Warhawk's Sacrifice - Ch. 27 - Day of Reckoning - Alpha (Patreon)

“They’re here,” Seb muttered. His stomach sank and the hair on the back of his neck stood tall. Gone was the concern of the calist throwing their lives away. They were now fighting against that which they were trying to prevent.

The battlefield was a storm of twisted steel and machine. Gold beam weapons of the calist ships clashed against the red laser fire of the Songless and FLS. Bright blue shields shimmered with each successful hit. Each explosion popped in the darkness of space like a new year’s firework.

The frantic nature of all the combatants looked like a kicked hornet's nest, the warp gate their hive. The stream of enemies moved like an unending blast of water, doing its best to erode the wall of defenders. Each second that passed by added hundreds of enemies to the theater of battle.

The Songless ships were unlike anything Seb had seen before. Purple flesh pulsed inside metallic carapace frames. Their bows looked like pointed maws of hundreds of teeth; nightmares described in children’s tales. Long tendrils swung underneath them, acting as physical flyswatters of any enemy ship that got too close.

Their smaller ships had fixed, crescent-moon shaped wings with a singular engine mounted behind the pilot's seat. Twin blaster cannons were mounted equidistant along the frame. While they didn’t seem quick, they were agile, and they were many.

“Syn, power us down and enable all of our stealth systems!” Seb shouted.

The lighting in the bridge turned off, only allowing the dim blue hue of the center console to fill the room.

“Stealth system engaged, captain,” Syn said. “I detect no targeting systems picking us up.”

“Hopefully, that buys us some time. Try to contact Headmistress Ablee, and see if you can detect Iris.”

“Affirmative, captain. I detect Iris’s unique signature. She’s near the warp gate.”

“Highlight her on the map.”

Syn protected a larger version of the battlefield in the center of the room. A single golden dot in the sea of red diamonds zipped across the battlefield. With each passing second, swaths of enemies flickered and disappeared from the screen, only to be replaced by twice as many poured from the warp gate.

“There’s so many of them,” Nalla said.

“Why aren’t they concentrating on the warp gate?” Roja asked.

“It’s probably because they can’t,” Sister Mischa said. “If they arrived like us, with the battle already occurring, they were likely immediately put on the defensive. Besides, the warp gates have some of the strongest shield technology in existence. Stuff that is supposed to be able to withstand planetary bombardment. It would take constant fire from all the ships out there just to wane it down.”

“Then how are we supposed to be able to fight this?” Vi said, pointing out to the void.

Before anyone could respond, Syn spoke up. “Captain, I am unable to reach Headmistress Ablee’s ship. It’s likely powered down and aboard another vessel. ”

“When they arrived at the nakai station, they reached out via another vessel,” Seb said. “Their dreadnought.”

“The Fluetra.”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“I’m attempting to contact them now. I’m also adjusting our position via our thrusters for each communication blast in the event it’s detected.”

“That’s a good idea.”

As the crew waited for a response, a bright orange light filled the room. Everyone shielded their eyes before the light-dampening system kicked in.

“What was that?” Nalla asked.

“Looks like the FLS just lost one of their dreadnoughts,” Vi said, pointing up to the map. “It cleared the surrounding mile, but the swarm is just flooding out of that gate.”

“And it doesn’t look like it’s stopping anytime soon,” Eni said.

“They took out the nakai and the calist,” Seb said. “Their numbers could be endless.”

“This was the same concern that most runners had about the arithor. They’re machines. Nothing but software and hardware. As long as you had the means and the resources, you could just keep making more and more. They’ve already surpassed the numbers from when they completed their—” Eni curled her fingers on both hands. “—ascension.”

“There didn’t happen to be any talks about a contingency plan, did there?” Vi asked.

“Just rumors. Since the Liolai Collective helped with the process, there was a rumor that there was a fail-safe installed. If that’s true, then all the arithor would be vulnerable. That is unless their code found the vulnerability and patched it.”

Eni sighed before she continued. “But the Songless seem completely different. They aren’t machines. They’re a mix of flesh and machine. Cyborgs. Breaking the machine wouldn’t permanently stop them. It just depends on how interwoven their enhancements are. If they are deeply intertwined, a virus could theoretically weaken them.”

“But something like that I’d imagine would take time to program, right?”

“Yeah it would—”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Syn said. “However, I have established a connection with the Fluetra.”

“Then put them through,” Seb said, standing from his seat.

