Another Excerpt from "The Book" :)
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Markus brought his fighter into a slow arc around Liberty. It was still unmanned, as far as he could tell. His only comfort now was the sight of perhaps four squadrons of fighters floating silently in just beyond the station. Some were still assembling, and he could hear them calling out ranks and positions. The highest rank he heard called so far was Squadron Leader, which meant he was probably in charge. Markus considered himself to be something of a follower rather than a leader and, while he enjoyed the privileges of his rank, he wasn't too keen on the responsibilities. He thumbed his the radio switch and cleared his throat. "Alright, this is Group Captain Markus Baveer. Is there anyone here above the rank of Squadie?" He shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followed. Evidently not, he thought. "Right, I see three wings with four squadrons each," he continued. "Tell me there is at least one wing commander among you." "I don't think there are any Markus," Jessica responded. "She's right sir," another airman responded. "Most of us are from several different wings. Our commander bought it when we fought our way out of Shartua." "Ours was shot down over Malis point," a third replied. "I think there was another commander on the way up from Miishana but I'm not sure." "No, he caught out as well." "Dammit," Markus whispered. "Alright, you two who were just talking, you're my new commanders along with the lovely Darkwing here." "What?" "Cheer up Jessica, you get your own Teles and everything." Markus grinned at the... was it irony? He wasn't sure, but it was a brief moment of levity to cherish in the bitter gloom. "Now, what are your callsigns?" "Bulldog sir." "Archer." "Bulldog gets the wing off Liberty's starboard, Archer gets port, Darkwing, you're with me on centre. We are now officially Knights, Rogues and Angels." Markus paused for breath, and wondered how he was managing to stay so calm. He watched with growing confidence as the wings reorganised themselves around their new commanders. Jessica's voice broke his concentration for a moment. "What's the plan Captain?" "I think..." Neither was Markus a good tactician, under normal circumstances at least. He stayed silent for a while as he thought. "Knight wing can sit between the burrow and Aragon for the initial wave. Rogues stay behind the station, out of sight, until I send you in, Angels behind the burrow for a flanking assault. I doubt we'll win, but maybe we can take enough of them with us to make them reconsider in the future." "That's... a good plan," Jessica responded. The other commanders affirmed her reply. "Alright, lets get to it!" An innumerable hail of 'Yes sirs' assaulted Markus' ears as he led Angel wing away from Aragon, and to the point marked as the burrow beacon on his tactical display. He instructed his wing to skirt around the burrow and not fly through it so as to make sure they didn't activate it by accident. "Hey MK, do you know what a good range might be on this thing?" Jessica asked. "I mean no one has ever tried this before. What if it hits us somehow?" "I don't think that'll happen." Markus brought his fighter around to face Aragon. For some reason that science had never been able to fathom, and conveniently for the defenders now, ships coming through the burrow always came out facing the planet, and at a very high speed as well. It was doubtful they would notice Markus' wing. A small light flashed in the corner of his eye, telling him that the burrow was about to activate. "All wings report your status." "Rogue wing in position." "Knight wing ready." Markus breathed deeply. "Knight Wing, stand by to engage." "Affirmative." They waited for what seemed like an eternity as the first light of the burrow entrance flickered in front of them. Slowly, a faint glowing string extended before them, branching once or twice until it formed a rough star-shaped gap in space. Then, quite suddenly, the whole erupted and burst in to a multifaceted, many-coloured flower of energy that washed over their ships and pushed them backwards in space. Through the coloured mist, Markus could see the first huge ships emerging. "Now sir?" "Wait until a good number of them are out." They waited. Markus counted the ships as they poured out of the hole in space. Eight... nine... all the way up to fifteen. There was no chance they could survive an attack against so many ships, but they had to do it anyway. "Knight wing go!" he yelled. The coloured fire that had obscured his view dropped away and he saw the tiny point of light that was knight wing moving forward to the first huge capital ship. They stood little chance, and yet they seemed to prevail, swarming over the ship and appearing to set it on fire in a hundred places. "Markus, their sensors must still be offline!" "Thank the gods for small favours..." Markus sighed quietly once again. Knight wing had begun to retreat now, heading toward Liberty and the waiting Rogues. The fleet remained on course, dispatching only two destroyers to chase down the fighters. "Rogues, on my mark... Go!" Another arrowhead of light suddenly swerved around the station and aimed at the lead pursuer. With a lucky shot, they took out the ships bridge and sent it careening in to the station. Both squads retreated rabidly as the ship began to tear apart. The second destroyer was caught in the blast and severely damaged. Markus listened to their distress calls, and was cheered to see that a third ship was sent to watch over the first two. "Markus..." "I know I know. Follow my lead." Markus thrust forward, slowly at first, then he accelerated, and was followed by the rest of the wing toward the rear of the huge fleet. "Knights and Rogues, focus on their lead. Angels, break and attack." To demonstrate, yanked back on the control column and fired at the first thing he saw, which happened to be the engines of one of the support vessels. Dozens of voices responded with their own war cries, as missiles and bullets pounded in to the surprised attacking fleet. Unrecognised sections of ships flickered past his canopy as he twisted and turned between the huge monoliths, firing his cannon here, launching a missile there. At one point he fired straight in to the bridge of a cruiser and blew out the windows. He didn't look back to see, but he knew what fate faced the crew of the ship, and would probably face him too. In seconds that seemed like years, they were through the fleet and racing away again. Now they were at their most vulnerable, with their