Project Prometheus Ch. 45 - Teaser (Patreon)

“Inari, would you like me to command the drones to assist in your chase?” Jaesa asked through the ship’s intercom.

“Negative, Jaesa! Keep the drones situated above the base to ensure the townsfolk have every advantage possible!” Inari replied as she continued to put as much power as possible to the engines.

“Very good, captain!” the AI responded.

“Time to target?” Inari asked, hoping she was close enough to start firing.

“Twenty-three seconds, Captain Sunara! I advise you to start priming your guns!” Jaesa answered with a smile, getting caught up in the thrill of the chase. They broke through the atmosphere of the planet, hot on the heels of the escaping corvette. Inari had taken Jaesa’s advice and warmed up the guns, getting them ready to do some damage.

“We are in range!” Jaesa stated seconds later, and Inari opened up on the corvette.

The pilot was no fool as he shifted and jinked from left to right. He moved up and down, spun this way and that, pulling every trick out of the book just to stay alive. Inari wasn’t going to let them go that easily and stuck with them, her weapons blazing. She fired a few torpedoes, but the corvette deployed countermeasures that negated her torpedoes.

“These guys must be someone really important if they’re pulling out all the stops to stay out of our sights,” Inari remarked, and she spun with them, hoping she could land a few more hits. While the flight pattern was wild and erratic, she had landed a few lucky shots, damaging the corvette’s shields and armor.

“Captain, evasive maneuvers!” Stanley warned as he joined Jaesa in the chase.

“What… oh SHIT!!” Inari yelled as she banked hard, firing flares and a few other countermeasures.

Torpedoes screamed in on her position, as energy bolts from the fleet’s cannons sought to end the Darkstrider. The captain pulled off a few fancy moves of her own, avoiding most of the incoming fire. Several torpedoes detonated near their position, the shockwave enough to diminish their shields a little. More shots closed in on them as the fleet came to the corvette’s defense.

“Damn it! Better get back down and out of range! Fuck! Just who in the hell did we let get away?” Inari fumed.

“We might find those answers back at the base. According to transmissions, it has been taken, with the remaining forces surrendering to ours,” Jaesa told the woman happily.

“Nice!! Might as well head on back!” Inari said as she put some distance between her and the fleet.

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“Thank you for the assist, Captain Walczak!” Major Sawyer told him, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

“No problem at all! I’m glad to see that the more important personnel of this operation got out intact!” the fleet commander told him. “So, how exactly did you lose the base?”

“That will take some time to tell, sir. If we may be permitted to dock, I can show and tell you exactly how it happened,” Robert told him.

“Permission granted. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a base to destroy,” Walczak stated as he was making ready to give the order.

“There is no need for that, captain,” Sawyer told him hurriedly.

“Oh, there is every need! We can’t let such an asset fall into enemy hands, which is why it must be destroyed!” Walczak explained.

“Well, if you give it, say, six minutes, then you will not only see the base destroyed, but it will likely take with it a good portion of the planet’s defenders with it,” Sawyer smirked.

“Ah! Set the self destruct did you?” Walczak chuckled.

“Indeed, I did! So, if you just care to sit back and relax, you will see a good firework show happen very soon!” Sawyer laughed darkly. Walczak smiled as he had the crew stand down for the next six minutes so they could all watch their enemies die.