The map disappeared, replaced with Lord High Admiral Mayvel. His vest collar was unbuttoned and his hair hung loosely across his face. Before he could respond, the entire screen shook as an internal explosion kicked off.

“Someone put out that fire now!” Lord High Admiral Mayvel commanded before returning to the screen. “Captain Warhawk, I didn’t expect you to be the one to hail us, but I’m pleasantly surprised. As you can see, I have my hands full, so be brief.”

“We’re here to help. What’s the plan?”

Lord High Admiral Mayvel shook his head. “Not over unsecured channels. If you want to help, we need you here. Do you think you can make it to us?”

Seb glanced at Vi who double checked the map. “It would be tough. It depends on if the Songless can detect our stealth systems, but if so, we’re screwed either way.”

“Do you think you can get us there? This isn’t the Amnesty.”

Vi bit the inside of her cheek before giving a firm nod. “I can do it.”

Seb looked up at the hologram. “If you can get us an opening, we can be there.”

“We’ll need to time it correctly,” Lord High Admiral Mayvel said. “You’ll have to let us know once you’re close and then we can open a hangar door. I’ll leave this channel open. We’re having troubles with Swarm boarding parties. I’ll send a detachment of fateweavers to reinforce the hanger and guide you back to the bridge.”

“Got it. We’ll reach back out once we’re about to board.”

Seb dropped back into his seat and spun around. He pulled up the communication channels, tapped the hologram, and glanced at Vi. “Okay, we’re muted. What’s our plan?”

“The ship’s stealth systems limit our speed,” Vi said. “With the chaos in front of us, we shouldn’t push ourselves unless we’re in immediate danger. I’ll ease us in as fast as we can to still stay under radar. Syn will need to keep an eye out on our radar to determine if there are any threat’s positioning themselves towards us. If things go well, we’ll cruise in and land without issue. But all of this goes out the window if the Songless can beat our stealth systems.”

“I’m ready to assist at any time,” Syn said.

“What happens if we’re spotted?” Nalla asked.

Vi glanced over her shoulder. “Then we’ll have to make it to the Fluetra as fast as possible.”

“We’re a direhare walking into a pit of karasaur,” Eni said. “What could possibly go wrong?”

“Anyone have any better ideas?” Seb asked.

“There’s no way we could turn back, is there?” Roja asked. When everyone turned to look at her, she said, “Sorry, that was a poor joke.”

The subtle chuckles that rolled through the cabin helped to lighten the situation.

Seb nodded to Vi before saying, “If everyone is ready, go ahead and send us in.”

A light vibration rolled through the floor as Syn increased power to the engine. Her hands hovered the hologram controls, ready to make any needed emergency actions should the situation call for it. Everyone held their breath as they coasted into the chaos.

Seb’s eyes darted between the viewport and the radar. The number of red diamonds that dotted the radar looked like a contagious plague spreading from an open wound. Each explosion brightened the surrounding void bright enough to illuminate the thousands of ships that surrounded them.

The FLS and calist ships seemed to have the upper hand in speed and power. Each squad of pilots killed dozens of Songless ships in each passing turn. For a moment, an inkling of hope crawled into Seb’s mind. But as the green dots of allied ships continued to disappear from the radar, any hope he had vanished.

“They’re losing too many men,” Seb muttered.

“What?” Vi whispered, leaning close to him.

Seb shook his head. “Nothing. Just stay focused.”

Even the dreadnoughts seemed to struggle with the overwhelming odds. The hundreds of anti-ship guns that dotted their surfaces sprayed collective fire out into the void. The Songless ships buzzed among their exteriors like flies, waiting for their moment to strike. While their individual fire did little against the behemoth's shields, as a collective, their attacks whittled down their enemy. Seb saw their allies’ shields dimmer compared to when they first arrived.

Every few minutes, Vi twisted the Temptation out of the trajectory of a stray bolt. As they got closer to their destination, her movements became constant. The sleek craft rotated and bucked as she worked to keep them out of danger.

“The number of incoming laser bolts is getting ridiculous,” Vi said. “Didn’t they tell their men we’re coming in?”

“They’re completely overwhelmed, firing at anything that moves,” Seb said. “Just do your best.”

“I am doing my best. It’s the slow movement and these awful controls that’s making this more difficult than it needs to be.”

“Like I said, just do—”

Syn’s frantic speech cut Seb off. “Vi, I’m detecting three incoming ships that are on a collision trajectory. I’m making an adjustment.”

“They can detect us?” Vi shouted.

