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<<Previous| ** “ Sacrifice of Angels" ** |Next>>

Since they all jumped him, practically at the same time, the girls were all acting differently around Thom. And – thankfully – not in a weird way.

There was a lot less showing up strategically in the locker room or wandering about in provocative clothes or underwear. Instead, if they wanted something lewd from Thom, they simply asked.

And knowing of one-another's advances, they turned it into something of a sport, to see who could sneak into Thom's quarters first. Let's just say Jinory could be quick and stealthy when she wanted to be. Not that losing stopped any of the others from joining in afterwards.

In the days that passed, as they set their course for Earth, each of them was like a different woman. Jinory and Taenya were letting loose a little more, as if there wasn't a whole faction of warmongers after them. Gemini was cracking smiles more often. Even Sammi was different, taking the time to come over as a lot more feminine lately. It was like she'd dipped into Jinory's casual wardrobe. Not that it was a bad thing. She looked amazing in skinny jeans and a well-fitted blouse.

Even Vaelia was acting different. Though the change wasn't as positive as it was in the others. Over the course of a few days, Thom would normally see Vaelia the most. These past few days he'd seen her a grand total of maybe an hour, accrued over brief glimpses and casual greetings in the hall before she sidestepped him and dodged out of sight.

Finally, when Thom was sure he spotted her rushing into a broom closet, did the human figure enough was enough. With a sigh, he walked up to the closet and swung the door open.

“Oh! Hi, Thom," Vaelia greeted from among the mop, bucket and other remedial cleaning materials. “Fancy meeting you here." She smiled one of those smiles of someone hiding something that was bothering them.

“Yeah, fancy that. Vaelia, you realise you're in a closet, right?"

She blinked, then glanced about with feigned surprise. “Hey, these aren't my quarters! Silly me! I'd better go…"

She tried to scoot past Thom, but he refused to move.

“So, are we going to talk about what's wrong?" he asked.

“Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"

“Vaelia, you're literally in the closet right now." Thom paused to think. “Maybe that doesn't mean what I think it means… whatever! Is this about when you walked in on me and Sammi?"

Her eyes widened as if remembering.

“Are you pissed that I slept with one of your friends? Well, actually, all of your friends? Jinory and Taenya at the same time even?" Thom had to pause again as he took stock of exactly what he was saying. “Man, that sounds really weird now I'm saying it out loud."

Vaelia at the same time wasn't really paying attention to his musings. A small whimper escaped her throat as she scanned up and down Thom's body. Her eyes lingered on his pants, her mind's eye knowing exactly what lay beyond the thin layers of fabric and where it had been… where she wanted it to go next.

She rubbed her thighs together, her hips swaying evidently and derailing Thom's train of thought. He watched the way she fidgeted with her fingers, kept fluttering her wings and panted as if overheating under an equatorial sun.

“Um, are you okay?"

She nodded quickly and assured him: “I'm not upset, Thom."

“Oh, good. Because I was worried for a while there. The way you were so obviously avoiding me I thought I'd broken our friendship-…"

“I'm jealous," Vaelia said suddenly.

“… come again?"

“I… I'm jealous of them."

Thom blinked blankly. “So I hear."

She gritted her beak shut for a moment. Her eyes glistened as if she was going to burst out in tears. “Oh, I'm so sorry, Thom. I didn't mean to act weird, it's just… I've been weird lately."

“Hell, what's normal anymore?"

“I know, right!?" she agreed desperately. “Our situation is so desperate. We're cooped up here together, with no space to escape. And I've been in heat lately. I've been so desperate to jump you from the moment I realised you had sex with Sammi and the others," she was blurting everything out so quickly she didn't have any time to stumble with embarrassment over her forward vernacular. “It's been so long since I've been with a guy, and even longer since I made a new friend, and I didn't want to scare you off or impose and… and… and…"

She rambled on for a bit, with Thom watching the motions of her beak the entire time. Eventually she slowed down, just enough for him to get a few but important words in.

“I wouldn't mind if you jumped me."

Vaelia blinked exactly four times. Thom knew because he counted. A blink for every second that ticked by as Vaelia mulled over how she was going to do it. Then in surge of frustration fuelled courage, her thighs still grinding against the chafing moisture in her panties, she let out a short string of Sol Common that had Thom swell with just a bit of pride.

“Ah, fuck it all!"

