Sava Domeria took her leave of the Hogloo mercenary. The amount requested was substantial, but she would pass it off as a service charge: after all, it was for the purposes of an investigation into possible corruption within the Administration… She would also pass off the small bill for the astic’hom juice as a service charge, attaching it to an investigation report on the quality of the products served in this establishment: that would teach this guy that you don’t serve synthesized astic’hom to a Hom.
Rather than teleporting directly aboard her ship, she chose to walk to her docking platform… Well, letting herself be carried by the displacement beams that took up half the corridor wasn’t exactly “walking,” but it was still a non-instantaneous movement that she could use to think.
The Hogloo would contact her when he had information, but until then she had nothing else to do... Maybe she could take the time to write a new report, more complete than the very brief summary she had already sent? No: she was still on leave and intended to make the most of it... Even if she didn't imagine being able to relax...
In fact, she felt better in the middle of this noisy crowd, this environment filled with life, than in the solitude of her ship... It was not her habit. However, this uncomfortable feeling of being surrounded like this covered her worries and dark memories.
But, after more than one hour of traveling, when the access door to her parking space was in sight, she felt relieved at the idea of getting out of there. She was going to make herself an authentic astic’hom juice from her personal reserve, then get back to sports, both because she had promised herself, but also to tire her body out a little in the hope of then falling into a deep, dreamless sleep…
A symbol lit up in her field of vision. A warning from her Z.I.A. propelled directly into her retina… But why wasn’t it talking to her? A successful computer attack?
Her instinct and her suit’s defense software made her turn around as her hand grabbed her pistol.
But it was too late: the enemy attack software had already gone into action, slowing hers down and guiding the assailant’s hand to aim.
A powerful ray pierced the Ham right through, leaving a gaping hole nearly three centimeters in diameter. The movement had avoided an instantly fatal shot, but it was no minor injury.
Collapsing against the door, she saw her opponent. The crowd, terrified, was running away in all directions, leaving in their midst the sinister silhouette of a member of the Azar clan. Entirely surrounded by black velvet, one could make out majestic horns rising from his head and a whole row of sharp spikes running along his spine to the end of his tail. He was pointing a strange rifle…
Sava’s software had been disrupted by the attack and the energy of her systems was almost exhausted: the shot was not that of an ordinary weapon. While non-essential systems, such as the smart-bubble, were deactivating, the emergency systems that had survived were activating as best they could, notably covering her wound with gel in order to temporarily stop the bleeding. Her right arm was paralyzed and could no longer hold her pistol, which noisily hit the ground, audible despite the screams of terror.
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Concentrating her will, she forced the Z.I.A. to analyze her enemy. She immediately learned that his weapon was a “perforator”, an assassin's weapon designed to theoretically pierce any shield. It was rarely used in warfare because of its rather slow firing rate and its high energy consumption, but by targeting a vital organ, one could instantly kill the best-equipped soldier in the world... well, provided that the loss of a single vital organ was enough to kill it.
But, another strange piece of information appeared: the enemy was apparently using a very advanced camouflage field... So, this was not his true appearance: they were trying to kill her by making people believe it was a new terrorist act by the Azar!
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden opening of the door. Falling backwards, she was immediately carried away by the robots of her ship. Several war androids covered her retreat by shooting at the mysterious enemy, but the latter had taken out another weapon and the war robots did not last long.
The painkillers injected by the suit kept the young woman in a daze, both awake and dizzy. She managed to follow the situation vaguely thanks to the multiple screens that opened as the nurse robots rushed to operate on her. She realized that each beat of her heart was very painful. The weapon had not only pierced her, but had also disrupted her electronics and even her nerve endings.
“Who? Why? Not the Azars? A corrupt agent? Another terrorist group?”
The ship shook as the artificial gravity was put to the test. A swarm of combat drones and a warship were chasing her, firing heavy weapons at her shields. The pursuer seemed to be a model used by the Azar clan, but there were also some on the market… A very expensive model and as powerful as her own ship… maybe more…
Of course, faced with this confrontation, Ryano-bis’ defense drones had deployed and were fighting those of the attacker…
Sava Domeria programmed a desperate action on her onboard computer: even if the enemy could follow a “Walker” jump, if she appeared near a military fortress, they would be destroyed…
A violent gravity fluctuation threw the occupants of the ship to the ground. Sava cried out in pain as the robot operating her abruptly withdrew its instruments in a gush of blood.
With trembling arms, she tried to get closer to the virtual console. The latter was already no longer responding to her mental commands and a good part of the robots and electronics on board seemed to be malfunctioning. The lights were turning on and off at a frantic pace, warning lights indicated the loss of the shield, others indicated the arrival of several missiles and the absence of functional countermeasures.
A dizziness took hold of Sava as she collapsed to the ground, bleeding out. Desperately, she tried to reach the virtual control screen that was still floating in the air, out of reach...
“I... I didn't program... I didn't program the destination!”
But it was too late.
The ship exploded in a strange burst of fire as the artificial gravity and atmosphere systems tried to maintain their coherence despite the destruction of the structure… Then only a few pieces of debris floating in the air indicated the former presence of the administrative ship.
The killer’s ship instantly disappeared from sight, deploying countermeasures behind it in case of pursuit.