From: "Corvus" What has gone before... ----------------------- Nothing, actually. This is my first post to RAAC, done at the urging of a fellow fanfic author *cough*LeVar Bouyer*cough* whom I trust with my neck, which I am now sticking out. Here goes with the necessary explanation. Gradius: Invasion is a fanfic based on a cobbled-together continuity that I put together from three video games (Gradius and Life Force for the NES, and Gradius III for the SNES; these are the American versions, my apologies to any fans of the Gradius and Salamander series who might be offended). I have invented a great many details in an effort to create a world in which to place this story, but there are some things I have not done (I haven't come up with a Gradian language, for example, and the distance to Terra is not given). As well, the rudimentary plots given in the games' manuals have been tampered with severely in the interest of making one continuous plot. Fans of the games should treat this as *seriously* alternate-universe material. This fanfic will have two distinct interweaving plotlines which will eventually come together at the end. These are: the story of one brave young man and his mission to turn back an alien horror; and the tale of a ship and its crew, who must uncover a deadly secret and prevail against the enemy. Each plotline will take alternating chapters starting with this one, which begins the story of the pilot Prana Tellus, until they are combined. Yes, this is a war story and will feature space combat, but I'll do my level best to keep it fresh and exciting. I've drawn inspiration from many sources beyond just the three aforementioned games, including Macross/Robotech, Star Wars and (believe it or not) The Irresponsible Captain Tylor. In this story I use and abuse naval traditions with what has been said to be confusing results. Ship names are always given as proper names, without the word "the" before them (for example, "Dauntless" as opposed to "the Enterprise"; you can stop smiling now, LeVar). However, ships are not referred to as gendered (Dauntless is an "it", not a "she"). All that being said, the space forces in this story are (naturally) a treated as a navy, not an extension of an air force, so you'll have Admirals, not Generals, and the person in command of a ship is always addressed by his or her crew as "Captain". Please forgive the lack of underscore, bold or italic markers; I compose in Microsoft Works and post at my site in HTML. My site, at which I have posted both this chapter and the next as well as ongoing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Ninja Gaiden and other series and games, along with a glossary of names and terms for Gradius: Invasion can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/7569/ I can be reached at: corvus@eurekanet.com I'm anxiously waiting to hear from readers about this project. If you have anything at all to say about it, please let me know. And now, as has been said so many times... "On with the show." ============================================================================ Three times, the Bactrican Empire has encroached into the space held by the people of planet Gradius, their space fleets and horrid megamonsters threatening all life and civilization. Each time the space fleet of planet Gradius has held them at bay long enough for a single pilot to battle to the heart of the enemy. Now the "Bacterions" have come again. Now is the time for heroes! Gradius: Invasion By Corvus **Chapter One: Prelude to Invasion** Beginnings are always the hardest part... The ship was over seventy years old, but I didn't care. It had to get me through. As I ran my fingers over the gleaming molecular armor coating that surrounded the brand new hull of the old fighter that had been the hero of so many people for so long, I thought back to the day I had learned that the ship I had volunteered to fly and its original pilot had already yanked one incredible victory from certain destruction. Victrem Ayagara and the Warp Rattler II, affectionately known as the Vic Viper. Victrem had been second in a line of heroes from the planet Gradius, my home, heir to a legacy created thirty years before when Shindeni Guisard had flown her Warp Rattler into the oncoming Bactrican -- "Bacterions", the Gradian press had called them in an attempt to relieve some of their fear of annihilation -- fleet and blown them from the heavens. And twenty years after Ayagara had come Warp Rattler III and Portello Obetel flying against the Bactricans once more. Three heroes, three Warp Rattlers, and a trend. And here I was about to uphold the trend. Around me the sounds of the hangar bay of the Gradian space carrier Dauntless echoed off the decking, the bulkheads. I glanced over to where a force field separated the hangar from deep space, a gaping hole in the deck -- the main launch egress. Soon I'd take Warp Rattler II out through that hole on a suicide mission. I still didn't know why I'd volunteered. Maybe I was looking for a promotion out of the rank-and-file of the Gradian Space Navy's fighter pilots. Maybe I was insane. One thing bothered me more than the very real threat of death. Victrem Ayagara had not been alone