Star Force: Fiddlesticks (SF65) (7 page)

“Play nice,” Kara said when she finally sensed Morgan
approaching from around the corner in one of the more crowded interior
hallways.

“You know us,” Travis said just before the trailblazer
turned the corner and her face came into view. “What the hell?”

“Never seen a tattoo before?” Morgan asked as she
walked up to them.

“Didn’t know you’d gotten one,” Karen answered,
referring to the scattering of dots and curvy lines on the right side of her
face, giving her an exotic pirate-
ish
look that was
extremely badass.

“It’s about a year old. You guys here to fight or
mouth off?”

“Can’t we do both?” Travis asked deadpan.

Morgan smirked, for cocky or no, that was typical
Archon. “Where would you like to figure in? Ground ops I assume?”

“We can supplement gunners if you need some extra
hands.”

“We’ve always got extra seats for strikers. Do you
want leadership duties, heavy combat, scouting, or sneak ops once we make
ground?”

“Heavy combat, preferably,” Karen answered. “But we’ll
fill wherever needed.”

“How do you feel about working with Arc Knights?”

“They’ll slow us down,” Travis said bluntly.

“On a reinforcement team that I send into trouble
spots where we’re facing the heaviest resistance.”

Both of the twins’ eyes gleamed a bit. “That works,”
Karen answered for them.

Morgan mentally gave the two directions to the section
of the ship where those Arc Knights were going through training drills in the
very crowded sanctuary. “Find Chandler and start making friends. You’ll be
working with his strike team. He leads them, you tag along and work on your
kill counts.”

“Come on, sis,” Travis said aloud for Kara’s benefit
as the twins walked past Morgan, “time to play nice.”

Kara watched them go, but waited until they were out
of earshot until she spoke to Morgan. “That went well.”

“I’m actually glad they’re here. They may be cocky
sons of bitches, but put them in the right fight and they’ll dominate. Speaking
of which, where do you want to be assigned…or do you just want to roam as
normal?”

“You know me, I just make it up as I go. Unless you
need another team leader?”

“The five of us can handle those duties, so feel free
to go where you feel you can make the most impact, cheat armor and all.”

“Yeah, yeah…you’ll change your tune if we ever figure
out how to duplicate my little baby,” Kara said, lifting her left arm and
pulling back her sleeve to show off her Vorch’nas.

“I’m not having one glued on my arm even if we do.”

“That’s what I thought too when Puff stuck it on. Now,
I’m glad he did. Never have to worry about losing it. I was horrible with my
car keys.”

“Why?”

“Multiple thought lines. Until basic taught me how to
turn it to an advantage I was always distracted and losing stuff. And those are
genetic, not ink, right?” Kara asked, gesturing with her chin towards the top
Archon’s face.

“Of course they’re genetic. No one sane uses ink.”

“Just checking. Looks good, by the way.”

“I like my natural hair color, so I figured I’d
experiment with my skin. You feel like running or sparring?”

“How crowded is the track?”

“Very. But we can take a hike through the outer ship
and get away from everyone else. Nice long hallways, very few turns.”

“You have a course set up?”

Morgan smiled. “I do.”

“Show me where to stow my duffle and I’ll give you one
hell of a workout.”

“No armor, cheater.”

“I won’t need it,” Kara said with a confident smirk.

7

March 2, 2755

Pagaliss System
(lizard territory)

Low stellar
orbit

Morgan sat on a stool in the command nexus, her hands
on the control sphere and her mind interlinked with the ship’s computer as she
watched through delay as to what was happening around the system. The
Megazord
had come
out of their braking maneuver along with one
Warship
-class jumpship that had then deployed its drones in a
scouting capacity, with several models designed for such a role. The command
ship held position guarding the jumpline that the fleet would be following on
in a few hours’ time, with the linear jumpship tucked up alongside it.

The lizards knew they were here, for the system had a
plethora of tracking devices set up that the Star Force vessels could detect
the signals from. They hadn’t, however, come out to fight the interlopers.
Rather they were sitting in planetary orbit around Varasiss, forming up into
what they thought would be the best defensive formation possible. Typically the
lizards would have rushed the command ship, but it seemed that they weren’t
taking the bait this time, despite their overwhelming numbers.

The drones had spread out across the system, updating
the last intelligence report and confirming two small colonies on other
planets. It was one of those that Morgan was watching now, for the small fleet
of 129 cruisers there had a Star Force icon amongst them. It was a tag that had
been placed in response to a location ping rather than an active signal, but it
was the location where Kara currently was.

The aggressive little twit had wanted a shot at the
two invokers around Varasiss, but there was no way for her to get in to them or
the defense stations ringing the planet. Rather than sitting the upcoming
battle out on the command ship she’d opted to go for a low priority target, and
the superficial mining colony had been accessible. One of the drones had
deposited her in orbit of the rocky planetoid and she’d done the rest from
there. How she didn’t get blown out of the sky Morgan wasn’t sure, but Kara had
managed to board one of the cruisers and was now inside, hence the icon to make
sure no one shot that ship…not that there was anyone here yet to do it.

