Book 2: Chapter 71: And All the King’s Men (Finale)

Book 2: Chapter 71: And All the King’s Men (Finale)

USD: During Battle over Dedia Prime

Location: Nu Crateris, Decaying Dedia IV Orbit, SRS Tears of Fire

The Tears suffered another strike to the bow from the cruisers railguns, punching through it at an angle. Ship integrity was becoming a concern as huge chunks of debris floated around the inner hull, smashing into things as the ship shifted. The main linear drive system had been shattered by another railgun strike, leaving the ship on gas RCS only.

The only consolation was the enemy cruiser had also lost its maneuvering thrusters.

Both had been damaged to where they only had a single railgun still operating, an anemic rate of fire compared to previously flashed between the two ships. The Shrikes laser systems heatsinks had melted down, slagging the entire system, and every single PDC-K on the outer hull was smashed or inoperable.

She suspected someone on the other ship had been zooming in and sniping at them. She certainly had been doing the same to them.

But the armored railgun mounts were more durable, and placing a railgun round in an exact spot was difficult.

Which was why they were still alive. The main reactor compartment had two near misses, but the citadel armor had deflected the blast at an angle that had avoided a core meltdown.

There was no audio in the vacuum in the compartment, but when a line of sparks erupted on the wall in front of her, it broke her out of her focus on the ship's battle. A little black drone was being chased by a half dozen of Namelesss favorite little miniature drones as they had a mini-dogfight inside the ship.

It veered toward her and opened fire, a half dozen bullets squishing on her armors plating. She was unharmed, but all she could do was blink in surprise at the sudden intrusion on her focus as the black drone flashed by her head.

Nameless!

[Notice: Hostile boarding units are attempting to breach the CIC again. Drone Booper is currently retreating to your position and combat drones are engaged in combat around your position.]

Just.. just nanite them or something!

[Informative: While nanite computation usage has been reduced by 85% because of cessation of industrial operations and ship tasks, all main computational compartments have been destroyed except main ShipCore. All current resources are tasked with maintaining normal processing and Avatar functions.]

Oh. That was bad.

The hostile drone lit on fire as a bullet damaged its battery pack, and Alex turned back to the tactical screen. A sudden flare of lasers from the Grazhdanin smashed into the cruiser tormenting the Tears and sliced off a comm antenna and grazed a rail turret.

Noticing the damage on the optical feed, she realized that had created an opportunity. The turret wasnt going to be able to rotate as far backwards anymore, and she forced the Tears to claw itself backwards, bringing them out of its arc.

Suddenly the incoming damage ceased, and she realized the enemy ship was probably in just as bad a shape as the Tears. That didnt stop her from continuing to fire at it with their last railgun.

The enemy cruiser didnt seem keen on stopping hostilities either, and she felt a bit of anger as it slewed its weapons toward the planet and began another bombardment of the city out of spite.

[Notice: Atmospheric re-entry is imminent. Recommendation: Abandon ship.]

Alexs throat constricted. The ShipCore, right?

[Informative: Modifications for ShipCore ejection are underway. Recommend bringing crewmember Elis with Avatar during escape.]

Elis, are you still in engineering!?

There was a moment of silence and static, but a clipped reply confirmed the question. Ye..yeah. Pinned down here, but they cant get past me to the reactor.

Alex stood up from her console and flashed the tac-map on her HUD. Red dots were sieging engineering and the CIC. Booper and Elis were two large green dots while dozens of blue dots streaked around, harassing and targeting the red ones.

Booper! Find Beeper and then keep the CIC and corridor to the ShipCore clear! Im going to go get Elis!

Broop!

The big combat bot answered back immediately before reminding a group of Corpos why it was a bad idea to mess with person-sized ship-modified combat shotguns.

Alex turned and ran to the corridor leading to the cargo hold and engineering, almost tripping on the massive hole just outside the door. A red indicator showed a man about to poke around a corner.

The thought that she probably should have drawn her pistol or something assailed her, but she quickly decided she didnt need it.

Instead, she slammed her physical points into agility and launched herself forward. Just as the man was about to pop around and level his rifle at her, she slapped the wall, and a bolt of directed energy drilled through the wall like a bullet, slamming into him.

It was only enough to stun him, but she reached his position a second later and then stomped on his throat as she amplified her strength setting.

Her power armors knee joint actually groaned as she stressed it from the inside, but it maintained integrity as the Corpos vulnerable neck joint under her boot snapped and the man was decapitated.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

One down already. Maybe she could retake the ship, and they could keep it from hitting the planet.

A rocket flashed into the corridor, and she only slammed points into physical defense a second before a rocket flew toward her. That would have probably kept her alive, but Nameless provided an assist by forming a nanite arm from her shoulder to reach out and punch the missile. It exploded in a cloud of fire and shrapnel that pelted her armor.

F..fuck.

[Suggestion: A faster pace would be more effective.]