“Unlikely. It’s one FLS fighter being pursued by two songless vessels. They probably don’t know we’re here.”

Seb zoomed in on them on the radar. The incoming ships were already nearly on top of them. A volley of red laser fire zoomed by the front viewport just before the trio of crafts. Everyone let out a collective sigh as they continued on.

If Syn hadn’t made that adjustment, I wonder if Vi would have had enough time to avoid it, Seb wondered.

As Seb watched the radar, he noticed one of the secondary craft slow down. It completely stopped before doing a one-eighty and turning around. His eyes widened when it headed straight for them.

“One of the previous enemy craft is once again on an interception trajectory for the Temptation,” Syn said. “This time I’m certain it knows of our presence.”

“All right, no more stealth,” Vi shouted, triggering the thrusters.

“How did they detect us?” Nalla asked.

“I don’t think they did,” Syn said. “It’s likely they saw us as an obstacle to avoid and realized we were a ship.”

“All of this open space, and they managed to find us,” Eni groaned. “I’m starting to believe we’re cursed.”

“Everyone hold on!” Vi shouted, flicking the controls of the ship. Everyone spiraled as red laser fire darted all around them. A loud thud rolled through the cabin as the shields flickered.

Seb’s hands danced across the screens, throwing up the view of their shields. It read 93%. A second boom preceded the number dropping another seven percent.

“We’ve got more incoming!” Vi yelled before two more songless ships whipped past the viewport before coming around.

“Syn, how far to our destination?” Seb asked.

“At the current speed, we’ll be within docking range in sixty seconds.”

Seb pulled up the communications menu and unmuted it. “Mayvel, this is Warhawk, we’re coming in hot. We’ve got three songless ships on our ass. Make sure to clear the area.”

Lord High Admiral Mayvel spoke with an intensity Seb had not heard from him. “I’m sending you coordinates now. You’ll want bay S-twenty-five. It’s on our starboard side and will be the only one open.”

An orange rectangle illuminated across the front window. It was almost impossible to see with the amount of golden beams crossing in front of them acting as the world’s deadliest race course. The Temptation spun and dodged each one that threatened to cut them in half.

Vi grunted as her hands turned and swiped. “Syn, we’re going to cut this close. I’m going to need your help to adjust for the velocity.”

“Affirmative, Vi,” the virtual intelligence said with a sense of calmness that felt unworthy of the situation.

Seb saw the green hangar door that acted like a beacon for their safety. But the number of ships and weapon’s fire between them and their freedom made the distance seem impossible. The captain glanced over at their pilot, whose hands moved with a frantic flash. He clenched his jaw and put his faith in her.

The ship twisted and spun on a dime, shifting toward their pursuers. The burst from their thrusters sent them into an unyielding spiral that made it hard for Seb to keep his eyes open. All three pursuers soared past them.

The correction back to their original direction shoved Seb’s stomach in his throat, just in time to see the enemy craft run straight into the dreadnought’s beam weapon. The resulting explosion threatened to blind the crew if it wasn’t for the brightness dampening system. Showers of purple organic matter and steel bounced off the front of their shielded haul, and for a moment Seb thought they were safe.

Another volley of thumps shook the entire craft, dropping the shields another fourteen percent. Vi powered the ship’s boosters to full speed, sending them through the cutting weapons in between them in the hangar. Seb gripped the edges of his seat’s armrest, and his eyes widened as they barreled toward the green wall.

We’re going too fast, he thought.

“Syn, get ready!” Vi cried.

“Ready!”

Before the Temptation’s nose touched the green barrier, the ship inverted a hundred and eighty degrees.

“Now!” Vi shouted.

“Boosting all reserve power to engines, and lowering landing gear!” Syn yelled.

The ship’s frame shook violently and groaned with a thunderous roar. An ear-piercing screech echoed below them as the gravity took hold, skirting the ship along the metal floors. As the vessel’s nose passed through the green barrier, the hangar door slammed shut, crushing the pursuing Songless ship into thousands of pieces. Smoke filled the hangar as the crew caught their breath.

“Is everyone okay?” Seb asked.

“I don’t ever want to do that again,” Eni groaned.

“I second that,” Nalla said, letting out a heavy breath.

“Syn, how’s the ship looking?” Seb asked.

The virtual intelligence’s hologram appeared in the center of the room next to a projected image of the ship. When she pointed, the part flashed in red. “Our main engines have suffered minor damage because of the excess power. We’ve also destroyed our front landing gear.”

