Chance led the way up the ladder well, with Aidan right behind. The as-of-yet unidentified female tech brought up the rear. It wasn’t that the veteran didn’t care about her name. It was that he had more pressing concerns than exchanging niceties with people who were very likely to die.
The secured hatch opened with a slap from Chance’s palm. That, more than anything, was an impressive use of technology, in Aidan’s opinion. He had once been on a sea deployment where he and his team had to practice boarding operations. The hatches between decks were a huge pain to open. Not only that but trying to successfully clear such a hatch was an awkward exercise at best and a deadly proposition at worst.
Regardless, the trio made it to the upper deck without incident. Aidan took point, and the two techs shuffled behind him. They weren’t the most agile of companions, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from complaining about the random noises they kept making.
Sure, they theoretically knew precisely where the enemy was, and there wasn’t a real danger of discovery yet. However, Aidan was a big believer in Murphy’s law, and it was an ironclad rule in the military that comms WILL go down. It wasn’t a possibility, but an eventuality, and the phrase had bred a well-deserved suspicion of all things technological in Aidan.
Aidan raised a fist to signal a halt so that he could check his map and commit the route to memory. He didn’t want to be checking his map and then accidentally run into the enemy. Of course, Chance didn’t understand the hand sign and plowed right into Aidan. The Marine snarled and looked back at the idiotic tech. Chance couldn’t see Aidan’s scowl, but he could sense the inherent violence in the other man’s body language. He backed away slowly with his hands in the air.
“S-sorry, man.”
“Just pay attention,” Aidan growled out before turning back to the map. At the next junction, he’d take a right turn, and that should bring him behind the opposing force. It’d be a good ambush on the enemy, and he could always make a tactical retreat back into the corridor he popped out of. There looked to be plenty of alcoves to provide cover.
He spared a glance at his companions. They still looked terrified, and Aidan couldn’t be sure how they would act in a firefight. Still, a one-person ambush wouldn’t be effective. They needed to put out enough covering fire to make the aliens flinch. He sighed before addressing his unwilling troops.
“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do.” He made a flicking motion on the data pad near his wrist, and the ship map appeared as a blue hologram over his right bracer.
“If we take a right at the next junction, that will put us a couple corridors behind the boarders. We can lay down some fire and ambush the aliens from both sides. Even if we’re just a distraction, that will help the bridge crew take down a couple of the bigger bastards. Our real goal is to kill the smaller Ornychus technicians. Without those, the soldiers will find it almost impossible to seize the ship.”
The woman raised a hand like she was trying to ask a question in her fifth-grade science class.
“If we do that, we’ll be drawing fire to ourselves. Shouldn’t we try to circle around the aliens and meet up with the rest of our crew? There’s safety in numbers or something like that, right?”
Chance nodded dumbly, seeming more supportive of his fellow technician’s strategy. Aidan could only sigh.
“The whole point is to draw fire to us. You don’t have to worry, though. We can make a tactical retreat here if it gets too overwhelming.”
Aidan pointed to the map before continuing. “As long as we’re smart, we can make the invaders bleed for every inch of that corridor.”
The Marine could tell he hadn’t won over his audience, so he changed tacks. “We’re already taking a risk here. We might as well go all the way. There’s as much a chance of us dying while ambushing the aliens as linking up with the bridge crew. At least this way, if we’re successful, there will be awards in our future.”
It seemed that was enough to convince the two techs. Or at least, it was enough for them to go with the Marine’s plan. They appeared far off like they were imagining the future award ceremonies were they were celebrated for their courage against the alien incursion. Aidan rolled his eyes and capitalized on his victory before they could change their minds.
“Alright, let’s go!” The Marine hurried off, leaving the two techs no option but to follow.
He turned right at the next junction and broke into a light trot. His two followers hastened to keep up. Aidan wouldn’t typically increase his speed like this in an unknown environment, but despite his suspicion of technology, he decided to trust his map. Besides, he didn’t want to be too late for the murder party. That would be rude, and his late mother had raised him far better than that.
He slowed his pace when he heard the telltale sound of gunfire. The Marine immediately adjusted his breathing to lower his slightly elevated heart rate, but he was distracted by the two techs huffing and puffing behind him. He resolved that if he ever took command of a ship like this, he would ensure every crew member could perform basic physical training and participate in the ship’s defense.