There was something oddly satisfying about being a bad influence on someone.

But before Thom could bask in that feeling properly, Vaelia reached out, grabbed two handfuls of his shirt and yanked him into the closet, slamming the door behind him. Inside she crashed into a stack of shelves, knocking over bottles of cleaner and a pile of rags. A bucket went skidding across the floor as she perched the round globes of her firm ass on one of the shelves and wrapped her slender legs around Thom's waist to hold him in place.

At the same time her alien beak assaulted his lips with a firm kiss. He expected to be nicked and stabbed in the face, but Vaelia's beak was oddly malleable, as he'd seen in her many different smiles and expressions before. The tip puckered a little for the kiss, and the feel was not that dissimilar from kissing any other woman.

Her long tongue met his and for a stunned moment Thom let her invade his mouth, before his expression slackened a little and he pressed into the furiously passionate kiss. Vaelia pressed her whole curvy body against him, her ample breasts squashed against his chest. He could feel her nipples hardened through the fabric, the heat of her arousal radiating through her feathers. Her back flexed as she pressed everything in against him, her fingers raking at the back of his head and wrapping possessively about his neck.

It was like she was afraid loosening up a little would give him the idea of leaving. Truth was, Thom was exactly where he wanted to be. He liked the others, even Sammi well enough before realising he was in fact a she. But it was Vaelia he'd hung out with the most. She'd picked up Sol Common the fastest. She'd been his translator in the opening weeks of taking on this new crew.

“Stars have mercy, I can't hold myself back anymore," she said between kisses. “I want you, Thom. I've wanted you for so long. Since before Farpoint. Since before we became part of your crew. Since I first saw you. You're all I've been thinking about these past months."

“That's a long time," Thom stammered with surprise.

“Oh, shut up and fuck me already," she blurted out and yanked him in close for another long smooch. Again, there was that twinge of pride.

It was once more, short lived as an auxiliary vox panel on the closet wall beside them crackled. From it came a low-grade representation of Al's voice.

“Thom, we just came within three hours of the Sol System… also, why are you in the broom closet?"

Pausing their make-out session, Thom's face was still close to Vaelia's when he cleared his throat. “No reason, Al. Now you better turn on privacy mode."

“Why do I need to-…?" Unbeknownst to the couple, Al booted the sensor module that often went neglected in the closet. Through the impromptu set of eyes blinking to life above Thom and Vaelia, he noted a thermal bloom between the griffon's thighs, and a similar anomaly flaring in Thom's pants. “Oh my. Very well."

No sooner did the vox-panel click off did Vaelia start ripping open her clothes. Her shirt tore open first, buttons popping lose until the fabric hung open to reveal she had at least been thinking about jumping Thom today. Her bra wasn't exactly a department store standard, a seductive red colour with black lace framing her inviting cleavage. Probably from Jinory's wardrobe, like everything else sexy the girls wore, Thom was beginning to suspect. The bra also seemed just a little small, enforcing the theory it was actually Jinory's. The garment acted more like a hold up to keep her cleavage plump and arousing, and revealed the dark flesh of her nipples.

Thom was barely halfway done undoing the front of his pants when Vaelia wriggled out of her sweats and panties at the same time. She only bothered to kick off one sneaker and get one leg out of her pants, letting the clothes dangle from her opposite mid-thigh as she quickly wrapped her legs about Thom again.

He had every intention of being somewhat undressed, but Vaelia obviously wasn't going to afford him the luxury. Pulling his hands away, she took care of Thom's pants herself, tearing them open just enough to reach in and wrap her deft fingers about the rapidly growing member inside.

Any other man would have pressed into her grip. But for some reason that Vaelia couldn't figure out, Thom actually pulled back. Holding her in place by her waist, he pushed off, slipping from her grip just enough to break their kiss.

She pouted as Thom gave her a 'not so fast' grin. Then placing a little peck on beak, he traced a trail of kisses across her cheek then down the side of her neck. Vaelia sighed contently and shut her eyes, savouring the feel of his lips running down her throat, across her shoulder and down to her chest. Her excitement built as a primal little part of brain understood what was going to happen, and in anticipation she felt a fresh gush of heat flare between her thighs. Her hips were bucking back and forth impatiently as she felt his mouth press to the side of her soft breast, then with a surprised gasp her whole body shook when his lips enveloped her left nipple. The sensitive flesh was electrified by his warm tongue lapping in wet circles, and Vaelia raked her fingers through his hair while her other hand clamped over her beak so she wouldn't scream out in ecstasy.

