Trident. Austin smiled.

“Atlantis, Rock. Forget about that incoming bandit. He’s gone.”

“Copy, Rock,” Brannen said, her voice cracking. “You need to get back to the surface. They may be dropping blind shots into the ocean, but these fighters are dropping too many missiles for us to get them all. We don’t have much time.”

“I understand.” Austin swallowed. “Are you picking up any more Tridents?”

“Negative.”

“So there are no more fighters capable of entering the ocean?”

“Correct.”

Austin lowered his gaze. With no more fighters able to descend into the water and attack Atlantis, the remaining Tyral Pirates would have to fire from the air. And the only defense above the ocean’s surface was Austin and Nubern.

“I’m going back,” he said. “We’ll take them out.”

He looked at the sensors; the Tyral Pirates were dropping dozens of missiles into the water. Nubern’s transponder moved between the cloud of pirates. Austin sighed. He’s still alive, he thought.

“Talon, let’s close it up,” Austin said, the Trident bursting through the ocean’s surface and flying hard for empty sky.

“Roger,” Talon snapped. “Turn to four-oh-six. Be there in a bit.”

Austin glanced back at the mass of enemy fighters. The majority made for the ocean’s surface. Missiles shot into the water, sending white plumes into the sky.

“I took out the last Trident,” Austin said. “They’re hitting Atlantis from the air. That’s why they saved their missiles.”

Nubern grumbled. “There’s too many of them.”

The two Legion Tridents soared side-by-side for a moment. The sun beamed behind them, the fighters heading away from the main engagement. Austin took in a deep breath and stared at the burning wreckage from the fight falling into the ocean. At least forty pirate craft remained in the skies over the Pacific Ocean, most of them firing missiles in the direction of Atlantis. Austin knew they had to continue, knew they couldn’t sit there and allow this to happen.

But two versus forty? 

He glanced at Nubern.

“Ready for another pass, Talon?”

“After you, Rock.”

Austin cracked his knuckles and gripped the stick. “Here we go.”

He pushed down on the stick. His stomach lurched. The pirates massed together as they tried to form up for another assault on Atlantis.

“I’ll take the grouping to the west,” Austin said, his voice straining as the force of the engines pressed him into his seat.

“Roger, I got the east.”

Austin locked a bandit, unleashed a missile. Without waiting on the result, he moved his crosshairs to lock another pirate. Nubern did the same, firing two missiles. Austin maintained another lock and fired his final missile. White trails shot forward ahead of their fighters. Explosions lit up the sky like fireworks. No time for celebration. Austin switched to lasers.

Nubern and Austin blew through the mass of pirate fighters. The attempted formation fell apart. Fighters filled the sky in chaos. Laser fire lit the sky. Two bolts fired into Austin’s rear shields. He grunted, yanking the stick to barrel roll away from the fight.

“I’m hit!”

He balanced power to the shields with his left hand. The Earth spun around his cockpit. Laser bolts flashed like lethal strobes.

“Lost shields,” Nubern said in an odd, quiet voice. “I’m heading for the deck.”

His vision blurred, but Austin could just make out Nubern’s Trident screaming hard for the ocean’s surface. Six pirate craft trailed him, lighting the air with laser fire.

Afraid he would pass out from his evasive maneuvers, Austin straightened his flight path and turned back. Nubern pulled up and flew parallel to the surface close enough to send water shooting into the air.

“Turn to the east,” Austin said. “I can cover you from above.”

“Don’t bother. My computer’s fried. Down to one engine. Take out as many as you can, Rock. You hear me?”

Austin shook his head. “No.”

He pulled back on the stick, forcing the Trident into a sharp loop. Leveling out, he brought his crosshairs to bear on the pirates descending on Nubern. The rest of the pirates fired missiles into the ocean while Austin zeroed on Nubern’s attackers. Sure would be nice to have a missile right now.

“Hang on, sir. I’m on my way.”

Three pirates broke off from the main group and moved in behind Austin, but he stayed on Nubern’s attackers. Almost there.

Laser fire blasted away his rear shields. Austin flinched, but stayed trained on his target. He wouldn’t last much longer out here. Glancing at his sensors, he did a quick calculation. The fighters coming in on his six were too fast and his Trident was too low on energy to reach Nubern. It was only a matter of time. His mentor was in trouble. Still, Austin pressed on. He rolled to make himself a tougher target, but stayed focused on Nubern’s attacker, still waiting on his laser banks to charge.