on his headlong plunge into the hell that was the enemy, come to devour Gradius and everything else that stood in its path. No, there had been another, a woman from a planet named Latis, a planet lost to the advancing Bactrican mega-monster Zelos and its hordes, piloting something the old holovids I had dug up called the Space Destroyer. She hadn't made it back. Victrem had spent the rest of his long life -- he'd died only five years ago, we Gradians live one heck of a lot longer than you Terrans -- mourning his wingman's loss at the very end. >From his words, Space Destroyer and its pilot hadn't escaped the nova explosion that heralded the enemy's utter defeat. The only casualty in three missions against staggering odds. "Twenty-five percent losses," my old flight instructors would say, "not good at all." As if. Most older people only remembered the Space Destroyer at all because the ship had been a virtually identical copy of Warp Rattler II, with a blazing crimson hull where dear old Vic Viper had been -- and still was -- a deep blue, twin-nosed, and able to harness the residual bioenergies of defeated Bactrican foes to power weapons beyond anything ever before seen, just like Vic Viper. The holovids had recorded the day Space Destroyer had entered Gradian space, and the day Space Destroyer and Warp Rattler II had left Gradius together. I hadn't been born yet. Why Warp Rattler II and not III? Warp Rattler III wasn't anywhere near Gradian space when the new threat had appeared, a Bactrican terror that had devoured several nearby systems -- systems we had worked so hard to colonize -- and had no chance of making it home in time; it was on its way. Coincidentally, the Space Navy had just recently decided to take Vic Viper out of mothballs, upgrade its systems, give it the new molecular armor and press it back into service when the cloud had appeared. The call had gone out for a hero, and I had raised my hand. And that's how I came to be here, standing next to Warp Rattler II with my hand on its hull. In less than six hours I would be on my way. Captain Isrenax, commander of the Dauntless, threw me a party last night. More like a farewell bash, but none of us would even let ourselves think about that. Starfire, I was being stupid. What was I thinking? Oh well... too late to back out now. Time for a routine systems check. I scrambled up the boarding ladder and dropped into the open cockpit of what had once, over seven decades ago, been a Salamander-class heavy fighter and closed the transparent ritrium canopy with the push of a small red button. First thing down. My thoughts strayed as I began checking the status of the power cells, engine output (theoretical, of course, since activating those thrusters would put me through the hull of the Dauntless in a spectacular display of stupidity), gravitic rudder, Bactrican bioenergy recovery scoops, weapon activation subroutines, Gradian heavy pulse cannons... I had access now to all the planetary-budget-breaking advanced technologies that had been incorporated into Warp Rattler III, and a few new surprises, but my personal favorite was the two-stage plutonic laser, an energy drill that could punch through the strongest shielding in less than a second. Vic Viper had carried that since the beginning, since its original sixty trillion solan upgrade. And I intended to make use of it. Hyperlink comm unit, life support secondary and tertiary units... We'd thought the Bactricans had given up, learned their lesson after we'd slaughtered countless numbers of them. But here they were again, nastier than ever and hungry on top of it. Distress beacon, emergency ejection system... I missed my family. My mother hadn't taken the news of my volunteering for this mission at all well, and my father wasn't much more pleased. My twin sister had confided that she'd been half a step behind me in volunteering to pilot Warp Rattler II -- she'd always had dreams of being the next Shindeni Guisard -- and begged me not to let on. Nyenna was always good at making me keep secrets. "Commander Tellus." I broke from my contemplation of the three-dimensional targeting display and stared at the hyperlink for a moment before realizing someone was addressing me. Captain Isrenax. "Yes, Captain?" "You're going to hate me, Commander, but your mission is about to start six hours early. We've just got a message that the Bactricans have sent a skirmishing squadron and we're on our way to intercept." Frowning, I turned this over several times before asking, "Captain, can't Dauntless's own fighters handle this?" Isrenax's voice was shaking, for all the control the woman had always displayed, as she replied, "They've already destroyed the Aegis. Everyone on board was lost. And not a single Bactrican payed the price." Oh, starfire... "Understood, Captain. I've just completed a systems check... ready for launch whenever you are." "Ten minutes, Commander. And may the Universe have mercy on us all." Isrenax broke the link, and I sat there in the silence. I knew my skin had gone completely white without even looking at my reflection in the inactive systems display. The captain's voice had broken in her final words. She was terrified. Captain Isrenax