"So, what do we do now?"
-"Now we wait."
\ No newline at end of file
+"Now we wait."
+
+==== The Hauler's Last Stand ====
+
+A series of explosions rocked the Hauler from bow to stern, ripping
+through the armor plating and blasting into the interior. Captain
+Funanya Chizoba lurched forward in her command chair on the bridge
+but the restraints kept her from flying out of it. Emergency lights
+flashed on as the lights went out, casting shadows across her face.
+Her heart raced.
+
+"Report!" she barked. The comm officer shook his head silently. "Not
+good. That missile breached the starboard hold," he said. "We're
+venting atmosphere. Damage Control is responding to seal it, but we've
+lost power in sections two through five, and life support's down
+shipwide."
+
+The initial group of fighters had still been several minutes away when
+Chizoba had seen the first explosion. It was a small blast, right on
+the tail of the convoy. The bright flash lit up the window's view, and
+Chizoba saw the shapes of the fighters emerging from the explosion.
+
+She glanced at the tactical display and saw the fighters had launched
+missiles. They'd targeted the closest ship and destroyed it. It also
+reported that the rest of the convoy was accelerating hard. They were
+now trying to escape and get clear of the battle.
+
+The Xẽĩians must have spotted the convoy and thought they'd hit a
+military target, she thought. But the convoy had been civilian.
+
+The pilots must have been confused. Perhaps they hadn't expected
+civilian ships to be armed. Or maybe they didn't know there were
+civilians on board. Either way, the convoy's escorts returned fire.
+Several smaller vessels were also equipped with rail guns and
+assisted. Still, the Hauler's defensive weapons weren't up to the task
+as a cargo ship.
+
+"What are our options?" Chizoba asked.
+
+"Our weapons won't work against those fighters," the sensor operator
+said. "And we can't outrun them."
+
+Chizoba looked to the screen. The fighters were closing rapidly.
+Several lead ships were crippled or destroyed, but most smaller
+vessels were still intact. Several were dropping their cargo and
+starting to accelerate. They were trying to break contact with the
+enemy. Chizoba wanted to do the same; she knew the odds of surviving
+the encounter were slim, especially without power or life support.
+
+"The Chyufõũ̯ is launching another round of fighters," the sensor
+operator reported.
+
+Chizoba cursed under her breath. "Where?"
+
+At the back of the bridge, the sensor operator pressed a few buttons.
+Finally, the display revealed the Hauler and the convoy in the center,
+surrounded by the Chyufõũ̯ and its fighters.
+
+"We have multiple contacts approaching at high speed," she said.
+
+"Holy shit," she whispered.
+
+She looked down at herself, then back to the screen. Her chest armor
+had cracked open during the explosion, and now blood oozed out between
+the buckles. Chizoba took in the entirety of the display and saw they
+had less than ten minutes before the next round of fighters reached
+them. Chizoba bit her lip. The Hauler was heavily damaged, and without
+power, she doubted it would make much difference even if she tried to
+attack.
+
+She turned towards the rear of the bridge and saw the sensor operator
+staring back at her. Blood covered the woman's face, and her left arm
+hung limp at her side. She looked like she was about to faint.
+
+Chizoba scrambled over to her as she fell backward onto the deck,
+hitting her head against the edge of the sensor console behind her.
+Her eyes rolled up into her skull, and she went still. Chizoba knelt
+next to her. She pressed two fingers against her neck, checking for a
+pulse but nothing. "Dammit," she cursed under her breath.
+
+She turned back to the tactical display and saw the fighters
+accelerating towards them from the rear of the convoy. The lead ships
+peeled away toward them. The enemy ships increased their speed in
+response, and one of them was coming right for the Hauler.
+
+Chizoba cursed as another missile slammed into the rear section. This
+time, the explosion was much more significant. The Hauler shuddered
+violently, and her heart skipped a beat. She felt the deck shift
+beneath her feet and looked down to see the fuel line had ruptured.
+Fuel was pouring out onto the deck.
+
+She looked to the front of the bridge and saw the remains of what used
+to be the comm officer's station. It was twisted and bent where it had
+slammed into the wall. Sprawled out amongst the wreckage were several
+bodies. One of them was missing an arm.
+
+Chizoba made her way to the navigator's console, strapped herself in,
+and put the Hauler into a tight turn toward a nearby planet. The
+engines whined loudly, and she felt the G-forces pushing her back. The
+ship rose quickly, then dropped sharply. She steadied it and brought
+the vessel into level flight just as another missile hit the Hauler.
+The sudden movement sent some debris flying, and Chizoba blacked out
+as it hit her.
+
+She woke later, lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Still
+strapped into the chair, her head aching badly.