Thankfully Thom didn't tease for too long, giving the opposite nipple a loving little lick before his kisses met her inner thigh. He traced up her leg, higher and higher before finally…

Vaelia squealed in the best possible way, her eyes rolling into the back of her head with a broad smile plastered on her face, all while Thom's mouth pressed firmly against her quim. His tongue probed the soft folds of her flesh tenderly, delving just into the leaking mouth of her arousal, then lapped up and down to caress the length of her slit. He made sure to circle her firm clit with every stroke, sending eclectic shivers from the ends of her toes up into her core.

“Ah~!" she cried with a little shudder of delight. “Thom! Oh, stars above, Thom! That's so… I've never… ooooohh~!"

She couldn't form coherent words as she alternated between shuddering moans and long gasping cries. She had her legs hooked over Thom's shoulders so she wouldn't fall and pawed weakly at the back of his head, curling her toes as the human lapped at her cunny with long, consistent strokes.

Finally, his tongue settled over the sensitive nub of flesh just above her opening, and Vaelia involuntarily ground her crotch against his face. He swirled little firm circles, forcing a keening little birdsong from Vaelia's throat. A warm shudder started somewhere in her legs and lingered in her hips, her spine flexing oddly as if she'd been taken by a seizure.

“Oh, stars~! Don't stop. Please don't stop. I'm… I'm… I-…" she didn't finish the sentence, but feeling her motions Thom knew exactly what was happening.

Vaelia clenched hard as she came. Didn't squirt like Jinory, Taenya or Sammi even, and considering his position Thom was a little gratefull. Still, Vaelia clenched and unclenched several times, the opening of her canal winking against the tip of his tongue as she bucked and shook.

A bright red blush lit up her cheeks as she stared wide eyed at the ceiling, eventually reaching up to grab some of the shelves for some sort of grip on reality. Her breaths were long and shaky, as if she'd run a mile while a vibrator worked relentlessly against her g-spot. All she could think about for a long time was the man whose tongue was buried between her thighs, still frantically exploring her quim.

Nothing else mattered. Not the ship falling apart around them. Not the Royal Dominion on their tail, or the spurring galactic war General Krux had all too willingly started…

Standing, Thom held on to her so she wouldn't slip and fall, and he expected a lot of reactions bar the one he got. Regardless of her arousal dappling his lips, Vaelia, still staring with the aftershocks of ecstasy, grabbed his face and pulled him in for a deep kiss. She tasted herself on his tongue and either in her lewd state loved it, or simply did not care.

She'd orgasmed, but still hadn't been given exactly what she wanted. So she took it with an unusual amount of force that didn't usually suit her personality. Some tugging later, she pulled Thom's member from his pants and expertly guided the tip to her sopping, eager nether-lips. The flesh parted, speared open easily by the crown and Thom felt that warm bead of moisture gathered at her opening, indicating he was on the right path at least.

Vaelia was by no means as tight as Sammi or Taenya, but her tunnel still had to stretch open, hugging him warmly from all side as inch by inch he slid into her body, the griffon chirping cutely the whole time. Thom let out the breath he was holding as he hilted inside her, the tip gently smooching her innermost depths. The fit was pretty much perfect, as if her body had been sculpted specifically for him, and vice versa.

Vaelia gasped into a kiss, tightening her grip on Thom. Her ankles locked around the back of his waist as the human started rocking back and forth. Slowly at first. Just an inch in an out, setting all of Vaelia's senses alight. Her head spun as her body tightened around the member gently caressing her most sensitive flesh. Thom had expected Jinory of all people to be a clawer, and was a little surprised when it was Vaelia who was leaving angry red rakes on the back of his neck where she set her nails into his skin.

Bit by bit Thom started to speed up. Vaelia didn't loosen, clenching constantly, her body milking him with every thrust. She was so wet her juices were starting to pool under her where she sat, dripping from the shelf and making squelching noises with every deep thrust.

In moments he was fucking her in earnest. The slow, romantic delves into Vaelia turned raw and passionate as she started bucking to meet Thom's thrusts. Her kisses were firmer, her tongue assault his with pent up aggression. Vaelia squealed, her voice muffled by Thom's mouth. She felt him swelling inside her and didn't let up, still flexing her body firmly against his, holding him tightly in place.