was terrified. Aegis, another space carrier, lost, all hands lost... Dead. And they hadn't destroyed a single Bactrican. Would Warp Rattler II be able to do any better? The canopy slid upward on silent hinges to let me out. I clambered back down the boarding ladder and made my way to the preflight locker room. Putting on the black, sealed suit that would link me to Vic Viper's computer in case of any kind of emergency -- cockpit breach, system malfunction -- gave me a sense of purpose. I was the hope of all Gradius. What had Victrem Ayagara been thinking when he put on his flight suit? How had he felt when he'd looked over at his wingman? When the others gathered around had wished him luck and the blessings of a seemingly impartial cosmos? I wished he was there. Instead I got Portello Obetel. The tall, thin man appeared in the hatchway from the hangar, arms folded across his chest. He wore the standard dark blue-gray Space Navy uniform, but so casually non-regulation that it looked completely different on him. I hadn't known he was aboard Dauntless. Maybe Captain Isrenax had intended him to give me a surprise pep talk. "Captain Obetel," I breathed in astonishment. "Commander Tellus." He smirked just a bit, and I could tell it was the formality of it all that was irritating him. "Portello, if you please. I haven't been a captain in years." "My apologies, Cap-... Portello. I didn't know you were on board." Portello rolled his eyes and let his arms fall to his sides as he stepped all the way into the locker room. "You're up to your ears in quicksand, aren't you, Prana," he said. I flinched as he used my given first name, something nobody ever called me. I had always gone by my familiar, what you Terrans might consider a "middle name", or "Mr. Tellus," and "whatever-rank Tellus" in the Space Navy. "I nearly soiled my flight suit before I got Warp Rattler III into space." I was about to say something, but it died on my tongue. The great Portello Obetel had almost... "Uh," I began inanely, "I... didn't know that." "Nobody but you and me does, kid." He laughed, his crimson eyes gleaming in the harsh white light. He scratched the pointed tip of his left ear. "I'd appreciate it if you keep it that way." "Not a problem," I confided, and I thought of my sister. Portello dropped his lanky body onto a bench and studdied me. "I've got permission from the Captain to let you in on another little secret that you'll be only the..." He paused, those red eyes turning up as he thought for a moment, and I noticed he was counting, long fingers ticking off something. One, two, three, four... five. "...fifth person alive to know. And I hate to admit it, but the only reason you're finding this out now is because you might not come back, and you deserve to know." "I don't like the sound of that," I admitted. And I didn't. He laughed, an infectious sound, and slapped his knee. "You're just like him, too. Kid, you'll do just fine, mark my words." "Just like who?" "Your father," Portello said, the gleam in his eyes matched by the mirth on his lips. "Victrem Ayagara." I dropped my helmet. "That's what I had to tell you, Prana. You were adopted, you and your sister both. Victrem didn't think he had the patience to raise kids, and he didn't want you growing up in the shadow of his deeds. And yet you went and walked right into it, and you'll probably outshine even him." "How... how do you know this?" "I knew Vic for years," he explained. "I was the one who introduced him to your mother, and I was the one who kept him from going crazy when she died shortly after you and your sister were born." It explained a lot. The yearning Nyenna and I had always had for space. Both of us vounteering for this crazy mission. It's been said that things like this run in the blood, and run deep. It must have been true. "Why didn't..." Portello shook his head and smiled, a little sadly. "Didn't you hear me? He didn't want you being in his shadow, and neither did your adopted parents." It hurt, hearing that word in front of "parents". "And they didn't want you and your sister trying to live up to the name and getting yourselves killed. But somehow..." The laugh returned. "...you did it anyway." When you thought about it like that, it was funny. "I suppose we did." "Vic would be proud. He'd also be surprised to know you're piloting his old ship." His lips twisted into something somewhere in between a smile, a smirk and a grimmace. "Vic Viper at it again. I never thought I'd see the day. I hear she's got the same weapons as Warp Rattler III." He was showing his age, referring to the ship as a "she". We didn't do that anymore. At least, I didn't. "Everything you carried, everything Victrem Ayagara had, and a few new surprises to keep the Bactricans on their... toes," I said with a frown. Bactricans didn't have toes. Or legs. "Megapulse lasers, ripple beams, twin missile launchers that can go both fore and aft, quad Option capability with formation, rotation, following and snake-chain settings..." Options. Nobody had ever known what to call the quirkiest of all Gradian weapon advances, indestructible tagalong energy balls that had the capacity to launch the very same weapons the ships that generated them