Alex shook off her shock and sprinted through the corridor. Red threat indicators flashed, showing the position of men on the other side of walls, and she ducked into the workshop to avoid contact. In the room, a marine was fighting in hand to hand with a damaged combat drone.

The drones gun was jammed, and it attempted to slam itself into the mans faceplate, but he had hold of it with both hands and was slamming it into the wall repeatedly to crush the chassis.

The struggle was repeated across the ship. Alex didnt hesitate and moved forward to intercede, grabbing the Corpo soldier from behind and flushing a stream of nanites into his armor. The little machines found microscopic gaps and drilled their way through the armor in seconds before erupting into spikes that pierced his skull.

The drone tried to hover, but its thrusters flared out and it fell to the floor, the damage having been too severe for it to continue.

Alex activated her comms. Elis, can you get out of engineering? We need to abandon the ship.

A hiss of gas from Engineering vibrated the ship.

[Notice: Reactor core ejection, successful.]

[Recommendation: Proceed to ShipCore immediately.]

We are already!

When they reached the hole in front of the CIC door, Alex stomped on the metal floor plating. A nanite swarm chewed the metal and bridged the gap for them.

It wasnt far from there, and Alex ripped the hidden panel concealing the rooms entry way. The matte white door slid open, and Alex pulled Elis inside.

Looking around, the space was much smaller than she remembered, only large enough for the two of them, really.

Brooop.

Alex turned to the door. Boopers sensor pushed as close as it could toward her but was stopped by the entryway. Nameless! Booper doesnt fit!

[Notice: Escape pod requires a large portion of volume for needed life-support and required nanite systems.]

Alexs mind raced, Just download his AI then! Where is Beeper!

Broooop.

[Informative: Drone #3132 experienced termination during critical repair operation. No available space is available for AI core download. 99.5% of NAI capacity required for Avatar and ANUF processing.]

[Suggestion: Retrieve AI core from drone unit and activate escape pod.]

Alex thought about how to do just that when a rocket slammed into Boopers chassis from the side. The explosion sent her flying backward.

[Notice: Drone #3133 has been terminated by hostile action.]

[Suggestion: Activate ShipCore escape pod now.]

Alex pulled herself back onto her feet, staring at the burnt corridor and the legs of Boopers destroyed frame.

[Suggestion: Activate ShipCore escape pod now.]

Something she had never felt before boiled up out of her chest and she yelled. Stepping out of the escape pod, she turned toward the two men who were frantically reloading a shoulder launched rocket system. One dropped a missile to pick up his rifle and shoot at her.

She reached out and a mist of metal eroded from the corridor to intercept the projectiles, absorbing their energy, and turning them into more mist. The cloud grew and grew and rushed toward the two Corpos.

They turned and ran as the nanites reached them, but black ropes solidified around their feet and tugged them off balance. The cloud ate away at their power armor, and little streams of atmosphere blew out of slowly forming holes.

Alex prevented the nanites from melting away the men themselves, and she stared into their faces as horror and fear contorted into pain and agony as vacuum sucked the atmosphere from their lungs.

[Warning: Crewmember Elis is in a critical state.]

[Suggestion: Terminate inefficient behavior and return to ShipCore and attempt crewmember repair.]

Elis?

The words evaporated Alexs rage. She tossed the two soon two be corpses down the corridor and mist of nanites fell to the ground in a rain of tiny metal sands.

The escape pod door slid shut behind her and a sudden acceleration almost tossed Alex off her feet, but she scrambled forward to reach Elis.

Nearby, the reactor core detonated in a vibrant explosion, a wave of energy slamming into the Shrike on the opposite side of the ShipCore pod. The incineration of the ships hull propelled it upwards. Nameless initiated ejection of the pod as the ships power systems failed completely.

The pods thruster burned down the narrow corridor as it escaped through a tube that had been melted away just for them. A miniature I-field flared red as it did its best to absorb the explosion of radiation from the reactors detonation. The matte white paint on the hull of the sphere-shaped pod peeled away as the deadly rays stabbed into delicate electronics inside.

[Warning: ShipCore processing compromised. Insufficient capacity for MainComputer operation. ANUF Capacity reduced to 1%. Core Compression in progress.]

Alex popped open her suits helmet, the atmosphere inside the pod having reached breathable and she frantically called out to her.

Elis! Elis!

When the other girl didnt respond, a growing wave of panic had her hands shaking as she did her best to pry the heavy armor suit apart. Her nanites didnt respond like normal, but she managed to weaken the main bolts enough to pop the chest piece off.

That allowed her to remove the twist lock helmet as well. To Alexs relief, Elis was still breathing, but a pained look greeted her.

Hey, kiddo, sorry about that... think I took an AP round.

Alex felt tears welling up, No.. no its not your fault. Lets fix you up.

Alex realized that Eliss skinsuit was coated with blood, the source being a wound on her chest.

Elis coughed, and blood dripped from her lip. Medkit.

Nameless, what do I do?

There was no immediate answer.

Nameless!

Nameless help.