four simple steps.
“You forgot the most important one,” Yen added. “Relax! You’re making me nervous.”
Keryn smiled weakly. “I just want to make sure I do this right. I’m the most junior pilot in the Squadron. I’ve got a lot to prove.”
“Then go out there and do what you do best.” Looking down, Yen watched the blinking red light turn a solid green. “It’s time to get into position.”
Rolling the Cair Ilmun forward, she took her place at the back of one of five lines of ships. The sheer volume of fighters and transport ships filling the hangar was staggering. The thought of all those ships, and an equal number from the Defiant, all weaving through one another in open space seemed overwhelming. The Academy had put her through a litany of simulations and shown her video of space combats during the Great War between the Alliance and Empire, but it was nerve-wracking to know that she would soon be fully engaged in a similar combat.
The lights in the hangar dimmed, replaced by a harsh red illumination. A dull roar filled the room as the breathable oxygen was vented from the hangar bay. As the massive door on the far end of the bay cracked open, the sea of stars and distant galaxies glowed against the inky curtain of empty space.
“We are a go!” Garrix called over the radio. “Launch in sequence!”
As the ships fired their plasma engines, they launched from the hangar bay, exiting into the void beyond. In Keryn’s eyes, having never seen an assault on such a grand scale, it reminded her of angry insects swarming from a disturbed hive. The ships flew from the Revolution, spreading as they exited and filling the space beyond.
Turning her ship and taking her place near the top right of the Revolution’s hull, Keryn was able to see the distant Defiant moving into position. As the hangar doors on their rival ship opened, distant specks poured from the ship’s underbelly, filling the area in front of the large Cruiser. For a moment, though Keryn knew it to be false, there was an illusion that time had stopped. The two forces seemed to hang in empty space, staring at one another in eager anticipation for the other side to make a move. But Keryn knew that more was happening than she could perceive. Though there was no sound and no true sense of motion, Keryn’s gauges said otherwise. The two forces were hurtling forward at incredible speeds, covering the distance between the Cruisers, eventually crashing violently into one another.
The Duun fighters from both ships disappeared into a sea of exchanged laser fire and faux rocket launches. Many of the ships’ hulls were instantaneously illuminated by red lights on their hulls, a signal that they had been incapacitated or destroyed. Shutting down the engines, the pilots drifted as no more than obstacles around which the other Duun fighters danced in their brutal ballet.
To Keryn’s left and right, a few of the other Cair ships launched forward. She had to assume that they saw openings that she did not. In honesty, though, Keryn found it difficult to believe there would ever be a sufficient gap through which she could fly the Cair Ilmun. The Duun fighters created a wall of armored hulls and exchanged gunfire that seemed nearly impenetrable.
Yen noticed her hand twitching near the controls. “Not yet,” he said calmly. “Wait for an opening.”
More and more of the Cair ships moved, though she already saw a number of them disabled in the cloud of dodging ships. Keryn remembered Yen’s words about winning over the Infantry by keeping them alive. She couldn’t imagine the irritation the other insertion groups must be feeling, drifting in a lifeless ship, knowing that they had been killed without ever being able to lift a weapon in their own defense.
“All Cair ships, move forward,” Garrix ordered over the radio.
“Not yet, Keryn,” Yen said sternly.
She looked left and right, realizing that she was the only ship not moving forward. Her hands itched, jumping at the opportunity to fire the plasma engines and finally engage in combat. What did all the other pilots see that she did not? They were all moving confidently, as though they stood a chance of making it through the hail of gunfire between the two Cruisers. Maybe the Squadron Commander was right.
“Cair Ilmun,” Garrix called. “Why have you not moved forward? Move out now.”
“Don’t do it,” Yen warned.
Listen to him, the Voice agreed. It’s not time, not yet.
“Cair Ilmun, you will engage.”
Keryn saw over half of the other Cair ships floating, already destroyed during their mock combat. Fear rose in her throat as she realized the technique they had adopted. It was a war of attrition. No matter how many Cair ships were destroyed, always enough slipped through to invade the opponent’s vessel. More than anything, Keryn didn’t want to wind up like all the others that hadn’t made it through. Fighting a war of attrition just didn’t make sense to her.
“What is the problem, Magistrate Riddell?” the Squadron Commander barked over the radio, his gravelly voice full of irritation.
“Hold your position,” Yen said over the aggravated Commander. “Don’t listen to him.”
Keryn’s hand moved to the console, but her fingers remained hovering above the keys to engage the engine. She didn’t know who was right and who to trust. She believed Yen and knew that he had her best interest at heart, but he had been serving in the covert operations during all his combat experience. He didn’t have any combat experience as a pilot. On the other hand, Keryn seriously doubted Garrix had any experience either.
“Magistrate Riddell, I am ordering you to move out!”
He’s wrong, the Voice replied. He’s going to get you killed.
Conflicted, Keryn let her hand drop and activated the engine. The Cair Ilmun shot forward and dove toward the weaving Duun fighters. Scanning side to side, Keryn searched eagerly for any opening in the sea of ships, some miraculously obvious pathway through the throng of fighters that would lead her to the Defiant. Though she searched, nothing became apparent.
“Watch on your left!” Yen called out.
Keryn saw the Duun fighter breaking contact and diving toward her ship. She saw the fire leap from the spinning machine guns as she dipped her own wings, sending the Cair Ilmun into a roll. Though she saw numerous flashes of near missed shots, she moved out of range without being shot down. She smiled slightly and sighed, but her relief was quickly washed away as two more Duun fighters moved toward her ship. The Duun fighters, aside from eliminating one another, were tasked with the sole responsibility of destroying missiles or boarding ships that threatened their Cruiser. Even a single boarding party had the capability to completely destroy a Cruiser with a well-placed series of explosives. The Duun fighters would do all they could to destroy Keryn long before she could reach the Defiant.
Dodging left and right, Keryn saw the streak of a mock missile nearly miss their right wing. Tilting the ship upward, Keryn opened fire. With great satisfaction, she saw red lights flare on the leftmost Duun as she eliminated it from combat. In her celebration, however, she failed to notice the other Duun drop from behind the first, using its destroyed hull as cover. The flashes of machine gun fire glared through the thick cockpit window. Red lights lit up across the console, warning of multiple strikes to their hull. A warning claxon sounded loudly throughout the ship moments before her engines began to shut down.
Across the console before her, a single word replaced the gauges and screens: Destroyed.
Dead in the water, the Cair Ilmun drifted in space as the battle raged on. The only sounds Keryn could hear were the disappointed cursing of the Infantry now trapped in the back of her ship, dead without ever being able to lift a weapon in their own defense.
Walking down the hall, back toward her living quarters, Keryn bit back tears of frustration at her loss during the battle. After landing, none of the Infantry had bothered to spare her a second glance as they disembarked and walked back toward the debriefing room. Only Yen and Adam had stayed behind, though conversation was minimal