As the trailblazer watched the cruiser she was on
suddenly lurched from its sitting position and gently rammed the one next to
it…with a little spec transferring across from hull to hull like a flea.

There was no way Kara was going to be able to sneak
around now, but she hadn’t yet called for pickup. Rather, a signal came in,
relayed by the drone that was sitting in a higher orbit around the planet, that
indicated that the first cruiser was dead, either through internal sabotage or
the lack of a crew, and it looked like the arrogant Saber was going to press
her luck and go for a second.

Morgan’s mind was simultaneously watching the huge
fleet around Varasiss, with no response from them yet. They were still shifting
about their positions somewhat, but keeping well off the main jumplines in and
out. The invokers were in the back row, with the mass of cruisers and larger
warships situated out in front and around the defense stations, probably
because they knew that against Star Force the invokers were vulnerable, and
while they might lead with them against other races that was just a good way to
lose them early on here.

As Kara’s confirmation signal came in that she’d
breached the second cruiser’s hull Morgan placed the Star Force ‘no shoot’ tag
on it, with her attention being diverted to the incoming jump ping. It was a
signal that was sent out a few minutes prior to arrival, hyper accelerated due
to the coast speed of a jump, but one that would arrive prior to an incoming
ship. Morgan’s command ship hadn’t sent one when it arrived, for there was no
one friendly here to receive it, but it did allow her a heads up to send back a
return signal with any last minute instructions.

Since the lizards hadn’t come out to the star to fight
them she sent the ‘all clear’ signal along with the preferred jumppoint she’d
like them to come out on…which was an easy one in close to the star that would
require less fuel. Had the arrival point been ‘hot’ they would have braked
harder and emerged further away so the odds of the lizards being able to poach
their ships one at a time as they emerged were low.

That was also another reason to send a ship ahead to a
fight like this. If surprise wasn’t going to be a factor then having a good
scouting report before you brought everyone else in was worth the effort. Had a
tenth of this lizard fleet been waiting for them around the star they would
have been walking into a trap that could have destroyed every last one of her
ships.

As it was, the lizard defense fleet had the potential
to destroy the forces she was bringing to face them…if the Star Force ships
were being flown by
newbs
. The firepower the enemy
had at its disposal was massive, but there was more to naval warfare than just
having big guns and pointing them at the other guys. There was a lot of
strategy and small-scale tactics involved, which was why she liked having as
many remote pilots as possible controlling the drones. The more time one had to
think the better they would fight, and the less duties per controller the freer
their minds would be.

Kara’s call for
evac
came
about thirty seconds prior to the arrival of the first command ship, which was
followed by a series of jumpships in close proximity, forming a line as they
came in that diverted to positions Morgan indicated to clear the approach lane.
Meanwhile the drone in orbit around the mining planet headed straight into the
cruiser cluster there as the enemy ships were firing on their own, now that Kara’s
presence had been noted. To kill her they were going to destroy their own ship,
meaning it was time for the Archon to run.

Morgan watched with a part of her mind while she
monitored everything else going on, picking up a few additional bits of data from
the holograms around her, but most of her data was coming directly through the
neural link. When the drone got to the cruisers it didn’t engage them, choosing
to fly in amongst them and pancake the lizard cruiser that Kara was on. With
its ventral shields dropping for a moment, the Archon jumped across and clung
to the hull while the corvette was getting pounded with plasma orbs and
streamers.

Once she was inside the perimeter of the shields Kara
stuck herself to the hull and the exposure reclosed, with the corvette rushing
off and outside the cruisers’ firing range before its defenses could go down.
Satisfied that Kara was out safely, Morgan turned her full attention to the
huge chess match about to be played out, giving the deploy order to the jumpships
that had already arrived to start releasing their drones here at the star
rather than wait until they got under the lizards’ guns.

Travis sat in one of the control booths onboard the
Megazord
,
operating the shield controls for a cruiser. He could have handled the entire
ship himself if needed, but he was just backing up the regular pilots at the
moment and applying the special touch that could make the difference between
victory
or
defeat when this many enemy guns were in
play.

The drone he was connected to was engaging the lizards
in orbit of Varasiss in a massive exchange that he couldn’t even begin to
follow…but that wasn’t his job here. He was to focus on the shields for this
one ship and that was it, trusting in the rest of his team and the overall strategy
of the trailblazers on site to guide them where they needed to go. The fact
that the ship he was sitting in was also under attack didn’t
phase
him, for he understood naval warfare on this scale
and the need to delegate, otherwise it would turn into a randomized free for
all.