When the group reached the end of the corridor, Aidan peeked around the corner to get a better look at the opposition. He spotted the enemies advancing on the bridge crew about fifty yards down. As Aidan expected, the technicians were to the rear of the formation.
His helmet slightly updated the positions on the minimap. Aidan assumed the ship’s friend or foe system was using the helmets to keep track of the enemies. He was sure the bridge crew would see their positions on their own maps, but he didn’t know how to contact them to coordinate their fire.
It was also possible that the defenders weren’t even looking at their maps. A common enough response to a life-or-death encounter was blocking out any information that wasn’t immediately relevant to the situation.
Aidan checked back at his companions. They were holding their pistols toward the deck, and the Marine could detect the shakiness in their white-knuckled grip. Their wide eyes were fastened on his opaque helmet.
“Alright, the techs are easily within pistol range. Both of you will aim around the corner and fire at the techs. Aim for the unarmored part of their torsos. It takes a few shots to punch through their armor—it’s annoying like that. If you aren’t confident you can hit the vulnerable parts, then just aim center mass. You’ll take them down eventually.”
“What about you?” The woman asked.
Aidan grinned behind his helmet. “I’m going to cross over to the other side of the hallway and focus down the techs from there.”
He reached out to pat the shoulder of the woman. “Don’t worry. Even if you don’t hit anything, the fire will be enough to distract the aliens and give the rest of our crew a chance. Just keep firing until you run out of juice.”
With a nod, Aidan bounded across the hallway and dropped onto a knee. He aimed around the corner, keeping as much of his body behind cover as he could. The veteran sighted down on his first target and then raised his other hand to hold up three fingers. He counted them down slowly, and the fight was on when he closed his fist.
Aidan’s first shot downed the first of four technicians right away. His second shot went wild and pinged the tech’s armor. The red lasers of his companions were all over the place. Sometimes they hit the techs, and sometimes they flew into the mass of soldiers. Aidan spotted a couple projectiles splashing harmlessly again the metal bulkhead or ceiling. It didn’t matter. The aliens were grouped so tightly in the small corridor that the techs’ attacks were bound to hit someone.
Eventually, Adian dryly amended.
He heard the aliens call out in their barking language and three technicians and two soldiers turned to face the new threat. The distraction caused a renewed barrage of fire to flow from the bridge crew. There was enough confusion for Aidan to drop a second technician. While the two human propulsion techs took down another one with an errant bolt to the throat.
With three-quarters of the technicians dead or dying, the two soldiers were quick to shield the last tech with their bodies. Aidan just barely winged the last remaining technician in the side before it was protected by a mass of flesh and armor. Aidan cursed quietly at how close he was. The impact was unlikely fatal since laser weaponry tended to cauterize its own wounds.
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Now, the three humans had two massive soldiers bearing down on their positions. Aiden started pumping shots into the head of one of the soldiers while his companions fired wildly at anything they could hit. After half a dozen shots to the skull of the first soldier, it finally went down. Meanwhile, the second soldier had almost reached their position despite the hail of lasers heading in his direction.
Aidan bounded across the hallway, firing as he went. The soldier had gotten close enough to swing his large glowing axe at the Marine, but it was easily dodged. The projectiles that exploded from the alien’s wrist-mounted launcher weren’t as easily avoided. One of the shots went wide, but the second punched cleanly through Aidan’s shoulder. The veteran choked down a scream as he retreated further into the corridor.
As he withdrew, he saw a red health bar had appeared above his mana bar. It had dropped by a whole quarter. The reduction concerned Aidan more than anything. He wasn’t sure how the mechanic worked within the confines of the tutorial, and he didn’t want to find out. He drew one of his EMP grenades and tossed it behind him as he sprinted away from the enemy. His companions were right on his heels.
He stored his rifle and pistol in his inventory as he leaped behind an alcove. He was joined by Chance just as the grenade went off behind him. Aidan realized he hadn’t been far enough from the blast as his helmet suddenly went dark. Clearly, the equipment wasn’t immune to the effects of the EMP, and there must have been embedded microphones in the helmet because he realized he could barely hear anything.
He removed his helmet with a snarl just as a beefy five-clawed hand grabbed Chance by the skull. The alien palmed the technician’s head as adroitly as an NBA player palmed a basketball. Aidan flung his helmet at the alien’s face while he dove away from the other grasping hand. He rolled to his feet while drawing the rifle from his inventory. A quick pull of the trigger confirmed that his inventory could shield his electronic weaponry from EMP blasts.