had, and so they had always been known simply as "Options". Theoretically, if you were blown out of the heavens, another ship with Option capability could pick them up if it could support them. Warp Rattler, Vic Viper and Space Destroyer had been able to support two apiece. Warp Rattler III and the improved Vic Viper could support four and could even make them do tricks. "I intend to make good use of the plutonic laser." "Plutonic... oh!" Portello said with a finger raised in the air. "The Cyclone laser. I had forgotten what they used to call that thing. Never could sit still long enough to punch holes with it. Besides, with the megapulse laser I didn't have those idiots trying to slam right into me, either." Portello's stratagem had been simple, once he'd accumulated enough of the Bactrican bioenergy to put it into use. Four Options, set up in the rotation mode and swirling around his ship, twin missile launchers facing aft just in case, the "reduction" shield that actually compressed him and his ship into one third of its usual size, the megapulse laser, and a "universe may care" attitude that sent him slamming into things, the megapulse charges destroying enemy fighters, implacements and biomonsters before they could get to him. "No, you were slamming right into them if I remember correctly," I tossed back to him, and was rewarded with a smirk. "It worked, didn't it?" he protested. I couldn't help but laugh at the way he insisted that he was innocent of any crime. "I bet it threw the Bactricans for a loop or six watching you." "Bah," he snorted, waving a dismissive hand. "Bactricans are too stupid to be shocked by something. They just kept on coming, wave after wave, and I kept yelling `Banzai!' and plowing through them." An old Terran war cry, I supposed. Portello had been on Terra several times. "You should've seen old Bacterion himself's face when I parked an option up his nostril and let fly." At that moment the hatchway opened again, and the fighter crews of the Dauntless began to file in, all professional, grim demeanor. Portello watched their faces, as if studying them all. Even though he and I had been joking just a moment before I knew he felt he was looking at many of them for the last time. "Bactricans got meaner," he said in a subdued tone. "Last communication we got from Aegis was surprise at how strong they were..." His eyes turned to the deck, the lines I hadn't noticed before hard etched into his face by the light. I didn't think I wanted to know exactly what he had heard. For a long minute he studied the deck plates of the locker room, listening as I did to the sounds of the pilots suiting up. Normally, the room would be full of chatter, men and women bragging and taunting each other. Nobody spoke, now. "I wish I could be out there with you. First time in my life I've regretted giving up my commission. I'd show those shapeless brutes what flying and fighting's all about." "Portello," I said, realizing as I did that I was grasping at straws. Why was I trying to comfort this man, this hero? Hadn't he come to comfort me instead? "It'd be great to have you out there. But we can use you here too. I'm sure Captain Isrenax will have you directing squadrons no matter what protocol says." "I'm sure she will." He looked up, a fire burning deep in his eyes. His lips set in firm resolution. "Get `em for me, Prana. Get `em for Gradius." Our hands clasped each other's forearms in the time-honored grip of warriors. "Will do, Captain Obetel." Our exchange must have drawn the attention of the others. A voice came to me, saying, "You gonna stand there stargazing all day, Tellus? We got Bacterions to waste." "I could stand here on my head and vaporize more Bacterions than you could if they all lined up for you, Metrick," I retorted as I turned to look at the blue-maned man who had spoken to me. His teeth shown in an almost feral grin. I could feel the bloodlust in him. Gradians hated Bactricans, all of us did. Some of us more than others. Metrick had always been a gloryhound. "You watch your one-eighty, Lieutenant Metrick," Obetel cautioned him. "These Bacterions took out the Aegis in less than two minutes. Focus more on your mission and less on your pride, boy." I frowned at Portello's sudden vehemence, my frown following his retreating back to the hatchway. He looked back only once, his eyes meeting mine, and I wondered what he was thinking. "Let's do this," Metrick said, undeterred. Picking up his helmet from the bench, he strode toward the hatchway to line up for the final pre-flight briefing. As I took my place in that line I could hear the murmurs. Vic Viper would fight alongside the squadrons from the Dauntless. Would I be a part of it, or would I do my own thing and ignore the rest? And when we won, would I get all the credit? I resisted the urge to say something, anything. These people were my friends. Just because I had been pulled out of one of these squadrons to fly Warp Rattler II didn't mean I wasn't still a part of it in spirit. Captain Isrenax herself entered the hangar bay, and we all straightened to full attention instantly on reflex. She started at one end, her black boots ringing on the decking as the short, yellow-haired