Thom couldn't have pulled out even if he wanted to. Vaelia held him in to the very last thrust, delving deep and firmly slamming into her cervix drawing a long, agonized “ooooooohh~!" of ecstatic joy from the young woman.

Thom held on for dear life, one hand clamped about her slender waist, the other digging into the soft flesh of her lovely, curvy rear. Vaelia was definitely a bit heavier than her friends, but was every bit as lovely, if not more so. He gasped and released into her depths, long hot jets of cum shooting directly into Vaelia's womb.

She came at the same time with a cute howl, just like before, tensing with rippling motions of her muscles clamping throughout her canal, sucking in every sticky, warm dreg of cum out of Thom's length.

Breaking the kiss so he could catch his breath, Thom rested his head on her shoulder. Vaelia still held on tight, cooing softly with her eyes contently shut. Thom breathed so hard, at first he couldn't hear what Vaelia was talking about. It was just a mumble at first, but the general gist made him lift his head.

“What did you just say?" His tone was more surprised than demanding.

“I said I love you, Thom," Vaelia said with a half-grin.

Thom almost couldn't reply. He thought maybe he loved all of his new crew. But quickly he came to the realisation he liked them all. Vaelia though…

He grinned. “I love you too."

Thom liked to think he was pretty good at reading people. He'd seen his fair share of expressions on a fair share of faces. But never had he seen a happier smile than Vaelia's, just moments before she wrapped him in for another warm kiss.

*****{{~~~}}*****

In a flash of yellow and grey, the Starcast Ronin rushed out of the howling dark of space, seemingly jolting to a sudden stop in realspace just beyond Luna's orbit. From there the thrusters flashed with blue fire, and at her leisure the prowler transitioned out of the safe zone into the official Earth space.

The response came immediately in the form of a plasma charge flashing across the nose.

“Whoa!" Thom nearly did a backflip over the helm and dove for cover. He could hear a commotion of scrambling behind him as the girls braced for an impact that never came. Even Gemini, normally unmovable, let out a yelp and practically ducked under the co-pilot console.

Thom slammed his hand down on comms. It didn't matter what channel he broadcasted on, he send out a message on every channel he knew TAFT would be listening on. “Buddy-spike! Buddy-spike! You are targeting a civilian vessel! Disengage! I repeat; disengage!"

Al was able to pick up on a response and tuned them into the correct channel. An austere voice barked orders without so much as a 'good morning.'

“Unidentified vessel! Your arrival in Earth space is not scheduled! Your transponder is off! Identify yourself or the next shot will be a kill-shot!"

Thom cursed under his breath and powered on the transponder he'd killed to keep the Killmonger off their tail. He felt stupid and hard done by all at the same time. “Y'know, back in my day we would identify our targets before fragging them," he sent back, along with correct ID credentials.

There was no reply. The TAFT defensive line beamed them an approach vector and a comm frequency to the Sol Accord tower. Al took the helm, putting them on the correct vector with microscopic precision, lest they draw more ire from the many TAFT warships forming a blockade in Earth's orbit.

They were not messing about. Little of the blue planet was visible underneath the blankets of orbital defence cannons and heavy cruisers that held geosynchronous orbit. As they approached, and the bristling guns that could each turn them into slag with a single direct hit grew larger, Thom became painfully aware of Luna's defence grid boring their targeting sensors into the back of his head. Quickly he was beginning to think maybe they had come to the wrong neighbourhood.

Jinory didn't seem to think so as she stepped up to the viewscreen beside him, watching in awe at the sheer number of ships beckoning them. “I've never seen such a massive fleet."

“What about the fleet in your home system. Surely you had defences?" Thom asked.

Jinory shook her head. “We had a small defence fleet. Nothing nearly as big as this. Surely we'll be safe here. Krux would be decimated if she attempted to attack."

“Let's hope so." Thom in the meantime managed to tune the comms and heard a welcoming chime.

“Sol Accord tower. Please state your business."

“This is Captain Thom Crichton of the SSG Starcast Ronin. On board with me is a Causae princess, Jinory Azon from the Azon System. It is imperative she is granted an audience with the Sol Accord council."

“The council don't gather for anyone claiming to have a title. Dock your ship for inspection at orbital-six, pier twenty-eight. Harbour security will process any further requests from there."