A bolt crashed into his tail. Sparks shot from his dashboard. This is it, he thought. They’ve got me.

“Attention, Legion craft,” a voice crackled on the gamma wave. “This is Sun King 72, running Air Intercept Control for Carrier Strike Group one of the United States Navy. I have thirty-two Hornets standing by for offensive counter air with Grumbler 56 as lead. Do you require support?”

Austin stared at the controls. Did he hear that correctly?

“Roger, Sun King 72,” Nubern said, his voice rising in Austin’s ear. “This is Talon of the Galactic Legion. Your help is most appreciated.”

The pirates broke off their attack on the wounded Tridents. From the east, flying in tactical formation, soared thirty-two F-18 Hornets. Austin pulled back on the stick and watched the Tyral Pirates scream hard toward their new enemy.

“Talon, this is Grumbler 56, engaging the bandits at this time.”

The U.S. Navy pilots launched a series of missiles toward the Tyral Pirates, but the advanced scrambling equipment caused the missiles to drop radar lock. The white missile trails crossed the blue sky.

“Grumbler, this is Legion pilot Rock. Your missiles won’t lock. You’ll have to engage with guns.”

“Roger, Rock. We live for this.”

The modified pirate Tridents, apparently saving any remaining missiles for Atlantis, unleashed their lasers into the Hornets. An interplanetary dogfight erupted while Austin and Nubern caught their breath. The Hornets squared off against the pirate craft. Fireballs filled the sky with smoke and burning debris. The Hornets exploded too quickly, the more advanced pirate craft cutting through them like a hot knife through butter. Austin glanced up from his dashboard to see a Hornet blasting away at a Tyral fighter on its way to the ocean.

“Trying to link up with you at ten thousand feet,” Nubern said. “This baby only has so much more it can give me.”

“Be ready in a second, Talon,” Austin said, coaxing energy back into his shields after the direct hit on his tail. “We have to get back in there. Those boys aren’t going to last long.”

“They’re buying time for Atlantis.” 

The ship sailed between the asteroids, moving only by utilizing the maneuvering thrusters. Waylon had cut the main drive before they even entered the asteroid field. He wanted to sail as quiet as possible in an attempt to draw no attention to their movement. According to their stolen Tyral fighter, the main pirate base lurked somewhere in this field of floating rocks of the Zine System.

Of course, this also meant they could be under surveillance.

“Still nothing on sensors,” Josh whispered as if the pirates could hear him. “Where now?”

Waylon grumbled, his fingers disappearing into his beard. “I don’t want to break radio silence, yet.”

Waylon stood in the cramped bridge of the Barracudas’
smuggling transport vessel,
Traveler
,
and moved over to study the local charts. After spending his training in the comforts and technology of the Legion Navy, Josh shook his head seeing Waylon leaning over a flickering monochrome screen to study the surrounding space. Four Barracuda fighters had slipped through a curve on the dark side of a nearby moon and awaited their orders to attack. Four fighters didn’t seem like much, so surprise would be crucial if they would find any success today. After serving as a scout ship, the
Traveler
would coordinate the attack and provide long-range missile support.

“Hmm,” Waylon shook his head. He pointed at three large clusters. “These seem to be the only rocks large enough to hold the size base we were held in. Don’t you think?”

Josh stood from the helm and stepped back to study the charts. Three massive asteroids, larger than some moons, floated in the same field.

“That’s our best shot.” Josh did a mental calculation. “These two would take hours to reach using thrusters.”

“We don’t want to risk detection.” Waylon glanced at him, propping his knee up on the edge of the control board. “What if the entire pirate force is home?”

Josh swallowed. “We would be in trouble, then.” He thought of the ships he had seen during their time on the asteroid base. “Let’s head for the closest rock.”

Josh sat back at the helm and eased forward on the thrusters. After a moment, he pulled back, allowing the inertia to take him through. Rocks spun around the ship, bouncing off the hull without incident. The rattling sound of rocks hitting the hull sounded like light hail on a tin roof. The ship moved forward at a crawl. Josh kept an eye on the sensors, seeing nothing but asteroids.

“I went a little faster the last time I was in an asteroid field,” he said.

Waylon sighed. “Really? How’s that?”

Josh gazed into nothing. “My best friend was with me. It was called Rockshot.”

“Rockshot? Huh?”

“It’s training,” Josh said, staring at the largest rock in the distance. “It’s a timed race through an asteroid field.”