woman fairly stalked her way along our line, pride flaring in her eyes. "This is it, people. The Bactrican squadron consists of three flights of ten ships. We haven't seen this design before. They're capable of pin-point maneuvering and they're demonstrating forethought, none of their legendary shark-pack tactics. Their hulls are apparently resistant to our pulse cannons, so you'll have to aim for their thrusters." She turned and pointed as a holographic image of one of the Bactrican fighters appeared. It looked like a series of three pill-shaped shells nested within one another and sliced open from the front, each smaller shell being pulled apart less. At the back of the ovoid ship was a smaller slice that flickered to indicate thrust. "If that doesn't work, we're going to have to start thinking fast. "Warp Rattler II will form up with Silver squadron in Commander Tellus's normal position." My old group. "Commander Tellus, you will hold your position in the formation until you close to weapons range, then break as if in a Starburst pattern. The rest of Silver will break in a Nebula pattern. Congratulations, Commander Tellus, you're a distraction." The captain looked me directly in the eyes, expressing without words every possible thing that could be said on the subject. Yes, I was a distraction. I was also the best hope this mission had. The moment passed, and she continued. "Gold and Platinum Squadrons will flank the Bacterions. I'm sure you people know what to do after that." Isrenax was rewarded with a resounding chorus of "Ayes". "All right. This one's for Aegis. Get out there and take `em out." "For Aegis and Gradius!" came the battle cry from the pilots. I hesitated for a moment as the line broke. I saw Portello standing along one bulkhead, arms folded, and his eyes haunted. He wanted to be out there more badly than any of us. "Problem, Commander?" Isrenax demanded of me. I shook my head. "No, Captain." "Then hop to, mister." "Aye, Captain." I turned on my heel and strode toward Vic Viper, my eyes raking along the midnight blue hull, the sleek, deadly lines, the twin pulse cannons that would be my weapons until I could bring down Bactricans for their energy, the single tail fin sticking out above the thrusters. Bactricans had no sense of asthetics. I jammed on my black helmet bearing the eight-pointed star of Gradius, heard it sealing to my suit, and propelled myself into Vic Viper's cockpit. The canopy closed over me as I buckled in the four-point body harness. When it thunked closed I thought I felt my fate being sealed. Warp Rattler II's onboard system greeted me by way of informing me that my suit was linked to the ship's computer. I tapped the engine start-up key on the system monitor and listened to the throbbing hum of the ion drive, the heart of Vic Viper as surely as the computer was the brain and I was the soul. The port and starboard bulkheads of the hangar began to retract as the emergency scramble ports opened, egress for Gold and Platinum squadrons as we of Silver would take the ventral port into space. Portello stood with Captain Isrenax now, towering over her and yet somehow overshadowed by her fierce mein. The computer informed Dauntless of Vic Viper's readiness, and we were given the all-clear to launch. Gravitic repulsors lifted my ship from its landing gear, which retracted seamlessly into the hull. I floated over to the drop-port and slid Vic Viper into open space below the Dauntless, moving away to make room for the rest of Silver squadron. One after another they filed out, the pride of Gradius in their Warhawk-class fighters, successors to the Salamander class after so many faithful years. Silver squadron, eight fighters in all, two wings of four, four lances of two. The two-ship lances didn't matter much anymore, holdovers from the old days, but the wings were the basis of communication and defense. I had led Silver squadron's Beta wing, and once again I found myself with one wingman behind and port, one directly starboard, and one beyond and behind that, all of us slightly above and behind Alpha wing. "Beta wing in formation," I reported to the squadron leader, Commander Padis. "Bactrican ships at thirty kentran," an anonymous voice said in my helmet. Flight Control aboard the carrier. "Vector three three four mark three two zero." Down to the right. "All squadrons clear for attack." The familiar chant of squadron leaders affirming the order to attack and second-guessing their vectors filled my ears as I eased Vic Viper's throttle forward to battle speed. It responded immediately, eagerly to my command, surging forward toward the Bactrican menace. Twenty-eight kentran... We'd hold formation right into their sights, at one meager kentran, and then fling ourselves in eight different directions. The others would spiral outward from their places in the wings, while I was to nose-up and throttle up to maximum, then engage as I saw fit. Twenty-five kentran... "Gold squadron on course." Off to port I could see the fighters of Gold beginning their flanking maneuver, and I knew before I heard the confirmation that Platinum was doing the same to starboard. Pincers of death... we hoped. "Platinum squadron, on course." "New