Charr
Asteroid Mining Location #279
Pur System
Milky Way Galaxy
“Mmmmm!” Charr couldn’t help herself as she sank her teeth into the ration—an imitation cheeseburger loaded with onions, crisp lettuce, tangy mustard, and rich ketchup, accompanied by curly fries and a side of barbeque sauce. It was a culinary creation that, while delicious in its own right, was nothing more than a package of synthesized protein designed to mimic the real thing. ‘No, the real thing wouldn’t survive this far away from an actual starship, sadly,’ she mused, closing her eyes to fully savor the burst of flavor. ‘Still tastes so damned good though!’
“Charr! Did you have to do that over comms!?” Smedley’s voice crackled through the ship-to-ship communications, her frustration evident. “I haven’t eaten in nearly 36 hours!”
"And whose fault is that, Jenny Smedley!” Charr teased, unable to resist the playful jab.
"Both of you are actually at fault.
"Really, Betsy? It's not like I needed a reminder to eat," Smedley snapped, glaring at the control panel where the AI flickered with enthusiasm, seemingly unbothered by Smedley's irritation.
But Smedley knew better than to voice any negative sentiments about the A.I. Complaining about Betsy felt akin to speaking ill of the dead, and even four years later, Charlene still struggled with the loss of John. Smedley could see the impact it had on her friend—the way her gaze lingered on old photographs, the reverence and pain that colored her voice whenever she uttered John's name.
"Charlene wouldn’t take it well if she heard me complain," Smedley thought, rolling her eyes as she begrudgingly accepted another synthesized meal.
"Hey, now!” Charr interjected with a hint of indignation. "That was a quick pit stop, and I've been floating my ass out here in zero-g ever since. Besides, I thought this asshole was supposed to have been out here 24 hours ago?"
"Relax!" a voice cut through the comms. Roger Vale, one of the Federation's most wanted pirates, replied with an air of annoyance. "You damn school girls can eat whenever the fuck you want. The buyer will be here at any moment!"
Charr twisted her mouth in disgust. She had never encountered a more vile creature in her life. After the several broken noses and teeth she had removed from his weak skull, one would think he would get the message, but the man only became creepier the more he talked. Her heart ached for her friend, Jennifer, who had to endure being alone on the corvette with such a Scum of the Earth. But Smedley was a military-trained officer; she weighed barely 90 pounds soaking wet, yet she possessed the tactical training to take down a brute like him. Never mess with a military-trained soldier.
"Commander." Betsy turned off the comms, opting for a private conversation with her pilot. "The levels of human complexity never cease to amaze me. The personnel on board the WarpStar and other Federation vessels, I have observed, are far kinder, to a certain degree."
Charr chuckled, a smile creeping onto her face despite the tension in the air. She often forgot she was talking to an artificial intelligence that she had helped program, one that still retained fragments of John's personality and mannerisms. "That's because onboard a military ship, there's a certain level of decency and respect expected of us. When we depend on each other to survive a battle, we quite literally hold each other's lives in our hands, and that fosters deep respect and admiration for one another—a camaraderie that these pirates lack. Their only code is self-serving."
"I can understand that; that is why you refused to let the Navy decommission me the multiple times they tried. I saved your life."
"You have saved my life so many times, Betsy.
Commander, I appreciate that sentiment.
"That hit us both hard." Charlene spoke a truth she concealed from many in the galaxy. With Betsy, she found a level of openness that eluded her with others. The only other person she could confide in so much was Jennifer Smedly; she once shared that level of intimacy with John, but he was no longer there to share her thoughts.
"Look alive, new contact bearing two-seven-two, thirteen degrees negative. Eight AU's out," Smedly said over the comms in her authoritative Command Information Center voice. Char couldn’t help but smile. Who knew how far they were from the WarpStar? They were in civilian clothing, completely AWOL, and yet Jennifer fucking Smedly still acted like a full-blown commander. She really was a nerd! But she was Charr’s nerd! "Analyzing the passives. Profile matches a cargo ship. The vessel jumped in too far from the mining operation to be part of it; this may be our guy."
"Hmm, he's eight fucking days out," Charr replied, her brow curling in thought.
"Three for us, if he stays put. We haven't broadcasted yet."
"That's got to be him! I'm sending the signal!" Roger interrupted, his eagerness visible.