+
+She tried to move her legs and found she couldn't. Something heavy was
+lying across them. She pushed against the straps holding her in place
+and managed to free one arm. She tugged at the other, and it came
+loose.
+
+The navigator's console trapped her legs beneath its bulk. She
+strained to pull them free without success. "Help me!" she yelled.
+"Someone help me!" but there was no response. She struggled to free
+herself and eventually succeeded after several minutes of working.
+
+Chizoba stood up and stumbled over to the wall, grabbed the emergency
+oxygen cylinder, and twisted the valve. She sucked in the gas and held
+it for several seconds. She felt the pain in her head recede slightly,
+and she drew in another lungful of air. She felt lightheaded and
+dizzy. She dropped back onto the chair and stared at the remains of
+the navigator's console.
+
+She leaned forward and punched the comm. "This is Captain Chizoba. I'm
+alive and unharmed. Anyone still alive, please respond." There was no
+answer. She tried again but still nothing. She knew the odds of
+finding anyone alive were slim.
+
+She stood up, walked over to a window, and looked out. Several of the
+ships were still fighting, but most were gone. Instead, she could see
+the shapes of the fighters circling overhead. They seemed to be
+waiting for something.
+
+"They're not targeting us anymore," Chizoba thought. "It's too late
+for that." She made her way over to the remains of the communications
+station, pausing for a moment to think of all of the years of good
+memories aboard the Hauler. She flipped a transparent plastic cover
+and pressed a button that, in all her years in space, she never
+imagined pressing. Then the alarm to abandon ship began to sound.
+
+She ran to the door, pulling it open. The corridor beyond was filled
+with smoke and debris, reeking of burning plastic and insulation. She
+coughed violently and stumbled forward, heading aft. The smell of
+burnt flesh was overwhelming. Broken equipment and pieces of metal
+littered the area.
+
+She arrived in the shuttle bay. Several bodies lay scattered among the
+wreckage. Some were wearing EVA suits, others not. All of them were
+charred black and twisted grotesquely. Chizoba moved closer to one of
+the larger pieces of debris and saw a hand sticking out from
+underneath. She reached down and pulled it free. It was human-sized
+but mangled beyond recognition. A piece of a suit clung to the skin;
+Chizoba threw it aside and found another body. This one wore an EVA
+suit, but it was torn open, and the helmet had been blown clear.
+Whoever this person was, they were dead.
+
+Chizoba made her way towards the nearest shuttle. She leaped inside
+and started punching buttons. The craft's systems came online, and its
+thrusters fired. The shuttle shot upwards, bouncing off the top of the
+shuttle bay before swinging back down and slamming into the deck.
+
+Chizoba kept firing the thrusters until the shuttle's momentum finally
+carried it out of the shuttle bay. She watched the bay doors close and
+lock. Looking back, the damage to the ship was extreme. It was still
+on course for the planet, but she knew the Hauler would never fly
+again.
+
+She kept the shuttle steady and flew away from the Hauler. Then
+Chizoba looked out the window and saw other shuttles heading away from
+the battle, flying low and fast. A few shuttles were trailing fire and
+smoke, but most were intact. "Everyone follow me!" Chizoba yelled into
+the comm. "We'll regroup at that planet." She looked down at the nav
+screen, tapped the controls and the shuttle banked hard to port in the
+direction of the planet.
+
+A Xẽĩian fighter unexpectedly appeared beneath her. Chizoba pulled
+back on the controls. She heard the sound of a loud boom, and the
+shuttle rocked wildly. She caught a brief glimpse of the hull before
+the shuttle flipped end over end and tumbled out of control. Chizoba
+fought to regain control, but it was hopeless. The shuttle spun
+wildly, and she lost sight of everything outside the windows. Finally,
+she saw the canopy strike something and shatter. Then the shuttle hit
+the ground.
+
+==== Harlan: Thief, Resistance Operative====
+Jake looked down at the carpet under his feet. "No. He protected me
+with his body. I lived because he took the force of the blast." His
+eyes roamed up the wall, seeing a time years ago and miles away. "When
+the Guard came around to see if everyone was dead, I unfocused my eyes
+like you taught me. Remember? And lay limp. I had enough blood on me
+to look realistic."
+
+"Someone poked me in the side with a gun. It hurt, but I managed to
+stay limp. They went on."
+
+His gaze met Harlan's. "I lay there for a long time." His eyes
+sparkled with unshed tears. "My dad and me - we didn't get along well.
+Part of it was the Resistance. He believed. I thought it was
+bullshit."
+
+Running his hand through his hair, he said "We argued, sometimes to
+the point of throwing punches. I couldn't sway him. And I was too
+stubborn to open my eyes."
+
+He chuckled, a laugh with no humor in it. "Boy, did I ever have my
+eyes yanked open that night." Looking at Harlan, he said "If I had
+twitched, they would have shot me dead. Even though I was supposedly
+on their side."