Bactrican target zero zero zero mark zero zero zero, range thirty-one kentran!" Padis's voice was as close to panic as I had ever heard him come. Padis never lost control, never showed fear. My eyes dropped to the tactical holograph. Directly behind the oncoming Bactrican fighters another target had appeared out of hyperspace, thirty times their size. A battle cruiser. Starfire... now I knew what had really destroyed Aegis. A hidden Bactrican warship. "Confirmed target," replied the Dauntless. "Unknown class. Gold squadron, new target zero zero zero mark three five one, range twenty-nine kentran. Designate target Omega One." Gold, being ordered to attack the newly arrived ship. It was turning into a mess and we hadn't even reached our engagement distance yet... "Range to target twenty kentran." We have to hold together, I prayed as Padis confirmed our distance to the Bactrican fighters. We must... "Range fifteen kentran! Silver squadron, full throttle!" The Bactricans surged forward. My hand convulsively clutched the throttle lever as I shoved it home. How fast were these new enemy fighters? This was impossible! Vic Viper threw itself forward. "Ten kentran! Priority shift, break! Break!" Padis telling us he was overriding our orders and commanding us to break formation. No plan ever survives contact with reality, or so I've heard. Even as I began pulling away from Silver's Beta wing I nosed Warp Rattler II up out of the plane of impending collision with the Bactricans. Sweat trickled down my back as my tac-holo erupted into a fireworks display of colored icons moving in fifty different vectors. The Bactricans had broken their formation and were moving to attack. Thirty of them, twenty-four of us, not including the new arrival. This was all wrong. The distance between us closed, and the brawl began. At these speeds, targetting was almost useless. With a twist that rotated my horizontal one hundred eighty degrees and a "nose up" toward the nearest cluster of three Bactrican fighters, I found I couldn't get anything resembling a target lock with the pulse cannons. At a hundred fifty metran I squeezed the weapons trigger, flinging a long burst of magnetically-contained microplasma at the shell-like Bactricans. They broke outward with an unbelievable ease of motion, expanding their little triangle. As one the incised noses of the ovoid fighters began to glow as magnetic fields gathered and shaped energy. Streams of miniature stars burst from those glows, blazing past Vic Viper and exploding behind as the "shells" detonated. I didn't have time to try a second attack before I was flying through the middle of the Bactrican formation. "Tellus! Tellus!" "I'm all right, Yvenne, just a little shaken up," I told the voice that was calling my name. "Watch your one-eighty, two Bactricans at two hundred metran. I'm on them." Ahead of me, Yvenne's Warhawk rolled and squirmed as two of the cleft-pill Bactricans opened fire on her. I dropped in behind them at one hundred fifty metran and cursed the eternal second it took for Vic Viper's targeter to lock onto the thruster the starboard fighter. The pulse cannons blazed to life again, and the Bactrican detonated in a tiny supernova. Its companion zipped away, turning a tight arc. "Affirmative on the thrusters, that's their weak spot." "Tellus, one-eighty! Break!" Behind me? On instinct I twisted and dove, rolling over and bringing Vic Viper's nose up. I should have come up below the Bactrican... nothing. "Tellus!" Energy exploded around me, turning the universe blindingly bright. Raw reaction guided my hands as I shoved Warp Rattler II away from its course and yanked back on the throttle. When I could see an instant later a Bactrican fighter blew past me. Before I could line up the pulse cannons with its thrusters it heeled over and began spraying me with its explosive shells again. At full throttle again I passed the Bactrican at a mere ten metran. I couldn't hope to match its maneuverability. I needed bioenergy for my weapons. Off in the distance space was pregnant with the light of explosions as Gold threw themselves at the Bactrican cruiser. I could tell even from here that all they were accomplishing were honorable deaths. A larger detonation marked the passing of another Warhawk. "Gold's getting slaughtered," I murmured to myself even as I fired a long burst into a cluster of three Bactricans, more to distract them from blasting one of my comrades than with any intent to strike. "Silver Five, target Omega One. Two one seven mark zero nine five." My head snapped around. They were sending me at the cruiser? "Confirm, Flight Control?" I demanded in amazement. Why were't they pulling us out? "Confirmed, Silver Five, new vector two one nine mark zero nine five for target Omega One." I had moved, so naturally the vector changed, but it was still the cruiser. "Affirmative," I felt my voice reply, even though I knew it was useless. Vic Viper arced around and sped toward the massive Bactrican ship, a fly throwing itself at an eagle. As soon as Vic Viper came onto its new heading space lit up around me like a solstice festival. Energy shockwaves from exploding plasma shells set my fighter to bucking and rolling. My fore