I was hopeful that the AI was going to be unable to stabilize the rift, but my hopes were dashed immediately. The rift expanded and froze, holding its shape for what seemed like less than a second. In that second a long, silver predatory shape the size of a Greyhound bus flitted through. Marty's fire missed as the ship transitioned through nearly instantaneously. As soon as it was through, the rift snapped closed behind it.
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IAS-778801991
Light Scout, designed by Vassago
No Registration
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The ship wasn't any bigger than Redemption, but the way it was designed made it look like a predator. It certainly moved through space like one, flitting around Marty's attacks with ease. Without pause it turned to attack, thick purple beams lancing out from several turrets.
"Oh shit. Kill that, Marty. Kill it," I ordered, a bit frantic.
"On it," he replied shortly, all three weapons firing. The main plasma gun led the way with bright, barrel sized bolts flashing toward the enemy ship.
The Vassago scout was no pushover. Redemption's particle beams raked across the scout's barely visible shields but none of the comparatively slow-moving plasma bolts would land.
The two ships circled each other in a scrum too fast to follow. Deadly energy flew in both directions, straining the shields of both ships. The Vassago scout seemed to be doing its best to point its nose at the Redemption, and I could see that it had what looked like a large keel-mounted weapon. I wasn't clear what that was, but it was obvious that the scout really wanted to use it.
"Marty, don't let it point that thing at you," I advised.
"A little busy here," he said, his voice strained.
"We must assist," Regar said. "Redemption is a fine ship, but AI warships are almost always more capable than ours. I remember this all too well from the war."
I thought of Nemesis on my right forearm. I hadn't had any reason to use it yet, but maybe this was the ideal use case. The thought of us getting skewered by those beam lasers wasn't attractive, but maybe Regar was right. Maybe Marty really did need our help to win this fight.
The situation became clear when Redemption's shields failed for just a moment and the beam lasers silenced one of her particle beam turrets. The thick purple energy cut deep, destroying the turret and digging into the stubby right wing. Marty goosed the ship hard, moving it out of the line of fire faster than the Vassago scout could track. Redemption's shields came back online a moment later.
"You're right, let's go," I said. "Marty, we're coming to put some more fire on it. Keep busy, try not to die."
"Good pep talk, Boss. Will do," he said, his voice clipped.
Regar and I flew at full speed toward the combat, which was slowly moving away from us. I knew that if the ships really tried to move away they'd leave us hundreds and then thousands of kilometers away in moments. We had to get there and help before that could happen, and before the Vassago scout fatally wounded my ship.
The fight was chaotic, and it seemed perilous to even be in the same volume of space. Marty was constantly moving the Redemption, almost faster than the eye could track. While doing that, he was maintaining a steady fire at the Vassago scout with the remaining particle beam turret and the plasma turret. The scout was dodging in the same manner as Marty, and not many of the shots were landing. It was clear that, slowly but surely, Redemption was getting the worst of it.
I saw that Regar had unlimbered the Tempest, sticking the plasma pistol back on his hip. We flew about two hundred meters apart, ignoring the remaining Ferals floating helplessly in the void around us. If we lived through this, we would have plenty of time to finish our cleanup.
"Jake, Marty, we won't have a lot of time," Regar said. "The Tempest's range is low, under a kilometer. If I get a direct hit the damage should be significant. If I'm merely close, it should severely impair the scout's movement. That will be our opportunity, Seekers. Don't waste it."
I remembered the Tempest well from our adventure in the Spike on Hephaseta 2. Once he fired the weapon, it and Regar himself would be locked in place. A sitting duck, and an obvious threat.
"It'll kill you, Regar. Those beam turrets are no joke," I said.
Another glancing hit showed the truth of my words, piercing Redemption's shields for a moment before leaving a long scar in the hull of her left side. Marty rolled and dodged, evading the fire just long enough for the shields to snap back on. His return fire with the plasma cannon was evaded, yet again, while the single particle beam flashed useless against the scout's shield.
"There's no time, Jake," Regar said. "Use the Nemesis. Don't be too close when the warheads detonate."
"Got it," I replied. I wanted to say more but it wasn't the time for anything but action.
We were closing fast, ignored by the Vassago scout as it attempted to tear the heart from my ship, and kill my friend.
As soon as Regar entered range he brought the Tempest up, sighted, and triggered the weapon. That familiar spatial distortion appeared instantaneously, brushing the hull of the scout, but not skewering it. Space and time around the distortion began to twist, and the Vassago scout struggled. The silvery hull near the Tempest's reality distorting beam began to buckle and tear as the scout tried to escape.
Marty and I opened fire at the same time, the Redemption's particle beam and plasma bolts splashing against the shield briefly before shattering it and tearing chunks out of the shining, spiked silver hull of the Vassago scout. I activated the targeting link and fired the Nemesis three times. Tiny glowing dots spewed at high velocity from the barrels mounted on my right forearm. Two of them hit and