“Will she fly?”

“Oh yes. The Temptation is still fully functional, otherwise. I’m currently working on recharging our shields back up to one hundred percent.”

Seb unbuckled himself and stood. “Good. Keep working on that. I need to meet with Lord High Admiral Mayvel and get a rundown of our plans.”

“Where do you want us?” Roja asked.

Seb scanned the room of his crew as he twisted his lips. Once he’d decided, he pointed to each member of his team. “Eni and Mischa, I want you with me. Nalla, I want you to set up a triage station down in the cargo bay. Roja, I want you to cover her. Vi, I want you to stay here, keeping the ship ready to go at any moment's notice. Syn, keep comms open and help provide us with any intel of the situation inside and out. Everyone good with that?”

The crew agreed all at once. Except for Vi and Syn, everyone piled into the elevator. Roja and Nalla were the first to get off once they reached the cargo bay. The bulky armor of his pink-haired lover clashed with her soft wave as the rest descended outside the ship.

When the elevator touched the bottom of the hangar floor, Seb’s jaw dropped. It was Guran Outpost all over again.

Hundreds of scorched and twisted bodies lay scattered along the floor. Bloody streaks of red and purple blood marked the line to the Temptation’s landing gear. Pockets of small fires filled the massive chasm of the hangar. Unused calist fighters dangled from twisted chains along the ceiling. Gunfire echoed from deeper into the complex.

Seeing the destruction filled Seb with despair. This is what he wanted to avoid. But he knew in his heart there was nothing that could have prevented this. It was an eventuality.

“Comm check,” Seb said, after drawing his Lawbringer.

“We can hear you up on the bridge,” Vi said.

“Same in the cargo bay,” Roja said.

“Nalla, Roja, be careful,” Seb said, stepping over a serrated arm. “There’s a lot of dead out here, and we have no idea how secure this hangar is.”

“We will.”

Seb scanned the room before his eye caught his first intact, Songless. He crept near it until he stood over it. The creature looked just like his visions, only much larger.

Seb estimated it was easily over seven-feet tall. Its four arms were thick muscled, interwoven with metal tubing. Each hand had three wide fingers and a thumb. An exoskeleton pierced its entire frame.

The skin that covered it was colored purple. Its head was bulky and rectangular. The beast’s jaw hung open, full of rows of sharp metal teeth. Three eyes covered along each side of its head and looked more like camera lenses than eyes.

“Could you imagine fighting that thing?” Eni asked before kicking it.

“I’m guessing we will before the day is over,” Seb said.

As the two stood gawking, Sister Mischa tapped Seb’s shoulder. “Look alive. We’ve got visitors.”

Seb’s head darted up to see a group of five soldiers approaching. They held no visible weapons. Their clothing looked more ceremonial than tactical, with long flowing robes and skin tight helmets that burned with a blue flame on top.

“Captain Warhawk?” the one in the middle asked.

“That’s me,” Seb said.

“I’m Deacon Utaru. My men and I are here to take you and your crew to meet with Lord High Admiral Mayvel.”

“Lead the way.”

The five soldiers surrounded Seb and his crew as Utaru led them deeper into the facility. The interior of the calist dreadnought was unlike anything Seb had seen before. A catacomb of small cramped halls connected each section. Decades of grime coated the floor as exhaust vents spewed unknown smog into the air. Everything looked wet as unknown liquid dripped from the tall ceilings of crisscrossing pipes.

Once they reached the next section, it opened up with an almost cathedral-like grace. Massive statues depicting the nakai overlooked tall staircases and long tiled walkways. Troops stood at heavily fortified checkpoints, with piles of Songless being used as additional shielding. A cacophony of yelling and clanking from the ship's innards rang every minute like bell chimes.

“It looks like you guys got hit hard,” Seb said, pointing toward a pile of nearby corpses.

“The Songless hit us with everything they had once we first arrived,” Utaru said. “They took us by surprise, sending waves of boarding parties. We lost a few thousand in the first hour. But we pushed them back once we got our footing.”

“How is their combat prowess?” Sister Mischa asked. “Are they formidable?”

“They can crush a man’s skull in their hands, don’t seem to feel pain, and can take multiple attacks and still keep coming. So yeah, they are definitely formidable. But it’s nothing that can’t be managed with appropriate tactics and planning. However, we fight a war of attrition. For every twenty we kill, they get one of us. If it was any other faction, this battle would already be over. But they spill from that warp gate, adding thousands by the second.”