view was filled with Omega One's blistered green hull and the shimmering fire it spat at me from thirty different weapons ports. Kentran drained away like slow honey, bringing me ever closer to certain doom. Vic Viper's computer broke into my litany of final prayers to inform me that the Bactrican cruiser had a weak point -- its weapon ports. If I could target one and blow it up I would set off a crippling chain reaction and, the computer theorized, I might be able to harvest some bioenergy. The only problem with this was getting a lock on something that was busy trying to kill me. Sure, and for my next trick I'd turn space white and stars shades of gray, and dance a hula on top of Dauntless. With one more whispered plea to whatever might be watching over me, I lined up Vic Viper with one of the weapon ports and pulled my trigger. The pulse cannons spat a pitiful stream at the massive ship-killer. Tiny globules of energy slipped the wrong way down the energy emitter... The green hull around the cruiser's weapon port buckled, then tore outward as plasma detonated and whatever the cannon was using for an energy source exploded just after. The cruiser's twenty-nine other weapons ports fell silent, I guessed in astonishment A pale sparkling fog vented out from a gap six metran wide in the cruiser's hull. Bactrican bioenergy, just what I needed. Vic Viper slid through a sudden desperate hail of fire as the Bacterions saw me coming in close to their hull. My fighter's scoops caught hold of the energy fog and gulped it in greedily. Now this was more like it. As I throttled up and shot away past the Bactrican cruiser, out of its firing arcs -- directly behind it -- I checked the status of the energy scoops. The scoops could contain a grand total of seven "units" of bioenergy, which could be shunted into the various special weapon systems, the shield, or an electromagnetic pulse blast that consumed the maximum seven units but would wipe out any Bactrican fighter or implacement within a kentran. The computer told me I had four energy units, and I couldn't help but grin as I shunted them into the plutonic laser's first-stage agitator unit. "Flight Control, this is Silver Five. I have activated the plutonic laser." "Confirmed, Silver Five. Target is Omega One." A short pause, and then Flight Control said, "Happy hunting, Commander." "Confirmed," I told Flight Control with a vicious laugh as I brought Vic Viper around in a tight arc to face the Bactrican cruiser's engine ports. "Payback time." My finger squeezed the trigger on the flight stick. A vibrant beam of blue lanced out from between Vic Viper's twin noses and speared into the cruiser's thruster. Another, and another followed as I held the trigger down, each blast drilling harder into the Bactrican ship. The glow in the engine port faded, and the cruiser shifted its orientation. I guessed they noticed me. Vic Viper rattled from the shockwave of dozens of explosions as the enemy fighters turned on me. Trigger still under my finger I rolled to port, slashing across three of the pills and vaporizing them instantly. Their destruction had gone from nigh impossible to almost too easy. With a roll back to starboard I brought Vic Viper around to face the cruiser once more. Its weapons were coming to bear on me, further adding to the morass of death. The plutonic laser speared ahead of me again and again, each connection ripping armor away from the Bactrican warship. Sparks flew in my cockpit as Vic Viper shuddered. I'd been hit. A quick check of the damage control system told me that the plutonic laser's stage regulator had been destroyed -- I'd never get to boost it to the second agitation stage -- and my missile targeting system was likewise fragged. If I didn't get a shield up soon I wouldn't survive, and Dauntless -- and Gradius -- would be lost. Jinking like I was mad, I flew in low over the cruiser's hull and past. A light shifted from left to right somewhere in the bottom of my peripheral vision and I took a chance, thumbing the bioenergy shunt button on my flight stick. Space got fuzzy for half a second, then settled back down, tinged distinctly blue. I'd gotten lucky and hit six units' worth of bioenergy on that pass. "Flight Control, this is Silver Five. Plutonic laser stage regulator and missile targeting are destroyed, but I've got my shield up." "Confirmed, Silver Five." A pause from home base, and then the voice of Portello Obetel filled my helmet. "Commander, when you hulled the bastards on that last pass you opened up a nice big gash right near their main reactor core. Think you can hit it?" I'm glad I couldn't see the murderous glee in my own eyes as I replied, "Affirmative." "Good, because these are the coordinates. Now do us all a favor and vaporize the thing." Vic Viper received the schematic data from Dauntless, and an image of the warcruiser appeared on my display with my ace-in-the-hole clearly marked out in brilliant red. I nosed up and around, mowed through another triumvirate of Bacterion pill-fighters, and jammed my throttle forward as far as it would go. The cruiser's ventral guns had me dead to rights as I lined up with the reactor. I didn't even bother jinking as I held the