Still, neither his nor his female teammate’s shots prevented the alien from crushing Chance’s skull like a ripe watermelon and then flinging the corpse at Aidan. The Marine was clipped by his former companion and sent tumbling away. As Aidan was distracted, the alien soldier turned toward the female technician.
She never faltered. Instead, she poured blast after blast at point-blank range into the alien’s skull. Just as its reaching claws were about to close on her, the lasers finally penetrated the alien’s helmet and scorched the gray matter beneath. It collapsed to the deck in front of her, and she planted a boot on the massive alien’s chest and pushed it away.
She breathed heavily as Aidan approached her and laid her hand on her shoulder. He winced as he felt the muscle pull on his damaged shoulder.
“Great job,” Aidan noted quietly.
She only nodded as she tried to control her gasping breaths. In the sheer terror of the situation, both humans had forgotten about the last technician. It turned the corner and pointed its shotgun at the pair. In a smooth motion, Aidan fired his rifle from the hip. His first shot spun the alien technician and caused its blast to go wild. The Marines second, third, and fourth bolts impacted the creature’s chest and threw it from its feet.
Aidan swiftly changed out his magazine and then advanced on the dying Ornychus. Knowing there was no such thing as overkill, he planted three more shots into the alien’s skull. When he was sure the enemy was dead, he looked back at his remaining companion and could see the barely concealed panic in her eyes.
“What’s your name?” He tried to distract her.
“Hebert,” She said with her eyes fixed on the two dead aliens, “Samantha Hebert.”
“Alright, Hebert, you did great. You saved my ass back there from that soldier, but there’s still work to do.”
Aidan pulled up his map to assess the current situation. His team had successfully killed half of the second boarding party. It wasn’t a bad showing for a single Marine and two propulsion techs. The Bridge crew had been able to take out most of their attackers but had also lost most of their number. Only two blue dots were facing off against a single red dot. That would be good odds in a normal situation, but the attackers were the brutish Ornychus soldiers. That lone enemy could eradicate the remaining bridge crew. If that happened, Aidan wasn’t sure he could complete his mission.
“There’s only one enemy left,” Aidan told Hebert. “Let’s get down there and save the rest of the bridge crew.”
Hebert pulled her eyes away from the corpses surrounding her and nodded at the Marine. Seeing that she was ready, Aidan broke into a trot with his rifle at the ready. Every step caused a jolting pain in his shoulder, and he could feel the blood trickling from the wound. Luckily it had been a clean shot, but the veteran needed to find a first aid kit before the blood loss became too much to wear. He hadn’t gotten woozy yet, but it was just a matter of time. Worst case scenario, he could try to use his own pistol to cauterize the wound and keep him functioning until he got genuine medical care.
He took a left at the junction and increased his speed. He arrived behind the remaining soldier just as it executed one of the bridge members with his axe. Aidan pulled up short and started firing round after round into the back of the creature’s head. Hebert was a second behind him and began firing as well. The alien only had time to turn around before their combined fire dropped him for good.
Aidan sighed as he lowered his rifle and flashed Hebert a grim smile. They walked together toward the last surviving bridge member. As they approached, the technician gasped.
“It’s the old man.”
The captain of the ship wasn’t doing well. Despite his position, he was a youthful, swarthy-skinned man with charcoal black hair and rich brown eyes. His face was drawn into a grimace of pain, and the reason wasn’t hard to discern. He had one hand clutching the railing of the ladder well that supposedly led to the bridge level. His other hand was pressed against a grievous-looking wound in his abdomen.
It looked like he had taken the same caliber of round Aidan did, but it wasn’t so clean nor in a less vital area. The captain’s gut was a complete mess, and blood poured between the man’s fingers. There was a trickle of blood at the corner of his lips as he coughed raggedly as Aidan kneeled down to assess the officer’s chances of survival.
“Did we win?” The captain asked.
Aidan wearily nodded. “The boarders have been repelled, Sir. What are your orders?”
The Captain let go of the railing and leaned against it. He used his blood-soaked hand to make gestures on the screen embedded in one of his armored gauntlets.