"No, not yet. This doesn't feel right!" Charr blasted over the comms, her instincts flaring.
"Too late... shit. We're lit up like a sore thumb," Smedley reported, frustration in her voice. "You fucking jackass. Now the entire system knows we're here!"
"Boo fucking hoo. Go cry to your mommy.
"I have turned our comm circuit off," Betsy informed Charr, allowing them to have a private conversation while the argument between Roger and Jennifer continued in the background.
"I don't like it, Betsy. That cargo hauler is too far from everything—too far from this mining operation to be part of it, too far from us to be our contact."
"I agree; I don't like the sensor readings either."
"Wouldn't Jen sniff that out? She's damn good, you know."
"I believe that buffoon excuse of a human is distracting her from seeing clearly."
"I can see that."
"Graviton readings don’t match a vessel of that size, and the neutrino readings are off. I don't like it. I'm also detecting strange gravitational anomalies close to a cluster of asteroids thirteen kilometers from our current location."
"Why isn't Jen picking those up?"
"The corvette currently isn't directing its gravitational sensors in that direction. They are focusing on the new arrival." Betsy grew more convinced that the new contact was a ruse, one meant to draw the unsuspecting corvette away from the area.
"Okay, so let’s look at the board here. We have seven mining ships, three of which are cargo haulers, two are deep rock harvesters, and two are basic miners—all of which are Draxian. Would they have a reason to draw us out?" Charr pondered aloud.
"I do not believe so. When I hacked into the hyperboi for standard information, the Draxians do not appear to be partaking in the galactic war in any way. They remain neutral."
"This isn't adding up."
"I agree, Commander. Look, the Corvette engines just lit up. They are burning towards the new contact," Betsy noted, her tone unusually surprised for an AI.
The corvette began to burn hard towards the contact that held a gruesome three-day journey from them—a treacherous and dangerous trip for the nearly defenseless craft, which was designed to be defended by a squadron of fighters, of which they only had one at their disposal. "We’ve got to stop them; this is clearly a trap! Can you send a tight beam?" Charr asked, referring to a narrow laser communication that only the two could detect, the most secure form of communication as no other ship or detection device could intercept it unless it were in the laser's immediate path.
"Negative, there are too many asteroids in our path; the connection would be interrupted."
"Shit! Okay, looks like we are on our own on this. Point our scopes in the direction of the strange readings 13 klicks out; let’s focus on that."
"I'm already ahead of you, Commander. Anticipating your request, I have been monitoring that vector. Each passing second, the readings are getting stranger. Graviton signatures are showing more of a cruiser, EM readings are intensifying, and I'm also picking up stronger neutrino and theta emissions, which strongly suggest a cruiser."
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"Shit! I can't go toe-to-toe with a cruiser! Do we have any opticals on it?" She began to question her life choices.
"Only from the camera system; not as accurate as the viewport."
"Let’s see it!" Her display lit up, revealing what appeared to be a cruiser-sized ship, its design foreign to her, slowly creeping towards the corvette. Matching the Federation's small and vulnerable speed, it stalked the defenseless ship like prey. "Can we get tactical info on it without going active?"
"Its shields are powered up; I can't get any readings beyond that. Those shields are quite powerful," Betsy replied.
Charr sat there, brainstorming. She dared not fire up her systems, yet she had to do something. Her small fighter couldn’t go against a cruiser, no matter the faction. She couldn’t even take on a Russian cruiser back during the old war. "Okay, here’s an idea. Can you get a reading on the frequency of those shields?"
"Not without a remodulation. They would have to suffer damage and remodulate the shields."
"Hmmmm," Charr spoke aloud, considering the implications. "What if we caused damage, an…"
Betsy interrupted, her tone urgent. "I know what you are planning, Commander, and I highly advise against it. That has never been tested, nor theorized. The system was designed for system-to-system communication and never even tested for intra-system, let alone this."
"Betsy, I used to be the Impossible Duo; now I'm the Impossible Solo. This is what I do!"
"Why do I always seem to be at the core center of your two shenanigans?"
"Because we made you to keep us company and to ensure we don't do anything too crazy!"
"This is too crazy; apparently, I fail at my task!"
"Nope, you just remind us of how badass we are!" Charr continued, her spirit undeterred, as she felt John's presence with her still, perhaps in spirit, perhaps as a part of her memories, fueling her resolve to truly embody the Impossible Duo. "Okay, analyze those shields. Do I have any weapon systems on board that will do enough damage to force them to remodulate their shields?"
