Existential Threat: Chapter 22 Part 3 of 4 (Patreon)

What the fuck now? Luke’s eyes snapped open, instantly awake, as he stared up at the bottom of the bunk above him.

Moose dropped out of this bunks, pulling on his net-sleeve.

“That’s one wake up alarm,” Fin muttered, dropping infront of Luke’s bunk.

Luke rolled out, catching his net sleeve as Fin tossed it to him, shoving his legs in.

“Battlestations battlestations! This is not a drill. All Legion members report to battle stations! Federation Armadas detected in Azirith system.”

Echo squad looked at one another. Luke pulled up the zipped on his suit and hit the tab that pulled it close to his skin.

“We do the job.”

There were tight nods as they all pulled on their sleeves, closing them. Luke grabbed his helmet and gloves that would turn the sleeve into a space suit, shoving his feet into his boots and smacked the release for the door as he checked his screen.

“Alright we’re on standby,” People ran through the halls, grimfaced, some still pulling on their sleeves. Others who had just gotten off slipping back into them. They checked screens with grim faces, troopers, engineers, pilots and fleet.

The panic from the first attack the Federation dropped on the Orion Sphere World had been burned away with training, with time.

Luke joined the flow of people.

“Food and drink?” Moose asked.

“Might as well, don’t know how long we’ll be on standby for.” He checked the screen, Fin and Moose beside him, watching the sides so he could focus on it.

Fin threw out an arm, slowing him, a group threading around them before Fin pressed his back, pushing him. Luke traced out a nearby break room and a

“Got it,” Luke. “Moose Drinks, Fin food, Shiro coffee.”

They reached the room, people moving through like it was and assembly line, pulling food from dispensers.

Luke grabbed meals in their boxes from a drop-down machine, snatching up cutlery, reaching the other side of the room, the others with armfuls of drink cans and other food boxes, threading through a new hatch into the ready-room.

Jynx came in through another door, the room filled with chairs and screens on every wall she tilted her head in greeting.

“Lets grab some seats,” Luke dropped down into the nearest free row, as they traded out meals. “Extras?” He collected them up and threw them up on the table at the front. Some grabbed from the table as he sat down, cracking his coffee, the can warm as he drank from it, the warmth spreading through him as he dug into his meal.

He pulled out his screen, using a pinkie to work it on his knee.

“Any updates?” Jynx asked.

Luke flicked through reports and the map.

“Thirtieth Army are still clearing the area around the harvester, they’re in the thick of it, its slow prgogress. Adraxi are pushing up through tunnels all over the place.”

“Looks like they’re doing good work with our bots,” Shiro said.

“Bots are still in limited supply on the ground.” Luke slipped his screen back into his pocket, digging into his meal.

A projector came to life, showing the Azirith Sphere world in the front of the room, wormholes and the forces coming through highlighted.

Luke’s screen rang out even though he’d set it to vibrate, he grabbed it, accepting the call as he used coffee to clear his throat.

“Luke, I need you to jump into a bot and escort Ken’Lur’Soo at the Azirith sphere world. We have reports that the Orkaran Aer will attack the station and we want someone from the Lur there. He has his people’s respect, knowledge of Sphere World gear, and we can jack him into a net suit at the camp,” Brad said.

“On my way,” Luke hung up. “Got to go.” He shoved more food into his mouth. “Go, go, we’ll keep it for you,” Shiro held out his hand.

Luke put the box in his hand, it slapped itself closed as he drank from the coffee, jogging out the room, reading his screen for his assigned net room.

***

The bridge of the Ice Syphnx was quiet, Jung-Su’s crew operating their stations.

The main holotank was filled with chaos to the uninitiated, Jung-Su watched Interceptors eat up the Federation missiles, targeting the ships themselves, coming apart under the wrath of the Silver Fist weaponry.

Seven planners had created the operation over weeks. The Legion had gamed it out hundreds of times a day, it was its own game-mode, Sphere World Siege. Each battle they gained more information, they refined their tactics and strategies, the best and most used uploaded to the Battle Net.  Every member of the fleet had played. Against Adraxi, instinctual or controlled by a human, against human ships, against another Sphere World or just their ships. Even the troopers, engineers and pilots got in on it.

It burned in reactions, knowledge, gunnery officers gained understanding so deep as to be instinctual.

