Outer Ailas Orbit
Draconis System
31 October 3296
First Lieutenant Ethan Fischer brought his SF-17 Starhawk space superiority fighter around in a wide arc as he cleared one of the many asteroids orbiting Ailas, a gas giant nearly ten astronomical units away from its star. The browns, reds, and oranges forming the bands of the planet mixed and mingled to form a dazzling array of patterns. Such sights never ceased to amaze him.
Slotting in behind him and to his left was Second Lieutenant Ava Bahr. Her fighter’s wings wiggled back and forth as she caught up to him.
Fischer guided his fighter through the thick belt of rock and ice surrounding the gas giant. Most were no bigger than a few centimeters across, but some, such as the one he curved around just minutes before, were many times larger than his Starhawk. Slamming into one of those was not something he intended on experiencing.
Several minutes passed in silence as the four of them sailed through the void, nothing in their sights besides for the countless rocks and the gas giant to their right. The frigate they came in on, the Traveler, stayed just outside the belt to avoid being pummeled by thousands of asteroids. It would have been nothing short of miraculous for a ship to actually be hiding in the dense field.
Fischer checked the scanner through his own CAM and confirmed the anomaly flickering in and out. Parts of it appeared and disappeared with each sweep, the metal content in the surrounding rocks helping to obscure it. What parts that could be seen resembled a long, rectangular object, unlike any of the rocks that would be found orbiting the gas giant.
Silence followed as they steadily approached the anomaly. It was not yet in visual range, hidden behind a cluster of larger asteroids. Fischer gently changed course to curve around counterclockwise when they reached the asteroids and repeated the message. Still no answer. The scanner image steadily resolved as they neared, showing more and more of the unnatural shape.
After receiving confirmation from the others—whether verbal or simply by a check mark on their status in the corner of his vision—he pulled up relative to the others. After several seconds of listening to the impacts of pebbles against the metal hull of his Starhawk, he cleared the field. Though he couldn’t see it, the Traveler was marked with a green dot twenty thousand kilometers away.
Fischer brought the scanner image to the forefront of his virtual heads-up display in his CAM. Sure enough, there were two distinct shapes in the mess of rocks and ice. One appeared to be about the same size as the Traveler, which, as a frigate, was towards the smaller end of the spectrum. The other was significantly larger, though the interference made it difficult to get an exact size. There were also trails of something that seemed to go from one to the other, though the scanner was having difficulty resolving it. A quick glance at the Traveler’s position showed it still five minutes out. Plenty of time for something to go wrong if they were dealing with something that could blast them out of space before they even laid eyes on it.
After nearly a full minute of the rising tension, they finally crested the final section of asteroids obscuring their view. There, they found a curious, if not intimidating, sight. Two vessels sat in the middle of a band of ice and rock. One, that which was about the same size as the Traveler, was a simple transport liner with no real defense of its own. Scorch marks charred the rear hull of the ship near its engines and near the center, where its missing communications array should have been. The other, which sat behind it relative to Alpha Squadron, was completely unfamiliar to him, not resembling any pirate vessel he had seen before. It was nearly a kilometer long and rectangular, the front of it shaped like the head of an axe. Paint covered at least the side facing them, resembling the head of a shark, though not like any he had seen on Stariek or in any of his classes in school. The ship appeared as a mostly solid block save for half a dozen large openings that appeared to be hangar bays. Six cables from these openings connected the two ships, each of which ferried a container between them. Emblazoned on the side was a symbol of a sword.
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Fischer held his breath, and he knew the others were doing the same, except for perhaps McCoy who would be rearing for a fight. There were no obvious cannons on the ship as he expected from a military vessel, but the size of the cables themselves worried him. A carefully placed shot from one of those would rip his Starhawk to shreds in an instant.
Surprising Fischer, the containers moving along the cables slowly came to a halt, some of them halfway between the ships. Then they all started returning to the larger, rectangular ship. Along with them, ten engine plumes from what seemed to be transports also began to head back. When they were all nearly back, a message came through from the ship to their CAM link.
With the final word, the connection ended and the cables detached from the far side of the transport. They retracted, revealing thick, barbed harpoons as they returned to the larger ship. As soon as they disappeared into the hangars and the doors clamped shut, the ship began to turn away, pushing through the asteroids as if they were nothing more than specks of dust.
Fischer, however, was not about to let them off the hook that easy.
A timer started in the corner of Fischer’s vision so he could make good on the threat if it came to it. The vessel made no sign of slowing.
Several seconds passed as the timer ticked down closer to zero. The squadron of four continued forward, nearing the civilian liner. As the timer reached zero and ended, the vessel still did not stop. Fischer took a deep breath.
A moment later, a trio of blue neutron beams lanced out from McCoy’s fighter, skimming the surface of the front of the ship. Still, it did not slow. Moreover, they did not send any further messages. Instead, the vessel turned slightly to angle upwards, heading for the closest edge of the belt surrounding Ailas.
Their flight path took them over to crest the civilian liner. The entire backside—rather, the starboard side—was gutted, the hull stripped to the skeletal beams of the interior structure. Each individual deck of the liner was visible, as if it were bisected down the middle. Loose metal floated carelessly, gently drifting in space. Countless suitcases in a variety of sizes and shapes and colors rotated and bounced off one another. In some spaces, bodies drifted freely as well, none with space suits and all with skin turning blue from the cold of space. Froth appeared to have manifested around their eyes and mouths. At the sight of them, Fischer’s mouth went dry, and he fought to control his breathing. After a few moments, his CAM warned him of an elevated heart rate.
Fischer stopped himself from scoffing. McCoy didn’t know Elina, so he obviously couldn’t realize the importance of chasing down the ship. Who knew how many other people were affected by the Druthagar this time? If he had the chance to get vengeance for just one of them…
He shook his head and allowed the thought to clear his mind. Sighing, he turned his fighter back around. Now, he got the full view of the destroyed ship. Each layer’s section was clearly delineated with some bulkheads having attempted to seal off the exposure to the vacuum. Many of these looked to have been cut through, precise circles sitting in their centers. Parts of the metal hull looked to have been peeled back as if opened by a giant can opener.
Fischer deactivated his primary engine and used his attitude control thrusters to point himself back in the direction of the departing Druthagar ship. Near its engines, he saw scratches in the hull of the vessel, each one seeming to be a tally. He made a note of it, saving the image to his CAM for future use. If he couldn’t stop the vessel now, he would do whatever he could to stop it later.
It was too late to save Elina. It was too late to save those that died on this civilian liner. But if he could stop it from destroying even one, maybe it would be worth it. He couldn’t do that if he got himself killed now.
He turned his fighter back around and fired up his engine again.
The others silently followed him to the frigate as it slowly pushed through the belt. Smaller rocks were vaporized by the shields of the ship while larger ones were pushed aside by the thick metal hull, sent bouncing into others.
Together, the four fighters flew to the Traveler, leaving the civilian liner behind. Fischer took one last look at it as he passed, making a silent promise to bring the Druthagar to justice. Even if it was the last thing he did.