"Analyzing. Negative; no systems are powerful enough to cause any damage. Commander, they are increasing speed; I believe they intend to capture the Corvette as soon as possible."
"Alright, let’s seeeee." Charr stared at her tactical computer, punching in numbers and running various scenarios through the tactical software, her face revealing a resounding maybe. But it was an idea and a plan; she had to try.
"Commander, they have locked onto the corvette with some sort of tractor beam. They are pulling our ship in for capture; no shots were fired. They seem to have disabled the corvette."
"Alright, bestie, fire everything up, go active, let this pig know we are here, and at the first opportunity you have, you get those damn frequencies and plug them in."
"Warming up the fusion reactor; we have fusion reaction. Diverting power to all subsystems. Firing main engines. Diverting power to all main and secondary bus, going active on all scopes. You have control."
Charr seized the yoke and threw the throttle well beyond 1g, feeling the effects of gravity work against her as she maneuvered her small fighter past her first target. As she flew by, she counted down the distance and pulled back the throttle for neutral thrust, flipping the fighter and initiating a 5g brake burn.
"Xeluna Karyu, Zolir rimanu!" a voice blared over the comms. "What the hell was that?" Charr struggled to ask, the weight of the universe pressing down on her.
"That was not a language I assimilated when I downloaded the Sumerian database; I have no idea," Betsy replied calmly.
"Well, it doesn't matter now; they are after my people," Charr retorted, feeling a moment of relief when she hit zero-g from the end of the brake burn. However, her moment of solace didn’t last long, as the 5g burn hit her again when the fighter finally continued to move forward, toward one of the asteroids. She watched the countdown to target rapidly decrease, slowly at first, then picking up speed. Once it hit her desired target, she acted. "Configure particle weapons to low yield continuous fire. I want to push this rock, and I want to push it faster. The faster I go, the faster I want this rock to go."
"You are indeed crazy; has anyone told you that?" Betsy added, amusement lacing her digital voice.
"Many times, my artificial friend, many times!"
"Particle weapons ready."
Charr squeezed the trigger. Two particle weapons unleashed continuous beams from either side of the fuselage of the F-401 fighter as she accelerated at a constant 5g speed, propelling the asteroid even faster. She aimed her trajectory perfectly; in a matter of seconds, the rock would strike the cruiser's shields and disintegrate. Her goal was to cause enough damage to force the cruiser to remodulate their shields, as the rocky mass was sufficient to inflict at least moderate harm. Char monitored her distance to the cruiser, needing to cut the particle weapons and veer off before it was too late, or she would slam right into the shields and vaporize in the process.
"3... 2... 1... Okay, full ventral thrust now!" Betsy acknowledged, pumping as much energy as she could into the ventral thrusters, pushing the small fighter upwards and narrowly missing the cruiser from underneath. The asteroid struck with near-perfect precision, causing severe damage to the shields, more than they had anticipated.
"Commander, that impact caused more damage than we thought. It will take them longer to remodulate the shields than expected. This would allow your plan a much higher success rate if executed during the remodulation phase. I do have the frequency."
"Okay, give me a minute; I have to make sure I'm ready."
She flipped her fighter around, initiating another brake burn. She didn’t have much time, so she switched to a 10g burn. This would hurt. She had endured worse before, but anything over 5g was always a risk of stroke or death. She only needed to endure the 10g brake for a few seconds; once she reached neutral thrust, she dialed down to 5g and began to accelerate toward positive thrust. Just a little longer, and she finally matched speed and vector with the cruiser. "Are they still remodulating?"
"Their shields are up to 84 percent; you don’t have much longer."
"Alright, power up the hyperdrive; lock the gravitational field onto that ship."
"Hyperdrive primed, capacitors charged, navigational handshake completed. Nav lock on that gravitational field."
"If this does not work, you've been great, Betsy."
"If this does not work, I'm downloading myself to the nearest hyperboi."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Aaaannnnd GO!" Now was the critical moment; this maneuver had never been attempted with the experimental hyperdrive in a small craft. Little progress had been made in the micro hyperdrive project since the war, as most resources were diverted into rebuilding the Federation. Thankfully, however, the Federation did not decommission or abandon the project, allowing Charr to experiment with it whenever the opportunity arose.