When the weapons across the station opened fire there was no hesitation. Rail-cannons and Hellbores unleashed their fury on the Federation ships, seventy percent of their ships little more than scrap, the remainder running like the devil was on their ass.

They slammed into the Sphere World’s fire.

Came in with a ship to ship formation to deploy as much fire power as possible. Jung-Su shook his head, he’d seen the tactic before and was rarely used anymore. He was just using the weapons from around the system, shooting through wormholes.

Orion is locked down already.

He nodded to himself, pausing and tilting his head. “What is the enemy doing?”

“They’re slowing to five gravities acceleration,” Krax, his sensor’s officer said.

“Should I ask why?”

“I don’t think that they zeroed their weapons in to accommodate for their speed.”

Jung-Su pulled up a battle report.

We haven’t registered a single impact on the station and most of them are wildly off.

Jung-Su cleared his throat.

“Uhh Sensors, make sure you put out a bulletin about high speed projectiles across the system, wouldn’t want to have some freighter captain complaining about getting holed with an errant rail cannon round.” Jung Su’s voice turning dry.

“Understood Commander,” Krax said.

“Some people, just come into your system, can’t put up a good fight and litter all over the place,” Suzzane ‘muttered’ under her breath for the rest of the crew to hear. “Would you like to have it on all bands sir?”

Jung-Su coughed, hiding his smile. “Of course, be the civic thing to do.”

“What was the Federation channel,” She ‘muttered’ humming to herself as she looked down her console.

“Sitrep on enemy stations?” Krax asked.

“Go ahead,” Jung-Su said.

“Fifty percent of their stations are out of service, either by weapons fire or surrender. That number is increasing, we are wormholing defensive weapons from Orion system to attack them. The new nanite ammunition replacement system is keeping up with ammunition expenditure, the old systems without the nanite updates are lagging behind with thirty to forty percent of their ammunition storage used up. We are now fighting them within their own systems with CIWS and interceptors. They have to defend themselves instead of firing on the Azirith system.”

“Good work, Helm, add the stations that have not surrendered to our jump points.”

“Aye sir,” Lukas said.

“New wormholes opening up,” Krax said.

“Keeping me on tenterhooks here,” Jung-Su said. The Federation charge was broken, they just didn’t know it yet.

“Orkaran Aer ships sir. They are not firing.”

“Uhh sir, you-well, I think you might want to see this,” Suzanne sounded bewildered, unusual for the nearly unflappable woman.

“Play it.”

“I Overlord, Jer,Aer,Ik command you Sphere World. Make ready to receive me and my host so that I might claim you.”

“Orkaran Aer ships are accelerating steadily towards the station, still no weapons, they’re not even powering them up or targeting us,” Krax said.

“The hell is going on? Do they not mean to fight us?” Suzanne asked.

“Sometimes people just expect their reality to be the one that the universe listens to,” Lukas snorted.

Jung-Su snapped his fingers. “Lukas I think you’re on to something. The Aer claimed the Sphere world in their system by just reaching the station right?”

“Because they controlled the station and had the only means to move throughout the system they would automatically be made the administrators,” Sally popped into existence in her holographic form.

“So they were handed a Sphere World,” Suzanne said. “You don’t think? No, really?”

“Nothing to build a pattern on, they’ve ruled over their fellows for generations, they’re like kings of old, think that they’re born to rule,” Jung-Su grinned, steepling his hands as he leaned forward. A plan forming in his mind. “And I don’t think we should disabuse them of that notion-yet.”

“Sally, I’m going to need you to play along with them. As if you were a new Sphere World without an administrator, can you do that?”

“Yes, but why?”

“I need you to get them to dock all of their ships to the hull. Make up a reason. Suzanne can you get me Foster? I’m going to need some troopers.”

“Commander, all captains and commanders report full readiness to jump.”

Jung-Su’s heart thumped in his chest, slow and heavy, a mantle of something resting on his shoulders. A moment he would never forget, one that would be remembered, he thought he’d be excited in this moment, before he’d made commander, he’d come to fear it. Now one of those moments had arrived, his stomach twisted in nausea.

“Its time the Federation understood that our systems are not to be occupied as they wish. That we will not just stand by as they attack us. Transmit orders to all ships, good hunting, leave nothing but scrap.”

***