Waylon snorted. “And this is what you call work?”

Josh exhaled and shook his head. “Yes, it’s work. It was one of the best days, the last of the good days. I left for home right after that.”

When Josh did not continue, Waylon remained silent.

“So,” Josh said, wanting to change the subject, “why don’t the Tyral Pirates ever use warships?”

Waylon shrugged. “Too valuable, I expect. You can strip apart a warship and sell it. Your people could live off that payday for months. Warships also take personnel and personnel costs money.”

Josh leaned back, watching the space around the ship.

Twenty minutes passed before Josh flashed the thrusters lightly to correct course. Their destination loomed ahead behind another cluster of rocks.

“I want to thank you again for doing this,” Josh said softly. “You’re risking a lot, and you didn’t have to.”

“My family’s been operating Quadrant Eight for two generations.” Waylon’s jaw muscles clenched. “We’ve always had competition. That’s the smuggling business. Lately, though, it’s been different. Something’s changed.”

Josh eyed him. “Legion pressure?”

“Nah, nothing like that,” he said. “You guys cause your own problems for us. Trade regulations and such, but these Tyral Pirates … they were small at first, nothing more than pesky insects. Recently, around the time Scrappy was born, they had weaponry most of us could only dream of. At first, we thought they’d scored a big raid on a military convoy and enjoyed the ride. But it didn’t stop.”

He swallowed, his eyes meeting Josh’s.

“We couldn’t stop them. They had advanced weapons we’d never seen ‘cept with the Legion, and we would run or submit when you guys showed up. These pirates, they were relentless. They pursued without mercy, killed without care.” He paused, gazing into space. “They killed my brother.”

Josh shook his head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It doesn’t matter. I only tell you now to let you know your gratitude is unnecessary.” A hint of a smile crept across his face. “I would have done this job for free.”

“You expecting a pay day?”

Waylon stared into the distance. “I am expecting to find a bit of plunder, yes, but the revenge is a nice bonus.”

Josh nodded. “Where do you think the pirates got this technology?”

“Someone with money and resources. Either government or something beyond me.” Waylon crossed his arms. “Does it really matter?”

Josh thought for a moment. “I suppose not.”

The tracking sensor squealed. The lights grew red.

“All stop,” Waylon said. “Shut her down. Make like the void.”

Josh killed the sensors, shutting down all power but the life support. Something had been triggered. He peered through the floating rubble.

Far in the distance, starlight reflected off something metallic.

“There,” he whispered. “See it?”

Waylon grunted. “I do.”

He studied the monitor. Josh peered over his shoulder and shook his head. The flickering monochrome seemed designed to induce nausea. Josh turned back to space and looked at the largest asteroid directly ahead. Perhaps Dax Rodon hadn’t gathered his forces for the attack on the unsuspecting dark world. Perhaps they had arrived in time to stop them before they had time to prepare.

He scanned the asteroids.

Still no patrols.

Arrogant
, he thought,
very arrogant
.

“It’s a fighter alright,” Waylon said after a moment. “Heading below our destination. I can’t get a reading.”

“Jamming?”

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “Transponder’s just blank like there’s nothing there.”

“Do you have a ship type?”

“From this distance, it looks like a Trident.”

Josh blinked. “A Trident?”

“Looks like it.”

He squinted. What would a Trident be doing out here? A lone scout mission?

He shook his head. Command would never have allowed something like that. But why then? Perhaps the Legion intelligence had finally found the location of the pirate base. Maybe the Tyral Pirate threat would soon be over.

“Oh, wait!” Waylon said. “Ah! I lost the signal.”

“What did it say?”

“For a moment, I saw the transponder flicker a Legion signal. I froze the image, but only had it for a second. It’s very blurred.”

Josh stood up from the helm and moved behind Waylon. “Let me see.”

Waylon nodded and turned to allow Josh to lean over. He peered into the old screen. The transponder code certainly matched a Legion fighter. He scrolled through the secret code and paused.

“I know this ship,” Josh whispered.

“What?” Waylon asked.

Josh stood straight and glared back at their destination. “This ship was stationed on Tarton’s Junction. It belonged to a Captain Rolling.”

“Friend of yours?”

“Comrade.” Josh remembered Austin speaking highly of Captain Rolling, an Earth pilot also recruited by the Legion to serve in the navy. But Josh had never had the chance to fly with him. “They must have taken him like they took me, but they got his ship.”

