It was odd to think of rhythm and patterns in the middle of a lethal fight to the death, but that was the best way Malan could think to describe the ongoing battle. Sweat rolled across his face, and his entire body ached with the exhaustion of tension, but it all existed at the back of his mind; a muted scream behind a wall of adrenalin and intense focus.
Every available neuron in his brain dedicated itself to the task of taking in his expanded range of vision, the multitude of different display markers and flashing warnings, before interpreting them and converting them to plans and actions quickly enough to keep him alive.
A roll down and to the left to avoid a flurry of missiles from a trio of Interceptors, actively choosing to absorb a second group of lower-level fighters’ pulse fire with his rippling shields. His sentry drone peeled away from the hull, picking its moment to strike out at one of the ships, and Elena swept in behind, laser doing enough to break the ship’s shields, before being forced into evasive action by another small unit of Eclipse craft.
There was a peculiar ebb and flow to it. The sheer numbers of the Eclipse ships arrayed against them meant he and Elena spent the vast majority of time dancing away from constant oppressive fire until they could find moments to whittle away at their foes. His shields held, but were being forced into taking enough hits that they didn’t have the time to recover before being forced to absorb another smattering of damage.
He launched himself into a steep dive, and a trio of ships hurtled after him, only for Elena to pull away early, breaking their established pattern. A moment of hesitation and the Sparrow’s mining laser cleaved through a Lv 9 Interceptor’s shields. Malan focused on evading the flurry of pulse missiles spiralling after him, whilst Tanwen split their fire between two targets. His Gauntlet skill destroyed the shieldless interceptor, whilst his regular guns focused in on the shields of a Lv 12 Corvette.
Elena’s fire joined with his own, and the second ship split in two, seared through the centre by the Sparrow’s laser.
Eclipse Interceptor [Lv. 9] Destroyed
Enemy of a higher level killed. Bonus Celestial Energy Harvested.
Eclipse Corvette [Lv. 12] Destroyed
Enemy of a higher level killed. Bonus Celestial Energy Harvested.
Alert:
[Engineer Gauntlet, Ranged Lv. 3→ Lv.4]
The fresh set of notifications brought a smile—swiftly wiped away by the swift counter of the rest of the Eclipse group. Two sets of three came from above amidst a storm of pulse weaponry. His momentum slowed, he was unable to evade the worst of it, and Tanwen’s shields were forced to absorb the bulk of it. Pulse missiles exploded against the shimmering blue barrier, alongside a peppering of small arms fire that produced series of ripples.
Shrill alarms blazed through the bridge as his shields plummeted from just above seventy per cent to an alarming thirty two.
Before he could react, he swore as another alert cut across his screen. A third group had performed a strafing run of the far less nimble Sparrow, and Elena’s shield crumbled under the pressure, her hull taking several hits.
Malan acted on instinct. Throwing all his power into acceleration, he hurtled after the group that had attacked the Sparrow. Faster than they were, he was rapidly on their tail. A thought was all it took to communicate his idea to Tanwen, and his own weapons blazed to life. Ranged gauntlet and sentry drone tore into the left-most ship’s shields, whilst pulse guns hammered against the central Lv 10 Corvette.
Not willing to wait, he activated his melee skill and powered forward, destroying the Corvette and emerging out of the other side of the explosion in a spin.
Eclipse Corvette [Lv. 12] Destroyed
Enemy of a higher level killed. Bonus Celestial Energy Harvested.
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Alert:
Pilot Lv. 7 → Lv. 8
Stat Point(s) Available
Skill Point(s) Available
Class Choices Available.
Alert:
[Engineer Gauntlet, Melee Lv. 3 → Lv. 4]
Warning: Shields at 22%
He ground his teeth and checked his displays. As expected, the entire battle group had adjusted their course to hound him. Tanwen was their end goal, now, and unless Elena made a move to rejoin him, they would prioritise disabling him so they could take it.
“Elena, what’s your status?”
“Uninjured, but our engine systems have taken some serious hits. I’m not sure I can get back into the fight. Malan, it might be time to—”
“Fuck that,” he hissed, sending Tanwen into a sudden roll to avoid a sweeping thread of pulse guns at his back. “You jump out. I came here to do a job, and I’m not leaving until it’s done.”
“You’ve done what you can, Malan. Staying for longer is risking too much for too little gain.”