“I’m making you the temporary captain of this vessel. Take command of the Vanguard and fire on our boarder’s ships. After that, get the ship back to Ceres and make sure all of my Guardians are given proper burials.”
Mission updated. You have been given command of the UNS Vanguard (AA-1) and issued new orders.
MISSION: Reach the bridge of the UNS Vanguard and take control of the weapon systems, destroy the enemy boarding vessel, and return to Ceres.
REWARD: Variable
Aidan shot a glance back at Hebert, but she only shrugged helplessly.
The Marine turned back to the Captain as a ping lit up his gauntlet, informing him of his new permissions.
“Sir, we can still get you a first aid kit. We might be able to patch you up well enough to make it to Ceres.”
“No, that would be a waste of resources. I don’t have much time left, and the first aid kit would be better used to patch up that shoulder of yours.”
Aidan nodded his assent. It’s what he would’ve done in the captain’s place, but he still needed to try for honor’s sake. Who knew? Maybe the captain would’ve made it. Unlikely, but it was possible.
“Let’s get you up to the bridge at least,” Aidan encouraged.
“Yes, I’d like to see the stars one last time,” the Captain sadly agreed.
It took some doing, but Hebert and Aidan wedged the captain between them and made it up the ladder well to the next deck. The walk to the bridge felt like it took forever, but that was just the pain and the exhaustion talking.
Aidan was impressed with what he saw when they made it onto the bridge. There were stations scattered in a semicircle around the captain’s chair. Based on the holograms floating above them, Aidan could see dedicated spaces for navigation, comms, weapons, propulsion, and several others. A giant view screen took up the majority of the room, and through it, he could see the vastness of space.
Looking down the gunmetal length of the UNS Vanguard, Aidan could see a glossy silver ship attached to the hull. The alien ship’s smooth lines and round body looked more organic than synthetic. It appeared that the vessel was berthed directly on the hatch from which Aidan had originated. It was a reminder that no matter how realistic this test seemed, it was still just a virtual environment.
Returning to the moment, Aidan and Hebert lowered the captain into his chair. The man gasped at the renewed pain that shot through his body. Despite the agony, he reached out to grab Aidan’s arm and spoke.
“Normally, the guns are crewed by living humans. However, in times such as these, manual control can be handed over to the shipboard AI. Use her to destroy our enemies and get us home.”
“Understood, Sir. How do I activate the AI?”
The man smiled. “Her name is Astra.”
Aidan nodded thoughtfully before addressing the room at large.
“Astra,” he summoned.
A hologram silhouette of a woman appeared before gradually resolving into Astra. She was a head shorter than Aidan, with a length of black hair that trailed all the way to the middle of her back. She was wearing a black skin suit, similar to Aidan’s own, but it was filled with twinkling stars. She had an angular face with sharp features that only served to highlight her glowing blue eyes. She appeared human, but there was an otherworldly quality to her that existed beyond the fact that she was only a hologram.
“Yes, Captain?” Astra answered.
“You have my authority to assume control of navigation, propulsion, and weapons.”
The AI smirked at the new captain of the ship. “Are you sure about that, Captain? I know about your distrust of technology.”
Aidan frowned. His reluctant reliance on technology was something he had never spoken aloud. More than that, the AI was merely a simulation within a simulation. He hadn’t expected it to know his thoughts or have the capacity to make a joke. He decided to ignore the AI’s antics and focus on the task at hand.
“I’m sure, Astra. Blow the door attached to the Ornychus vessel and then tear it to pieces. When that’s done, set a course for Ceres and get us home.”
He looked back at the previous captain and found that the man and propulsion tech had been frozen like a video put on pause. He frowned and then turned back to Astra.
“You guessed it, Aidan.” The AI smiled. “You’ve passed the test, congratulations!
MISSION: Reach the bridge of the UNS Vanguard and take control of the weapon systems, destroy the enemy boarding vessel, and return to Ceres, passed!
REWARD: Unique Class
Aidan’s surroundings dropped away into nothingness. All that remained was the bridge floor around him and the ship’s AI. He realized that the pain in his shoulder had dissipated. He looked down to find that the wound, along with all his equipment beyond the skinsuit, had disappeared entirely. He rotated his arm a few times, and when he was satisfied that the wound had well and truly been healed, he looked back at Astra.
“So what now?” He wondered.
“We’re going to have a little chat,” the AI answered with a mischievous grin.