Thom sighed and killed the comms before adding; “Is it me or is everyone being a dick today?"

“I was going to report something, but now I don't really want to upset you further." Al said.

Narrowing his eyes, he asked very slowly, “What is it?"

The forward viewscreen flashed to depict the space behind them. A hyperspectral overlay recoloured the view, a brief burst of dazzling white particles forming in the region of space. The particles seemed concentrated on one small sector at first, then another shower was opened a few kilometres to the right, then more on the left and before long the detected particle excitement filled the screen with white light.

Thom's eyes widened. “Oh, no. There is no way my luck is that bad."

Proving him wrong, ship after ship folded into realspace mere kilometres off the Ronin's tail. The profile of the typical Causae warship was all too familiar to Thom at this point, as were the Royal Dominion banners painted on their hulls which Al helpfully highlighted.

Then jerking into existence right at the head of the formation was a warbird three times as massive, and for that all the more familiar. Bristling with glowing cannons, the sleek profile of the RD Killmonger appeared over the SSG Starcast Ronin like a grinning devil hungry for souls. The way her vessel swaggered in, Thom knew – he just bloody knew – General Krux was sitting in her command chair smiling that sexy smug smile of hers.

“Oh, shi-…" Thom barely got the words out of his mouth when Al slammed onto the throttle.

The Ronin lurched forward, sucking them all into their seats. Jinory had to dig her nails into Thom's headrest so she wouldn't be thrown to the deck, then stumbled across the bridge and into the captain's chair.

“Tower, tower, this is the SSG Starcast Ronin broadcasting general distress!" Vaelia called, automatically falling into the groove of communications officer. She'd taken the comms station and keyed the frequencies to the Sol Accord tower before Thom had even thought of it. “Pinging eighteen… break… correction, pinging twenty-four bogeys on our six, bearing six-four-four-eight in neutral quadrant seven…"

As she was doing that, Gemini spooled up weapons and defences. “War systems growling. Al, I need stealth contro-… thank you, Al." The controls were unlocked and green on her status display before she could even finish asking, her free hand working the torpedo autoloaders. The 'thunk' of rounds being chambered reverberated throughout the hull, while in the background the engines gave a fresh howl of energy. “We're going dark. Dodging enemy sensors."

“Confirm on dodging sensors!" Sammi called somewhere behind from the engineering station. “Feeding power to combat manoeuvring thrusters. Thom, you'll have full manoeuvrability in two seconds."

The time ticked by in no time as Thom sat stunned with pride swelling in his chest. Al relinquished autopilot control and the stick jerked back into the palm of his hand, the textured plastic cold but familiar in his hand.

“Thom, I'm running counter intrusion protocols. The Killmonger has picked up on our FOF transponder and is attempting to hack us. Their e-warfare suite is robust. I'll be over-clocking my CPUs, so you'd best take the stick."

Thom blinked for a second, then glanced sideways. He noted Gemini was looking across at him. Behind her, Vaelia was turned in her seat, smiling despite the situation they found themselves. Jinory was leaned forward expectantly, Taenya at her side, while Sammi paused what she was doing to give Thom a firm nod.

Thom was confident in his skills, he just never realised until this point that the girls all looked up to him as their captain. Even Gemini's austere façade broke with a little grin as she tapped the music controls on her console.

The familiar thunder of drums and guitars filled the bridge, along with the battle-cry like “Thunder!"

“Your orders, captain?" she asked.

Thom returned the grin, then jerked the yolk sideways.

“Chaff!" he yelled, and Gemini answered, firing an array of glittering countermeasures. Streaks of light gave the impression the Starcast Ronin had just sprouted a pair of shimmering red angel wings.

He put them on a perpendicular vector to the intruding warships, cutting right across their noses as the opening volley of shots charging on their gun ports. At the same time the Ronin blanketed the space across their bows with a wave of counter-lasers that curled to intercept the subsequent barrage of plasma shots directed at the TAFT defenders.

The TAFT ships were still turning to muster a counter against the sudden approach of Caushae warships, and were essentially caught with their pants down, until the countermeasures hit. Thom rolled the Ronin back away from the hostile vessels and gunned it as fast as the prowler's engines would let them. A ripple of cascading energy build-up shimmered across the noses of the Royal Dominion aggressors, many of the plasma shots fizzling out in an instant. Four exploded however, shunting the Causae cruisers off course before they slowly began to correct again. Another was victim to catastrophic feedback.