Those were sloppy and costly, with the lizards having
more than enough firepower to make them pay for it. As it was his cruiser was
getting hit hard, and not from the ships nearby. The few that were within
mauler range were going down quickly, but those beyond that and plasma range
were firing their phasers through the gaps and turning the drone cruiser into a
pin cushion of pink streaks, allowing several dozen, if not
hundred
of ships to target the cruiser simultaneously.

The range increase from short to medium had given the
lizards so much more naval power it was nuts, but Star Force’s tech and skills
were still superior. It was likely that this cruiser was going to be destroyed,
for apparently they were to hold position and slug it out for a moment.
Normally when the shields dropped below 20% they would be on their way to the
back lines to get a breather and a recharge, but not now.

Travis wasn’t controlling the helm, so he didn’t see
the communications from others or know the battle plan. Shield control was
pretty much an isolated job, with him having to watch the surrounding ships and
decide which of the 18 shield segments needed reinforcing more than the others.
He had two options for that…the regenerative energy coming from a continuous
feed, or the cannibalization of other shield segments to send to one of greater
priority. He didn’t like using the latter, for some of the matrix was wasted in
the process, but on occasion it was necessary in order to safeguard the ship
against a huge hit you knew was coming.

Right now there were no big hits, just lots of little
pink stings mixed in with green plasma. The ships around the cruiser were about
2/3rds the old variety, leaving the other third with the new weaponry. In fact
those ships were sitting further back in the formation, leaving the
plasma-equipped cruisers to run head on into the approaching ships and get
chopped to pieces while drawing fire themselves…all the while the more advanced
models snipped at the Star Force ships outside of mauler and talon range.

The cruiser had a cleansing beam and it was using it
to great effect, but if the ship wanted to throw its full weaponry against the
ships shooting at it from afar it was going to have to get closer. In the
meantime the enemy was going to get some free shots off, whereas in the past it
had been Star Force getting those free shots while the enemy closed distance.
That swap alone was giving the enemy more teeth, but they were still losing
ships rapidly.

Travis took a chance to look around mentally from time
to time, seeing how many drones were going down…and there were plenty. This
wasn’t going to be a roll-over engagement, and Star Force was going to have to
pay a price in equipment to take control of orbit, which was why Travis had
elected to take the shield control rather than the cleansing beam. That was
just point and shoot, while the management of the shields could be much more
intricate in the hands of an experienced controller.

When the cruiser got down to under 10% shields Travis
got a rare prompt from higher up the command structure, telling him to stand
ready to lower shields. Along with the stylized order, which appeared as a
unique icon rather than words, was a tag for an incoming ship that the striker
saw was of the support variety.

That was why they’d been holding position rather than
retreating, and when the slightly larger vessel pulled over top of the cruiser
Travis deactivated a single sector, sending a coordinate ping to the controller
on the other vessel. A moment later a stream of sand shot across and accurately
targeted the opening Travis had made for them, with the replicator armor blocks
clinging to the hull there and piling up on it in a lump.

As soon as they did so Travis got a second function
under his control. In addition to the shields he now gained control of those
armor blocks and immediately began spreading them out over the hull like a wave
of water. The shield ship kept pouring more in, as if it was a giant grain
harvester unloading into a wagon. Meanwhile the rest of the cruiser kept
fighting and getting hit, with Travis easily able to multitask the two duties.
He poured a little more recharge energy into sectors 3 and 8, anticipating
increased attacks on those vectors as the enemy ship placement began to shift
again, then rushed the secondary armor to those areas first, just in case the
shields did breach soon.

When the shield ship was done it pinged him, and
Travis reformed the shield over the hole, with the clump of blocks there
sitting just below the extended radius as he continued to move them out and
around to the locations he wanted, simultaneously pushing the cruiser’s shields
several meters out from the hull to accommodate the armor and holding clumps
that he built up like wood stacks at various locations. He needed them nearby
to reinforce upcoming damage, otherwise it would take too long to drag them
across the hull from a single location and the enemy weaponsfire would get
through to the primary armor or even interior mechanisms.

All this was done in his mind ahead of the incoming
damage, for the shields had not failed yet, in any sector, but that was his job
as shield controller. He had think ahead and preposition the matrix energy, for
it didn’t form or move instantaneously, and neither did the secondary armor
blocks.

And he didn’t need anyone to tell him why the support
ship had reinforced the cruiser, for the answer was obvious. The smaller ships
didn’t have cleansing beams, for the most part, and whoever was controlling
this battle group wanted the cruiser’s beam in play constantly. Had they
retreated to recharge their shields they would have temporarily lost the damage
the weapon was doing.

That was better than losing the ship and the weapon
permanently, but the support ship gave them another option and the cleansing
beam kept poaching enemy ships at even greater range, targeting the more
advanced models, Travis noticed, which
was definitely the
correct play
. If they got the enemy down to all plasma varieties he
could alter the shield settings for anti-plasma and tank up their ship
considerably, but while those phasers were being used he couldn’t weaken their
defense against them with the specialty shield, meaning the sooner the advanced
models bit the dust, the better.