“This is it,” Waylon inhaled, slapping Josh on the shoulder. “We are in the right place.”

Josh sat back at the controls, his face flushed red. He gripped the stick and clenched his teeth.

“You okay?” Waylon asked, typing into the comm station.

“Why?” Josh said. “I’m prepping for engine start up.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Josh thought of another Legion pilot being killed by these pirates. “Let’s just make things right today, huh?”

“You got it.” Waylon nodded. He continued punching keys from behind Josh. “I’ve signaled our friends to move in slowly. If anything shows its face out there, we’ll lock a missile and take it out. These guys have got to have a patrol.”

“I agree. If they don’t, they’re even dumber than I thought.”

The four Barracuda fighters, older models Josh had only read about in his studies, emerged from the dark side of the moon four thousand micro units away. They swept into the asteroid field, dodging the rocks with the skill of veteran pilots. Power levels remained low, so low they would avoid most sensor sweeps unless the pirates searched the exact point in space of the fighter.

Josh warmed the engines. “We’re ready if needed.”

“Scanning the large rock,” Waylon whispered. “The stolen Trident is still headed straight for it. I’m ready to get a lock if needed.”

The Barracuda fighters soared in two pairs. One pair made their way above the rock while the other made straight for the lone fighter.

“Three-thousand MUs away,” Josh said, keeping his eyes on his HUD. “Two-thousand.”

“Is this guy blind?”

“Let’s hope so.” Josh verified the range between the Barracudas and the Trident fighter. “One-thousand.”

Light flashed from the Trident, the fighter spinning around to face the incoming Barracudas.

“This is it!” Waylon yelled so loud Josh jumped. “I’ve got a missile lock.”

“Firing!”

Josh squeezed the trigger. The thrust of the outgoing missile sent their ship spinning on its axis. Using the thrusters, Josh brought the nose back on the stolen Trident. The missile soared. To the prey, the missile must have come out of nowhere.

Without waiting to see the missile strike, Josh fired up the engines.

“Moving into support position.”

“Got it,” Waylon said, pulling a lever at his station. “Loading another missile.”

Something from the rock caught his eye. Josh sighed. “Two more fighters coming from the rock. Here we go.”

“Missile loaded,” Waylon said. “Searching for a lock.” 

The engines roared, rumbling Josh’s chair. He watched the Barracudas fire on the stolen Trident. According to his sensors, the missile he fired fried the Trident’s shields. A moment later, the Trident exploded from a Barracuda laser shot.

“Nice job,” Josh said under his breath. “What else we got?”

“Two more coming out of the nest,” Waylon said, “but that’s it.”

“Can’t be,” Josh said. “Run it again.”

“Checking.” He grumbled. “Just did. We outnumber them.”

Josh’s gut twisted. “That’s not right.”

“What’s not right about it? Attack!”

The
Traveler
shot forward at top speed. The four fighters clashed with the two Tyral Pirate fighters, the lasers illuminating the dark asteroid field. The fighters battled amidst the rocks, dodging lasers and asteroids.

“Rist, Matta, break hard for point two-five,” Waylon said. “Make like you’re breaking for it. Tima, Geo, sweep in and take them out.”

Two Barracuda craft broke off from the fur ball and headed away from the asteroid. Josh watched their landing lights blink in the darkness. His eyes flicked back to the main rock, wondering when the rest of the pirate patrol would launch. Laser bolts tracked the fleeing Barracudas, vaporizing asteroids. The pirates pursued as planned. Tima and Geo stayed on their tails, lasers spitting across the black.

“Head for the base,” Waylon said. “If this is all the patrol they got, I’m not giving them time to realize their mistake.”

“Got it.”

Josh pressed for the base as the dogfight raged in the distance. He stared at their destination, ignoring the battle as best as he could. A Barracuda took a direct laser hit, spinning away from the battle and bouncing off the asteroids like a pinball. The other three locked into combat with the pirates, continuing the deadly dance. A moment later, lethal Barracuda fire ensured the two pirate craft twirled and burned like embers. One pirate fighter, a plume of gas erupting from his engine, limped back toward the rock. It disappeared into a crater, leaving the Barracudas in possession of the space around the massive asteroid. 

“That’s it!” Waylon clapped his hands together.

“For now.”

“Let’s land and make sure they don’t get the chance to launch a counterattack,” Waylon said. “Let’s find out if this is really the base where they held us.”