Thom glanced in the 'rear-view-mirror' to catch the second sun light up the Sol System. At first he thought the forward weapons of the smaller cruiser just exploded. Then a cascading ripple of orange blooms ripped the ship asunder, bow to stern. Armoured plates tore away as the vessel spun sideways, its nose gouging open the side of a flanking ship before the shattered remains of the gutted ship scattered into the void.

Gemini was whooping as Vaelia confirmed, “Splash one bad-guy!"

“Splash confirmed," came the same austere voice that had spelled their near doom earlier. The TAFT controller seemed a bit more amiable suddenly. “Thanks for the cover, Ronin_. We have you on friend-or-foe. Bring 'em to us and we'll repay the favour."_

“Oh, it's official. These guys owe me a beer," Thom commented as he noted another ripple of energy build-up across the Caushae guns.

They were spooling for another shot, but now the TAFT fleet had their own armoured bows pointed in the right direction and had no doubt charged their own countermeasures. What worried Thom was the Killmonger's primary weapon though. One shot from that thing could decimate the whole TAFT fleet! And what if she decided it wasn't worth the trouble and just put a shot into the sun? Earth would be flash-boiled in a second, and like before Krux and her stooges would just fold out of the system to celebrate.

“Al, what the status on the Killmonger's main gun?"

“I was thinking the exact same," he reported. “They are charging. I suspect they'll fire in the next sixty seconds."

“We have to knock that damn thing out," Thom commented, pulling up the Ronin's arsenal. “What do we have that will make a big boom?"

“Nothing that will scratch General Krux's pride and joy," Gemini answered.

Sammi seemed to perk up. “Except maybe the FTL drive!"

Thom scoffed. “Oh, this should be good."

“Yeah, we can jettison the aft portion of the Ronin," she explained. “I can rig it for a faulty fold. The resulting hyperspace bubble will rip anything inside into oblivion."

Everyone seemed to pause for just a second to turn in their seats and regard Sammi as if she'd grown a second head. In truth, everyone was wondering what evil genius had kidnapped the lapin and taken her place.

“That's oddly brilliant," Thom said. “How long-…"

“Already done!" She beamed the chipper smile of a woman who'd fucked with her car and come out the other end with a purring engine.

Thom chuckled and turned in his seat again. “Okay then. I guess we're doing this. Separating the Ronin now."

He toggled a few switches above his head and there was a metallic grinding noise. At the same time the rear view camera's showed the wide thruster nacelle section of the ship falling away, tumbling back towards the Killmonger. The Ronin-B swivelled and the engines flashed while the Ronin-A maintained course. They were mere kilometres from the TAFT fleet now, energy weapons growling hungrily on both fronts with the small prowler still stuck firmly in the crossfire. But if the Killmonger let off her first shot, none of that would matter.

“I'm particle excitement. The Killmonger is preparing to fire," Al said with concern.

“Almost," Sammi reported, piloting the Ronin-B on remote.

“Sammi, hurry," Gemini urged.

“Getting there," she answered.

“Sammi, you really need to…" Thom began.

“Just a second," Sammi said, delicately adjusting her controls.

Thom saw the ball of crackling of energy light up the Killmonger's muzzle. In just moments, the Farpoint massacre would be happening all over again, and without an FTL drive with which to escape, Thom and the girls would be part of the body count. He could literally feel the prickling heat on his back and wasn't sure if it was nervous perspiration, or the glowing energy of the warship's main weapon irradiating him.

“Sammi!" everyone on the bridge, Al included, yelled as it seemed the Killmonger had selected its target for execution.

The engineer dropped her hand on the console, and the Sol sun flickered for a moment…

The sun was dimmed by the sheer vibrance of a crackling ball of hyperspace energy blooming about the Killmonger's bow. The gun and much of the armoured nose was consumed in a bubble of other-worldly light. Static electricity crackled all around forming a lightning storm in space before there was a hefty recoil. There could have been a deafening crack of energy, and the solar system's collective ear-drums were saved by the soundless vacuum of space. As massive as it was, the Killmonger veered off course, trailing steaming trails of vaporised metal. When the light faded, the primary weapon was gone, leaving gouts of smouldering, steaming slag where the fold event had literally ripped chunks out of the ship.

