Purge of Prometheus

through the rooms and halls, leaving the ship dead in space.

“The Destroyer is gone,” he informed Keryn as he reentered the fray. “We’re going to get rid of the fighters now.”

“We’re heading toward the sun now,” Keryn replied. From his vantage point, Adam watched the engines flare to life on the Alliance ships and they sped toward the dark orb hanging in the distant space. Behind them, however, the five Destroyers closed the distance and began firing more salvos of missiles. Firing from the closer distance, the rockets were more accurate and they exploded around the three ships as they tried to flee.

“Those Destroyers are too close, Keryn,” he called. “Get yourself out of there. We’ll buy you the time you need.”

“Not at the cost of your own life,” she replied. “Make sure you come out of this alive.”

Adam released the transmit button on his radio. He didn’t feel right making a promise to her that he couldn’t keep. Instead, he focused his attention back on the Terran fighters. With the numbers greatly in their favor, the Alliance managed to keep the Terran fighters occupied as the three ships slipped past the dogfight, blazing toward the sun. The Destroyers, in close pursuit, fired more and more rounds toward the trailing ships. As the Terran vessels drew closer, their hangar bays opened and spilled out their own fighters. Now facing the combined Squadrons of six Destroyers, Adam knew they couldn’t stop them any longer.

“All Squadron pilots,” he said over the radio, “evacuate the area at once. We’ve done all we can, it’s up to the big ships now.”

Pulling his own ship away from the chaos, he kept his eye on the three Alliance ships hurtling toward the sun. Nearly three quarters of the distance had already been covered. He knew they wouldn’t have to go much further before they could begin their plan. With the Terrans closing on them, Adam just hoped they made it.

In angry defiance to the elusive Alliance ships, the Terrans fired another massive volley toward the fleeing trio. The Alliance Cruisers launched countermeasures, which detonated the Terran rockets in between the two groups of ships, obscuring Adam’s view of the Ballistae. Though Adam instantly regretted thinking so, he doubted the trio had destroyed them all. As the plasma cleared, Adam saw the ships still fleeing. Moments later, he watched as an explosion erupted right behind the Ballistae. The engines on the commandeered ship sputtered and died and the damaged Alliance vessel drifted helplessly toward the dark sun. As it floated freely in space, he saw numerous other scars across its hull, evidence of multiple rocket strikes. Luckily, he noted, the other two ships were still flying. They took a path that would slingshot them around the sun, bringing them fully around the dormant star and back in his direction.

As the two remaining ships disappeared around the sun, with five Destroyers in close pursuit, warning sirens sounded within Adam’s fighter. Unnoticed, a Terran fighter had maneuvered behind him and opened fire with its machine gun. The tracer rounds struck his right wing, shredding its armor and sending his ship spinning uncontrolled. Adam felt the gravitational forces build as his ship continued to spin chaotically, threatening to knock him unconscious. Pulling hard on his controls, Adam felt the ship fight against him as the right wing remained unresponsive. The pressure on his chest, however, began to fade.

“Any Alliance vessel,” he called weakly into the radio, “this is Squadron Commander Decker. My fighter has been badly damaged and I require immediate docking for repairs.”

Disoriented from his spin and nauseas from the pressure, Adam barely registered the Terran fighter still chasing his damaged ship. Through muddled thoughts, he tried to find the controls for his weapons, but had trouble as his vision quickly doubled. Fighting the urge to vomit, he slammed his fist against the control panel. In front of him, quickly closing on his position, the Terran brought his machine guns to bear on Adam’s ship. Before he could fire, though, the Terran fighter shattered as though ripped apart from within. Adam stared in wonderment, unsure if he was even responsible for his enemy’s destruction. A click startled him as his radio came to life.

“Commander Decker,” a familiar voice called over the radio, “this is Captain Xiao of the Revolution. We have eliminated your immediate threat. Sit back and we’ll be there to pick you up shortly.”

Adam allowed himself a sigh of relief. He had found safe refuge. Everything was going according to plan so far. He only hoped Keryn’s luck continued.

CHAPTER 40:

With the majority of systems powered down, the control room was bathed in darkness. Keryn, Wyck, Iana, and Tora sat huddled together on the floor, staving off the cold that permeated the walls. With life support systems running only nominally, the internal heating system had been shut down.

“Did you have to blow up the missile so close?” Wyck asked, his ears still ringing from the explosion.

“I had to make it believable,” Keryn replied. “If the Terrans didn’t think we were severely damaged, they would have just blown us up on the spot instead of chasing the other two.”

Above their heads, a faint glow was cast from the tactical display. The five red triangles were slowly disappearing behind the sun, still in pursuit of the two Alliance Cruisers. Until they were out of radar range, Keryn didn’t dare begin recharging the engines. Should they be detected, they’d be defenseless until the systems all came back online.

Though they sat mostly in silence, faint radio transmissions continued on the Fleet-wide net. As Keryn leaned her head against the large control console, she heard a familiar voice sending a distress signal.

“Any Alliance vessel,” Adam called faintly over the radio, “this is Squadron Commander Decker. My fighter has been badly damaged and I require immediate docking for repairs.”

Keryn scrambled to her feet and began altering the tactical signal to search for the signal from Adam’s fighter. In the distance, far from the dark sun and the Ballistae, a small blue dot appeared on the map. Its movements were random, confirming that his ship was damaged and incapable of defensive maneuvers. While watching the map, a second transmission called over the radio, filling Keryn with dread.

“Commander Decker, this is Captain Xiao of the Revolution. We have eliminated your immediate threat. Sit back and we will be there to pick you up shortly.”

Keryn spun, locking eyes with Iana. Her own fear was reflected in the Warrant’s eyes. Still, Iana shook her head disapprovingly.

“I have to let him know,” Keryn begged. “I can’t let him land on the Revolution.”

“There’s nothing we can do for him now,” Iana stated, emotion thick in her voice. “I’m sorry, Keryn, but if we warn Adam, we risk the lives of everyone on this ship.”

“And we risk failing in our mission,” Wyck added sternly. “We’ve worked too hard to jeopardize this mission.”

“Yen is dangerous,” she pleaded. Her throat felt swollen and she found it hard to swallow. “You’ve all fought beside Adam. We can’t just leave him with that monster!”

Iana walked to her side and placed her arm around Keryn. “If what you told me about him is true,” Iana said, “Adam seems more than capable of taking care of himself. You have to trust that he’ll be fine. Right now, we have other priorities.”

“They’ve reached the back side of the sun,” Tora said, pointing toward the tactical display. The five red triangles had disappeared from the map. “They can’t detect us anymore.”

Wyck moved past the two seated women and began reactivating the major systems onboard the ship. The lights above them flickered back to life and a low rumble shook the ground slightly as the massive engines began their ignition process. Once seemingly out of commission, the Ballistae rose from its own ashes, eager to complete its mission.

Adam’s fighter slammed into the ground of the hangar bay, breaking free the already damage right wing and sending sparks spraying from behind it as it gouged the thick floor. As it finally slid to a halt, Adam threw open the cabin and climbed out, coughing from the thick smoke that poured from around the ruined ship. Wiping the sweat and soot from his face, he watched fire consumed his fighter.

Turning toward the exit to the hangar bay, Adam coughed once more and rubbed his chest. Between the