+
+He hung his head down and shook it. "Shit! I was dumb."
+
+"I think I lay there, between the cold floor and the cooling body of
+my father, for at least an hour. At one point I started crying. Crying
+like I had no tomorrow. And I didn't. I had no idea what to do, where
+to go."
+
+Still with his head hanging, he said "The reason I survived had
+nothing to do with my skill or knowledge. The Resistance came. I was
+crawling out from under Dad at that point and was trying to get to my
+feet." He smiled grimly. "I was as stiff as Dad was becoming."
+
+"Three men suddenly appeared - like out of thin air. One was
+Santorini. I didn't know the other two." He sighed. "They obviously
+knew me. One spoke up. He wanted to kill me. Santorini looked at me,
+covered in my father's blood, tears streaking down my face, one leg
+still stuck under the corpse. He shook his head and had them bring me
+along."
+
+"For days, I slept or lay staring at the ceiling. I didn't eat much. I
+didn't think much. Thinking was far too painful. I just lay on the bed
+in a fog."
+
+He smiled then, a genuine smile. "Finally Santorini's daughter,
+Emerald, came into the room. I wasn't dead, so I noticed her.
+Brilliant green hair and eyes and a smile that would light up the
+world. She kicked me out of bed, forced me to dress, and dragged me
+back to the land of the living."
+
+Harlan smiled. "I think I've met her."
+
+"At the Big House?"
+
+Harlan nodded.
+
+"Yeah. She's been undercover there for a couple of years." He leaned
+back. "I don't like it. Hell. I hate it. But she's a big girl and can
+do what she wants. I'm just her husband."
+
+"You're married to that witch?"
+
+"Yeah. Ain't she great?"
+
+Harlan grinned. "Hell, yeah."
+
+Harlan and Jake began to laugh. Mellie stared at them. "What's so
+funny?"
+
+Harlan managed to say. "You'll have to meet her."
+
+When he had controlled his laughter, Harlan said "You'll have to
+forgive me if I don't trust you implicitly yet, Jake. I'll let
+Santorini okay you."
+
+Keeping their phasers centered on Jake's back, Harlan and Mellie
+herded him out the door and into the garage, boarding a two seater
+AirScooter. Mellie sat on Harlan's lap and guided the machine. Fifteen
+minutes of discomfort and crowding later, they arrived at the Green
+Palace.
+
+Santorini met them at the front door. He didn't even look at Harlan or
+Mellie. He went straight to Jake and hugged him, holding the younger
+man tightly for a moment. When the Boss stepped back, Harlan could see
+tears in the eyes of both men.
+
+Harlan shrugged and put his phaser away. Looking at Mellie, he saw
+that she was smiling and had already holstered her weapon.
+
+Santorini brought Jake over to them. He started to introduce Jake, but
+they all interrupted, saying that they had indeed met.
+
+The Boss said "Oh, yeah. That's right. Thank you for not killing or
+maiming him. Emerald would kill all of us."
+
+Mellie looked at Santorini and asked "You got any more daughters,
+Boss?"
+
+"Yeah. Two more. Why?"
+
+Mellie shook her head. "Nevermind."
+
+Jake carried a message from Cassidy. Cassidy could see what was about
+to happen on his world and he wanted to be on the winning side. By his
+calculations, the Resistance would win. He would be throwing all the
+resources of the Syndicate behind the rebels.
+
+There were stipulations, of course, including a full pardon for every
+man or woman who fought for freedom.
+
+Cassidy wanted that pardon. He had set up a legitimate business
+several years ago, importing fashionable clothes from New Dessel where
+they were made with cheap labor. To his credit, he had insisted that
+all of his workers be paid at least a good wage by New Dessel
+standards. He also managed to get them good health care coverage and
+even two weeks vacation. They were basically indentured servants so he
+forgave fifty percent of their debt and released them when the rest
+was paid off. He even rehired them at a significant increase in wages.
+All of this could be done on New Dessel and still save him money.
+
+He wanted to move to New Dessel and continue his reforms, but he
+needed to be free of his past. Going straight was complicated.
+
+Cassidy also foresaw the need for their armories to be updated. He had
+done that for the Syndicate. He offered the Resistance the same
+advances - at a discount, of course.
+Cassidy was giving them a good deal. If they could trust him.
+
+Jake thought Cassidy was sincere. He wanted to be a hero for a change.
+And to make money at it. Jake said he could almost hear the cheering
+of the crowds when Cassidy talked about his dreams.
+
+The Boss agreed to meet with the would-be hero. Each would bring their
+most trusted associate and no one else. They would all be armed. That
+was understood. Trust only stretches so far.
\ No newline at end of file
projects / universe.git / blobdiff