Malan shook his head in frustration, delaying his reply to avoid another strafing run from one of the remaining trios. This time, he was only half successful, and a smattering of shots thudded against his shields.
Warning: Shields at 18%
It seemed Standarr had been careful to emphasise the need to keep the Starbound from being destroyed. Now the craft harrying him kept to small arms, their pulse missiles forgotten, to ensure that when his shields eventually fell they would not accidentally destroy him.
“I saw them on the comms, Elena. He has the children bound at his feet. If I jump now, there’s every chance he kill them the second he even begins to sniff that something’s wrong. Jump out of here, Elena, before one of them picks you off as a precaution.”
Elena said nothing for a moment, then a sigh came across their channel. “Don’t stay for a second longer than you actually have to, Malan. There’s a reason we made the plan we did. Don’t get yourself killed for no good reason.”
“Roger that.”
“Good luck, kid. See you on the other side.”
The comm channel clicked off, and Malan saw in his rear displays the telling vivid lights of the damaged Sparrow jumping out of the system. At the same time, an entirely unrelated notification flickered across his vision—a simple text comm.
He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. It was time to move the plan forward. Still driving his ship as fast as he could, Malan allotted one of his two stat points into Synergetics, before letting up his pace just a touch. Balance was important here. One wrong move, one mistake, and his plan would mean nothing for him.
The chasing pack caught up quickly, and soon Malan was swerving and rolling desperately, avoiding what he could of the veritable web of pulse fire streaking towards him from all angles. With a grimace, he noticed the wave of reinforcements from the station had joined the pack, and now fire came from all angles, and it was all he could do to avoid enough of the attacks to shatter his shields immediately.
Warning: Shields at 15%
Warning: Shields at 12%
It was, however, a losing fight. There was only so much open space to evade into, and the swarm of ships had taken to cutting off his escape channels rather than solely focus on his actual hull. The only reason he’d lasted so long was because of what the Starbound were. Even a low-levelled, newly bonded craft had capabilities that elevated it above most other basic craft, and his enhanced shielding had allowed him to last this long.
He slid his eyes across to that text communication once more, and read the two simple words beneath an ominously headed message box.
In position.
Another burst of fire crashed against his paper-thin shields, and Malan knew he could wait no longer. He opened his comms and delivered two, carefully separate commands to his systems. One channel would open to Standarr, another, a one-way broadcast to the rest of the Eclipse ships in range.
Standarr’s snide, gravelly voice broke through the comms. “The supposedly valiant hero, alone and on his last legs call his enemy to beg for mercy. I can’t say I’m surprised, but I am most definitely disappointed, boy.”
Malan allowed himself a strained chuckle. “Not exactly. You’re right about one thing, though. I am on my last legs.”
Another alert blared across his screen as another set of converging Eclipse strafing runs left him unable to evade—Warning: Shields at 8%.
“I can’t imagine what else you’d have to talk about if you’re not calling to beg.”
Malan, despite his screaming muscles and the growing weight of exhaustion, tried to affect an air of nonchalance as best he could. “Well, it’s just that I thought you had an interest in taking my Starbound for yourself. I hadn’t realised you’d intended to allow one of your men to take it. A generous commander indeed.”
There was a pause, and when Standarr spoke again, there was a dangerous chill in his tone. “Explain, boy. Now.”
This time, his smirk did not need to be faked. “Well, its just that when you bond with a Starbound unit—it happens by touch. The first person to touch Tanwen’s core will bond with it if they’re compatible. Of course, the first pilot out here to try might not be, but who’s to say that one of them won’t be? Do you really expect the men and women who actually did the work of bringing me down not to try before you?”
“You lie,” the man hissed, but his voice told Malan he was far from sure of himself.
“Perhaps. I suppose that’s your die to cast. Either way, my shields are sub-10%. How many here can take their shot at becoming Starbound before you can get here, I wonder? How long will your luck hold? For the record, I’ve broadcast our little chat to all the surrounding ships.”
Standarr snarled, and Malan laughed, trying to infuriate the man into making a decision.
“May the best man win.”
The comms channel closed without another word from Standarr, and Malan held his breath as he ducked and dodged away from a chasing pack now moving with added urgency. Then, in the distance, Malan saw a marker appear on his screen, emerging from the station’s docking bay, along with some attached information:
Lancer-Class Fighter [Lv. 27]
Designation: Ilyena’s Fury
Previously scanned lifeform detected.
Designation: Julian Standarr.