She pulled the lever for neutral thrust, matching the speed and vector of the cruiser. She needed this to be precise. One wrong calculation would vaporize her—or worse. Her coordinate calculation was based on the best guess of her and Betsy; after all, this was a guessing game. Their goal was to rip a hole in space to travel from one point to another while both points were in motion. She pushed the button, and reality warped around her. The F-401 fighter vanished from her original position, reappearing inside the cruiser’s shields, perilously close to the hull of the ship.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Charr panicked as one of her wings grazed the hull. She made small throttle adjustments to maintain position without causing a collision. "Okay, now the real question. Do these fucks need energy weapons or kinetic to cause damage?"
"As a guess, since we are inside their shield generators, I would assume kinetic weapons would do the most damage," Betsy suggested.
"Yeah, that should have been something I guessed! Duh!" Charr exclaimed. "Alright, power the rails and missiles!" She locked onto her targets and opened fire. Her initial position was on the dorsal side of the ship, unleashing a barrage of rail darts that penetrated the hull but caused little damage overall. Carefully maneuvering her ship, she scanned every panel, every energy source she could find. She soon identified the shield generators; four shots with rail darts made a massive explosion, completely knocking the shields offline. The cruiser now perceived Charr as a threat. The ship’s weapons began to lock onto her and return fire.
Unfortunately for Charr, the cruiser was equipped with a well-rounded point defense system designed to defend against incoming missiles, which also proved excellent at targeting small fighter craft at close range.
"Shit! Scan for a targeting sensor; I need to knock those point defense systems out!" Charr urged Betsy.
"On it!"
Charr dodged every plasma bolt, even some energy bolts and beams that didn’t register on the spectrometer—some new kind of energy weapon. Thrusting the fighter beyond 5g at times, her body was tossed around the cockpit, her restraints causing bruising at nearly every point on her body. "Any moment now!"
"I don't know where the targeting sensors are, but I have something better!"
"Show me!" Charr didn’t want to argue; if her AI companion had a better target than the sensor array, she trusted her instincts.
"Target is locked on your HUD; I suggest the first round of 30mm darts."
"Negative; load the 50mm darts. I want maximum damage."
"I do not advise that," Betsy interjected, concern evident.
"Betsy! I'm not playing around!"
"Aye, Commander; loading the 50s. Ordnance loaded."
Charr carefully lined up her target, maneuvering to a blind spot in the ship's point defense system that she had discovered. The small dome protruding from the rear of the ship presented a prime target; she wondered what this target of opportunity could be, concentrating on her viewport and weapon status while ignoring her sensor readouts. She let Betsy handle those tasks; after years of flying together and saving each other's lives, she had come to view the AI, created by her and her former CO John, as family.
Her targeting system turned red, fast beeps flooding the cockpit. Target lock acquired. She pulled the trigger and held it down. Thousands of 50mm rail darts surged forth from the tiny fighter's rapid-firing rail guns, each striking with devastating impact and creating even more destructive explosions. Not long after the first impact, secondary explosions rocked the ship, the drive cones shutting down and power being cut.
"Commander, I believe the damage is done, and I suspect a full cascade effect is imminent. I suggest you promptly vacate the area at your fastest possible speed. I have already informed the corvette; they are burning hard at 7g's."
"Why, what did I…" Her question was quickly answered when she glanced at her sensor panel, where she read a reactor overload in progress. "Shit, that was the main reactor!"
"Yes, it was; you just created a core overload."
"Okay, let’s GTFO!" Charr shoved the lever to 10g for a short burst, just long enough to escape the reach of the miniature star that was about to form, which began to burn mere seconds later. Setting her throttle to neutral thrust, she opened her comlink. "What in the absolute fuck was that!"
"We were set up," Roger chimed in, his voice laced with urgency.
"By who?"
"I don't know, but we're compromised; we got to get the hell out of here, and now!"
"Alright, slow down; let me dock. I've already burned my cooldown; I need you to carry my ass to wherever we're going."
"Alright, initiating docking procedures," Smedly chimed in.
As Charr docked her fighter to the corvette, her mind raced with questions. How could things have gone so wrong? Who was the strange contact that had appeared so far off in the system? Who was the mysterious cruiser lurking just beyond detection range in the asteroid field? What was Roger actually after? This entire operation was growing stranger by the hour.