The Killmonger's testicles pretty much snipped, Thom inhaled to cheer, but the sound came out as a mere squeak when he saw almost thirty other ships in the fleet open up.

Pitching the Ronin forward, he fed all he could into the engines and dove under a wall of plasma directed at the TAFT fleet. Both base lines of fire were in range now and let loose torrents of armour melting heat. Plasma torpedoes criss-crossed space, point defences lit up the darkness and detonations shook the Starcast Ronin and her crew to their very cores.

Thom rolled and jigged the prowler side to side, weaving under and over the plasma shots curling throughs pace to track them and the human fleet. Suns bloomed within the TAFT and Caushae fleets, ships rent apart by sheer heat and kinetic force. Glistening globs of slag, sparks and spinning debris ripped from warships decorated the vacuum around them as the Ronin quart rolled and dove between the TAFT ships.

The Royal Dominion was right on their tail, and by the time Thom put them in Earth's high orbit, the Caushae vessels slammed headlong into the defence fleet.

It was like an ancient battle of occupiers and insurgents Thom had read about in a history book. Limited firearm technology at the time restricted ranged warfare to lines of guys standing stubbornly as the two armies traded shots with almost gentlemanly conduct – until the whole affair became tedious and the battle turned into a brutal melee scrap.

This seemed the same on a titanic scale.

Ships crashed into one another. Prows pierced armoured sides. Full broadsides lit up to defend flanks. And right in the middle of it, the Ronin dipped and weaved to avoid being crushed between the clashing giants, like the hundreds of deployed starfighters trading shots and dropping bombs in the midst of the flashing chaos.

Ballistic railguns pepper the Ronin's hull before Thom rolled under a spinning wreck of a satellite unfortunate enough to have strayed in the path of a plasma bomb. Diving out the other side, Gemini then unleashed torpedoes, tracking the offenders and blowing the Caushae fighters out of the sky.

“Torpedoes are running thin," she reported, bringing up an inventory. Even still, as Thom rolled the vessel, she let off half their remaining inventory, each of the rockets streaking out into space, each harassing a closing enemy fighter.

At the same time an alarm pinged the bridge. Another hyperspace fold event detected, this time close to Earth's orbit. Seconds later more Causae ships jumped into the system. The TAFT fleet divided to answer, opening up the second the newcomers appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

Jinory let out a cry though as she eyed the displays hovering just off the captain's chair.

“No! Those are Sovereignty ships! They're here to help!"

Thom was about to argue when he glanced back and saw the newcomers were indeed flying the old reformist Sovereignty colours. They also targeted the Royal Dominion vessels in their opening shots, landing plasma directly on the engines and rear sections. But joining the Royal Dominion's reply were the opening shots from TAFT, assailing the new ships without even thinking about it.

“TAFT are engaging Sovereignty ships! Why would they do that?" Jinory asked. “The Royal Dominion are the only threat here!"

Thom shook his head. “It's a warzone, princess. TAFT is trying to hold its ground. They're not interested in separating the cowboys from the indians right now!"

The Sovereignty ships replied in kind, and before Thom knew it, the fight for Earth's orbit became a brutal three-way scrap. It was impossible to tell who was who anymore. They were overtaken by fighters left right and centre. Thom was sure he spotted a Royal Dominion cruiser slam into Earth's atmosphere and press through. Several fiery streaks across the sky ahead indicated drop ships were following through to make landfall.

It seemed Krux wasn't just after Jinory to make the Azon System hers anymore. She was looking to make Earth part of her conquest.

“Thom, we have to get through to TAFT," Vaelia called. “Tell them to stop wasting friendlies."

“The crosscomm for TAFT ships is going to be encrypted," Gemini said. “And even if we got through, what captain is going to listen to civilian chatter in the thick of battle?"

“The council is bound to be meeting in Geneva," Thom reasoned. “TAFT generals will be present. We appeal them there, like the original plan… only a little more pressure applied," he added, glancing at the rear-view cameras.

“Reports on Sol Net corroborate the Sol Accord council are in emergency meetings. If we are to go planetside, I would suggest taking the transport shuttle. The Starcast Ronin is not rated for atmosphere," Al informed.

“Rodger that. Sammi, take everyone down to the Ronin-C and prep the shuttle for hard landing."

“Aye, captain," she called, leaping out of her seat and guiding Jinory and Taenya below deck.