backs to the main guns of the fleet... But the revenge attack never came. Markus brought his wing around in a wide arc. "What's going on," Jessica chimed. "I don't know. It looks like the fleet is breaking up." And indeed they were, although whether it was an attack formation or something else, Markus didn't know. He watched, fascinated, as the fleet started breaking in to two groups as it drew near to them. "Captain, turn to channel six quickly!" Archer screamed over the radio. Markus flicked his radio to the new frequency, as he knew most of the other pilots would be doing, and listened to the conversation there. "-et back in formation now, that is an order!" "Negative sir, I cannot obey these orders." "Dammit man, I'm the commander of this fleet and when I say get back in formation, I mean get back in formation!" "No sir! I can't do that!" "Mutiny!" "Aragonian fighters, this is Captain Bradarg of the Shariia's Light. We're coming over to your side. Our orders are to attack your world without mercy and I can't live with that on my conscience." "Captain, you are out of order!" the Admiral screamed. The channel suddenly hissed and fell silent. Markus watched in horror as the Fleet Command ship turned its guns on the Shariia's Light and opened fire. Huge shells ripped and splintered their way through the ship and its surrounding vessels, leaving it with gaping holes and venting atmosphere. Markus knew they had to act. "All craft, give those ships cover!" he shouted in to his radio as he raced toward the stricken vessel. Already there were more ships changing sides, as the full horror of what had just happened sank in. Desperate radio calls for help and cover sounded across the whole fleet as ships began to turn their guns on each other. Markus guided his wing in to a covering formation around the few destroyers that had turned to their side and began escorting them away from the rest of the fleet. "Shariia's Light, what's your status?" "The captains dead! We're evacuating the ship right now but I don't know how far we'll make it." "Head for Aragon, it should be safe." "Not with what's heading your way it won't." "What do you mean? Hey!" Markus listened, but all he could hear was a loud roaring noise that faded suddenly to silence. He glanced up toward the bridge and saw his fears realised, as a slowly dissipating grey-white mist obscured the bridge tower. Markus set his jaw and span his fighter around to face the fleet again. "Rogues, escort any defecting ships to the Archon burrow." "But we need-" Bulldog began. "We're dead anyway, we can't keep them here!" Markus switched channels "Jessica, you still with me." "Right on your tail MK." "Good. We need to take out that command ship, even if we do nothing else." "Go for the engines then. It'll take... oh GODS! NO!" "Jessica?" Markus looked left towards Jessica's plane and saw his worst fears realised. The ship plunged spinning out of a huge fireball, trailing a line of white flame as it tumbled through space. "Jessica!" Jessica looked around her shattered control panel. "I'm alright, I think," she responded. What was left of her computer told a different story. One engine out, jammed controls and her thrusters stuck at maximum. She tore frantically at the eject lever but nothing happened. "Markus, I don't think I'm going to make it home," she finally admitted. "But... there was to be something we can do!" "I'm sorry Markus. I'm really sorry. I have to go." "No wait!" She shut off her radio and pulled hard on the controls, managing to bring her little ship around to face the command ship. With a lot of effort, she lined up on the bridge and set the engine boosts to full. Then she turned her radio on again. "Markus, remember me." "Jessi-" Her radio failed. With nothing to do but wait, Jessica looked toward the home she would never see again. They were just passing through noon, and the planet glowed a bright blue-green, bright enough to illuminate everything in front of her. She smiled slightly, at peace, knowing that she still had- The fighter tore in to the Command Ship's main bridge, instantly killing everyone inside and saving them from the fate they had inflicted on the Shariia's Light. Without a command crew, the ship floated along on its last orders for a while, unaware of the electrical surge passing through its main control computer. Then, without warning, systems began to fail across the ship. First weapons, then lights... then steering. The ship, ironically named True Path, began to list and veer to port. The remaining support vessels that accompanied it were flying in close formation and unable to move out of the monolith's way as it turned and ploughed in to them. Three destroyers were dragged along by the vessel before it began to tear itself apart. An explosion in the rear spread forward in a terrifying repeat of the fate of the Vanguard, taking another support ship along with the cruiser. Markus screamed and shouted for Jessica, at the gods, at anyone who would listen, but he knew that she wouldn't be coming back. Eventually, with the battle still raging around him, he was reduced to muffles sobs, unable to even control his ship. "Warning, Incoming- Missile. Warning." Markus almost ignored the computer in his grief. "Jessica..." he whispered. "Warning. Impact in- five seconds." The computer beeped a warning countdown in Markus' ear, but he didn't care. Even as he felt the first thudding impact of the missile against his hull, he didn't care. He was going to be with Jessica again, he knew. The missile slammed in to his port engine, knocking the tiny craft in to a flat spin. The impact and the explosive shockwave that followed knocked Markus unconscious. The last thing he saw before the darkness overwhelmed him was his home, Aragon, spinning in and out of view. A flash of fire. Everything disappeared. He found himself standing in the clearing again, only this time he was facing a huge temple. Jessica stood in the gateway. "The die is cast," she said quietly. "Elo has been broken." Then she turned and walked through the gates. Markus chased after her with his arms outstretched. "Jessica wait!" he cried. He stopped inside the temple. Only now it wasn't the temple. It was a throne-room, with seven thrones in it. Jessica was standing by one of the thrones with a blood-stained robe in her hands. "Elo has been broken. Levet will fall." "Jessica what-" "Remember me Markus," she said. And then the world was drowned out by a bright white light. </FONT f> [This message has been edited by Proximo (edited 02 May 2001).] |
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