Seb and his crew shared a glance before continuing on their path. They boarded a monorail, which only exemplified the size of the ship they were on. Sporadic explosions rolled through the facility, making the captain question if it would have been safer to stay on his ship. After a few minutes, it slowed to a halt, allowing everyone to disembark.

Seb could tell they were close to the bridge, given the number of soldiers and fortifications that protected the path. As they reached the bridge, the number of personnel waned. Only four officers stood around a hologram of the battlefield. Beyond them, large shielded windows provided a direct view of the chaos happening outside.

As Seb and his crew approached, Lord High Admiral Mayvel glanced up and smiled. “Captain Warhawk, looks like you made it.”

“Barely,” Seb said with a wry tone. “Between your beam weapons and the Songless fighters, we almost didn’t.”

“As I’m sure you can understand, the moment relent is the moment the Swarm finds an opening. We’ve already managed to pushback one assault. If they dropped another large wave, I’m not sure we could repel them again.”

“No need to explain. We’re here now. How’s Iris?”

Mayvel tapped on the screen, zooming the green hologram on the warp gate. A small golden circle teleported across the screen as they spoke. “The Divine Equalizer is sticking to her purpose. She’s been instrumental in destroying the Swarm’s larger vessels. However, based on our analysis, she’s slowing down.”

“Is she hurt?”

“If she is, she’s not showing it. But no… we believe she’s just exhausted. Our creators were wise in her creation. But I believe their hubris overestimated her capabilities in a war such as this.”

Seb rubbed the pouch on his belt that held his retracted HIM device. He wanted to slip it on, to talk to her. But he wasn’t ready to experience that much pain again.

“So, what’s your plan? How do we stop them?”

“We’ve been deliberating with our FLS counterparts,” Mayvel said, zooming out the screen. “For the time being, our coordinated efforts are keeping the Swarm at bay. The calist is focusing on the western theater while our FLS counterparts are defending the eastern theater. I’ve been speaking with Seventh Fang Sanaad. He’s promised more reinforcements should arrive tomorrow.”

Seb’s ears perked up hearing of his ally. “Well, that’s great news, isn’t it?”

Lord High Admiral Mayvel frowned and shook his head. “Unfortunately, not. We’re running out of men, ships, and supplies too quickly. Our batteries for our ship’s beam weapons will be depleted before then. Our allies are reporting similar issues, and the Swarm is only showing an increase in ships coming through the warp gate.”

“If the warp gate is the problem, then why aren’t we destroying it?”

“We’ve tried. The defensive systems on the warp gate are unlike anything we’ve ever faced. Even from the Fleutra, a consistent bombardment didn’t put a dent into the warp gate’s shields.”

Seb tapped his foot as he stared at the design. “What about from the inside?”

“You mean like sending in infantry?”

“Yeah.”

Lord High Admiral Mayvel nodded his head back and forth before shaking his head. “No, it would be impossible. The Swarm has complete control over the warp gate and has it heavily fortified. No ship would be able to get close enough without taking serious damage.”

“Ours could.”

Mayvel cocked his brow. “Is there something I don’t know?”

“Our ship is equipped with a stealth system. If we were to create a big enough distraction and pull the focus of the Swarm away, then we should be able to land on the station.”

“But even if you could get there, what would that accomplish? Would you and your team be able to shut it down?”

“The warp gate is like any other machine. It’s got to have an off switch. If you could get us a layout of the facility, I’m sure we can get it done.”

“If you could get me and my deck there, I’m sure I could shut it down,” Eni said.

Seb smiled and tapped the shortstacks helmet. “She’s the best hacker in the galaxy.”

“I do not exaggerate when I say the place is infested with the Swarm,” Mayvel said, pointing out the window. “You’re talking about fighting through an entire army.”

“That’s why we’ve got Mischa here,” Seb said, tapping the sister’s shoulder. “She’s a one-man-army herself.”

“Point my blade in their direction and I shall cleave you a path,” Sister Mischa said, thumping her chest.

Lord High Admiral Mayvel stared unblinking before bursting into laughter. After a tear rolled down his cheek, he extended his arm to Seb. After he grabbed it, Mayvel boasted, “I admire you and your crew’s courage, Captain Warhawk. It’s the best option we’ve got. I will coordinate with our commanders and buy you a window.”

“Thank you, Lord High Admiral Mayvel,” Seb said. “We won’t let you down.”

“May the Nakai sing your song.”

“And may the Maker watch over you.”