trigger, firing into the glowing core over and over. The reactor's glow began to intensify and change color, and as I shifted and shot past the warship one more time I caught a passing glimpse of fire venting out through the hull. "Scratch one cruiser," I said. "Silver Five to all fighters. Now would be a good time to get away from this thing." Taking my own advice, I continued on a straight course away from the warship. Space grew very bright, and a shockwave set Vic Viper shuddering. "How many we got left, Flight Control?" I asked. "All clear, Silver Five. Enemy fighters have been eliminated. All wings, return." I'd never been happier to hear Flight Control say those words. The celebration that greeted me as I climbed from Vic Viper's cockpit was subdued by the presence of three holes in Silver squadron's cluster of pilots. Platinum had lost two, and Gold had lost a staggering five -- including the brash Lieutenant Metrick. Ten pilots had died, ten more Gradian lives had been given away, and I couldn't smile as I met Padis's eyes. He didn't say anything, just grasped my shoulder for a moment and nodded. Then he let go and walked away. I followed him with my eyes and caught sight of Portello. We met each other halfway. "Does it ever get any easier?" I asked him. He shook his head negatively, sadly. "No. It doesn't ever get any easier, Commander." A silence passed between us then, an awkward emptiness that somehow was full of the names of ten dead pilots. "Captain wants to see you immediately." "Thanks." "No," he said, "thank you, Commander. Without you and Vic Viper those ten men and women would have been joined by many, many more." I couldn't figure out what to tell him, this hero of our people, so I nodded and left him standing there on the flight deck. I made my way to the bridge, barely noticing the jubilation of the Dauntless crew and their hearty congratulations. Evidently I was a hero too, after only one battle. Captain Isrenax was waiting for me. As I stepped onto the bridge she turned from where she stood contemplating the large forward viewscreen and its picture of star-strewn space. "Good work, Commander Tellus." "Vic Viper's banged up, Captain," I told her, getting right to the point. "I can't take it into battle against the main fleet like this." The Captain turned back to face the starfield. She was as troubled by the deaths as I was, and I felt heartened knowing that had there been any other way she would have taken it. "Techs are already working on replacing the stage controller and missile guidance. Shouldn't be more than an hour. You've got four and a half hours to get ready for your mission." Four and a half hours to contemplate those who had died, and what I had to do so that their deaths would still mean something. Four and a half hours of wondering and waiting. "Aye, Captain." "We lost almost half our people out there today..." For a moment I thought the captain wasn't going to say anything further, but then she continued, her voice hushed. "Commander, Platinum, Gold and Silver squadrons accounted for a grand total of six Bactrican kills. You took out the rest, either with the plutonic laser or when you destroyed the cruiser. This is what we're facing now, an entire fleet like this... This is, quite possibly, the darkest moment in our entire history." She turned to face me, her eyes boring into my soul like my laser into the core of the Bactrican warship. "You are the bright spot in that darkness, Commander. Time and again you've proven yourself to be the finest pilot in space, and I wouldn't want anybody else going out there to save us all. No matter what, Commander, know that we're behind you. We believe in you." Leaders always have such a strange way with words. "Thank you, Captain." "Dismissed, Commander. Do what you need to do to get ready for your mission." I saluted Captain Isrenax and turned around smartly to leave. Something made me pause and ask, "How long did you know, Captain?" "Know what, Commander?" "About Victrem Ayagara," I told her. "Only a little longer than you." A faint smile touched my lips. "Has someone told my sister?" "I don't know," she admitted. "I'll make sure someone does." I looked at the deck for a moment, wondering what Nyenna's reaction would be. "Thank you." With that I walked off the bridge, wondering if that would be the last time I saw Captain Isrenax. Four and a half hours passed like an aeon. Once more I sat in Vic Viper's cockpit, suited for flight. This time I would be alone. The words of Portello Obetel and Captain Isrenax ran through my head as I stared at my displays, waiting for clearance to leave this flight bay and rocket off into space to face my destiny. "Warp Rattler II, this is Dauntless Flight Control. You are cleared for launch. Good luck and good hunting." "Confirmed, Dauntless Control, Warp Rattler II launching." I guided Vic Viper to the launch port and slipped into the vacuum, then throttled up and began accelerating away. "Warp Rattler II is away. Commander Tellus out." Beginnings are always the hardest part... =========================================================================== In the next chapter, we meet Prana's sister Nyenna, and the Dauntless' mission begins.