I was experiencing a rather nasty dose of deja vu at this time, and it was not appreciated in the slightest. At the warning I triggered a burst from the ventral thrusters, shooting ‘upwards’ in relation to the artificial horizon I was following. Sensors detected shots from the last enemy ship whizz past right where we had been, slamming into the massive asteroid that I was now pinned against.

I needed to think quickly, taking a quick look at the readings of the area I was now in. There wasn’t much around, but there was a gas giant nearby, a rogue one at that… It would have to do for now.

I continued to trigger emergency bursts of the thrusters at random intervals and in random directions. Either they’ll have to bracket me in, or hope they got lucky with their shots. I doubted they’d do either.

Think Intra… THINK!

My sensors strayed back to the asteroid and a plan formulated itself in my head. Since I couldn’t go around it, I’d have to go through it… Which is not as easy as it sounds of course. But it was possible, I just needed to time everything right. Deep scans indicated a fault line of sorts within the asteroid, and if I used a charge on it, the entire thing would shatter. Problem was that in shattering it, it’d become even more dangerous than it already was.

But that could be mitigated perhaps… I had plenty of tractor emitters left, and point defense as well. I could use the emitters to guide debris around us, using it as a sort of shield but also as a weapon, flinging rocks back at the last ship. Anything too large to pull could be shot and turned into more ammunition one could say… I could even booby trap the rocks with EMP mines or something a bit more flashy. Yes… yes that could work.

“Ula, do you trust me?” I ask, already running the calculations.

“Of course I do… why?”

“Well, just making sure. Because I’m about to do something crazy.”

“Hasn’t everything we’ve done so far been crazy? Or is this like… a new level of crazy.”

“Mmm well… Perhaps it’s a new level of crazy.”

“Oh… Good luck then.”

“Thanks.”

I focus once more, and with calculations complete, I take a deep, deep breath. I queue everything up, slave certain systems together, and then execute.

Instantly, a burrowing torpedo is launched, slamming into the asteroid and leaving behind high yield charges meant to vaporize rock so I have a way in before it gets really crazy. I trigger one last burst of the thrusters, prepare my remaining engines, and watch as the torpedo reaches its destination. It detonates, splitting the rock apart as the other charges do the same, creating an expanding field of debris. Just as the enemy ship regains a lock, I kick the engines on and shoot forwards. Emitters activate, snagging rocks as I pass them, or am about to hit them.

With ease the rocks are shifted, flowing around the ship with ever growing momentum, as they are impaled by more munitions. A mixture of EMP and micro plasma missile swarm launchers. As they were swept behind us and released with some force, they launched their payloads, the hundreds of small missiles streaking towards the enemy ship. I doubted they’d actually hit, but they’d at least distract the point defense long enough for the rocks to get closer so the mines could do their job.

My own weapons were firing, blowing away any rocks that were too large to handle, those too now turned into more projectiles to hurl at the enemy. I was probably breaking so many laws right now, but I could have cared less. I wasn’t about to lay down and let someone walk over me like the Inquisitor wanted to. No, I’d teach them a lesson they’d never forget, and that was never to mess with an H.I.

It all seemed to be working, the ship hadn’t anywhere to go but after me, as the asteroid was expanding so quickly that trying to go around would be practically impossible, running away would serve no purpose or cut down on their intercept time. So it was either follow or give up the chase for now, and I could tell this Inquisitor was not one to give up too easily.

The tractor beams shifted one last rock and I could see it, the gas giant. It’d have everything I’d need to run quick repairs and perhaps get away. I just had to reach it first, but that was starting to seem like an impossibility. Mainly because we’d wasted a lot of time doing this, and the first few ships I’d disabled had regained some level of functionality. Which meant that now they were once again on a pursuit course, and able to come at us from many angles.

“Sorry old girl… Gonna have to push you hard for just a little longer.” Like before I planned out my route through the gas giant, which ended at just the right point to break atmosphere so I could get us moving again at FTL. And if I could do it just right, I could perhaps trick them into thinking we’d perished in the crushing depths.

Either way, I needed to get us there quickly. One more short hop at FTL would do it. It was whether or not we’d survive that hop that was the problem. Already I could detect stresses on the superstructure increasing, and the necessary duration of our FTL jump might just tear us apart. Which was not a good thing.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Emergency FTL in three, two, one!” I say, and jump us away. My drones immediately start reporting the noises of metal shifting and groaning around them, hull integrity starts to plummet and just as things start reaching critical levels, I can drop us out of FTL. We do so, and immediately start to descend into the gas giant’s upper atmosphere. Again the groaning, but at least the hull isn’t buckling or getting torn off.

In moments, we sink out of sight, and I level us off, putting us on our projected course. Radiators extend, bleeding the heat build up of our various desperate maneuvers into the gas giant, while scoops open to gather up the swirling gasses. I detect no sign of pursuit, or at least, they haven’t dared enter the atmosphere like we have. I prepare some charges with our unique drive signature, launch them then lower our own power, slowly and steadily, as though we’re descending deeper and deeper. And when the time is right, I detonate them. The explosion is clear as day to anyone in orbit, and we have just enough power in the engines to keep us from sinking.

I wait, but I can’t tell if they’ve left us alone by now. I suppose they’re waiting to see if we really did perish or not, at which point we might be here for some time. For now though, we’ll wait and see, lick our wounds and repair what damage has been done. Already my drones are refining the materials we’re gathering into useful components and parts. It won’t be as good a job as would be done in dock, but it’ll do for now. Just long enough to reach our destination.

“Ula? You can leave the capsule now.” I say, and the pod retracts almost immediately. She steps out and takes a long breath, before looking at my hologram.

“Is it over? Are we safe?”

“For the moment, yes. We’re currently submerged in a gas giant undergoing combat repairs. For now, our pursuers seem to think we’re dead, but I have no idea if they’ve broken orbit and given up, or if they think we’re tricking them. So for now, we’ll be circling the planet till repairs are complete and we can break out and continue on our way.”

Ula nods, looking slightly relieved, but still clearly nervous.

“Alright… Right, okay, let me know when it’s finished. I’m just going to… Going to go lay down I think. I’m not feeling too good.” She started to shuffle off and I immediately ran several scans. I didn’t detect any sort of illness but her heart rate was rather elevated and her system was flooded with her own special blend of adrenaline. I was about to suggest she go to the sickbay when something stopped me, some instinct telling me that it was better to let her work through this moment on her own.

So I let her go, struggling against what I felt I should do, and what I was being told to do. Two different little voices in my head that squabble fiercely. But as the doors shut, they went quiet, and I was left alone.

I should have left her behind… She shouldn’t be here, dealing with this.

I cast that thought from my mind, knowing it would do neither of us any good whatsoever. We had enough problems, we didn’t need to add my self doubt to the mix, not just yet at least. As silence descended upon the ship, I retreated back to my own little abode and focused on directing the repairs. And once again, I was left with my thoughts to keep me company.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

I didn’t know it at the time, but I was having the same thoughts as Intra. That perhaps I should have stayed behind, should have done what I could from Earth and such… But what could I reasonably do? I had no real skills beyond hunting, but what was there to hunt in space!? Compared to everyone else, I was useless…

I found my way to bed and lay there, thinking of all that I couldn’t do… I had the sim pod to train me, but I didn’t think I could learn everything that’d make me useful in time to actually be useful. I realized then that my thoughts were not doing me any good, and so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Tomorrow I would throw myself into training, make myself useful in some fashion.

Sleep came easily, and for once I didn’t dream of anything bad.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

Nettal was fuming as she stalked back and forth across the bridge, which looked a little worse for wear. The smuggler scum had been more than she’d expected, and faster than they’d seemed. Also more innovative, she had to admit. And now they were gone from sensors, lost in the gas giant. One ship had no engines, the others were scouting the supposed debris field that had been detected within the gas giant and her ship was attempting to repair what damage had been caused by the asteroids and munitions launched at it.

It didn’t make sense, no smuggler tended to put such effort into evading capture, let alone in apparently trying to keep their pursuers alive. It didn’t make sense, and that bothered her quite a bit.

For now though, she had time to look over the deep scans of this… Warden of Eternity. Apparently the scans had picked up something rather interesting, and she had better take a look at it personally. For now though, she settled into her chair, staring ahead at the screen which showed the repair reports.

She could be patient, her species was known for that. She would wait and see what happened next.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

High Admiral Keramati stood in her office, staring over the rain swept skyline of New Berlin, a grim, yet somehow stoic look on her face. Regardless of what had happened with Ambassador Ula, it seemed her people were well on their way to a new home. A new place had already been chosen, and her people would be seen as wards of the Alliance. Already they were on their way, the planet being readied ahead of time for habitation, colony sites cleared and kept protected till the people were properly settled in and familiar with their new home.

It was the only good news she’d heard all day, the rest was either bad, boring or perhaps even close to cataclysmic. The Yil’kaa were apparently mobilizing again, but not along any of their borders with Terran allied civilizations, but along the borders between themselves and the unexplored regions. Which meant that some poor souls were about to get embroiled in a war for their continued existence.

Then there was former High Admiral Kirkland and his… alleged indiscretions. He was cooperating, insofar as anyone could when locked in a cell four miles below the surface in an undisclosed location. She didn’t feel right about any of this, but what could she do? The evidence held against him was rather compelling, but she couldn’t be sure it wasn’t just some fabrication. Would she say any of this out loud? Certainly not, because if it was a fabrication, then she might be next on the chopping block.

Whatever game was being played, she’d go along with it for now. It was the only thing she could really d-

Whatever else she was thinking about was erased in an instant, as the contents of her skull were soon spread across the far wall and her body fell lifelessly. It was quick, painless, and nobody would know for a good, long time.

Elsewhere, the sniper packed up his gear, twitched, and then imploded, leaving nothing behind for any sort of forensics team to discover.