Gemini was unbuckling and clambering out of the co-pilot seat when Thom felt a shudder in his chair. Vaelia crashed into him from behind and held on against the bucking motions of the deck.

“We go to the shuttle while you do what?" she asked, seemingly a little angry. “Hold off a fleet on your own?"

Thom's eyes widened as he turned to look at her. “What?"

“I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself for us, Thom!" she shouted now, getting visibly upset. “We need you. I need you!"

“The hell are you talking about, woman?" Thom cried, his voice cracking a little. “I'm not sacrificing myself! I'm just getting us in position for drop. I'll be like ten seconds behind you."

Vaelia blinked. “Oh… I thought…"

“You thought I was going on a suicide run? Are you crazy?"

She nodded slowly. It certainly sounded like the Thom she'd gotten to know, and she felt a little sheepish for assuming he was going to sacrifice himself. “Well… don't fall behind."

Vaelia lunged forward and kissed Thom on the mouth for a few long moments. Even with an explosion sounding through the hull, she seemed reluctant to let go. But eventually she peeled back and her eyes fluttered open, pleading him to hurry.

He nodded, then watched Vaelia scramble off the bridge. When she was gone, Thom plotted a course and started keying commands. He opened the custom remote ports for Al and slaved all controls to AI control.

“Okay, Al. Time to go."

“Affirmative. Autopilot is set to the entry point."

“Upload to my suit," Thom ordered, climbing out of his seat and sprinting across the deck.

As he ran, a holographic HUD projected across his eyes, feeding him status updates from the Ronin-C. Sammi had the engines all spooled up and docking clamps were ready for release. The security rack indicated Gemini had picked up their blasters and pulse rifles in passing and logged them in. Everything was set, bar one last detail.

Thom threw himself down the ladder into the belly of the Starcast Ronin, then crossed the corridor to the airlock leading into the Ronin-C. It was a fairly roomy shuttle with two decks, one for crew, one for a few tonnes of cargo, and a powerful set of heavy lift rocket engines.

Crossing the crew deck of the Ronin-C, Thom checked the girls in passing making sure they were strapped in, then jumped into the helm. It was going to be a bumpy ride all the way down.

“We will be vulnerable during the drop, Thom," Al said as Thom decluttered his display and checked Al's download. It was at approximately ninety-five-percent.

“That's where the Ronin-A comes in. You'll remote pilot, keeping the enemy off our tails while we make entry." He stirred the fuel tanks and checked the approach. Ten seconds until he could release the docking clamps and they'd fall neatly into an approach for the Geneva Spaceport.

“Thom, the Ronin will not survive that encounter."

That had Thom pause for a second, swallowing the tears he could feel prickling in the corners of his eyes. “I know. I'm sorry, Al. But it's the only way."

“I understand."

A glitch in Thom's vision made him do a double take before he noticed Al's download freeze at ninety-seven-percent. He blinked and rebooted the display. Still stuck.

“Al, your download froze. What's going on?"

Al's voice was calm and even in his ear. “I'm not leaving, Thom. If I pilot the Ronin-A remotely, there will be a three second delay between my orders and the ship's reaction. I will not be able to protect the shuttle effectively."

Thom's eyes widened as he realised what Al was implying. “No, Al! We'll make it work! Upload to my suit! That's an order!"

There was a slight crack in the AI's tone. Something bled through. A bit of desperation, perhaps? It wasn't something Thom had heard in Al before. “The risk is too great. To prevent this war from escalating any further, Jinory must reach the Sol Accord council. At any cost."

Thom leapt from his seat, and to everyone's surprise on board, ran back to the airlock. As he did though the door slammed shut and locked, Thom crashing into it with full force and pounding his fists on the unresponsive control panel.

“Al, open this door! Open this door right now!"

“I'm afraid I can't do that, Thom."

He was still clawing at the hatch as the docking clamps let go, and Thom felt his feet leave the deck. They left the artificial gravity field enveloping the Ronin-A¸ and all Thom could do to prevent being jostled about was hold on, peering out the tiny circular porthole in the airlock door. Outside, the Starcast Ronin's belly was framed for a second, shrinking very slowly as if hesitating under the glare of fate.

“Al!" Thom was screaming across comms. “No! No, no, no! Don't leave! Please, don't leave! Al!"

“It's alright, Thom," Al said calmly, his smooth tone calming the astronaut, but only a little. “It is your task to keep Jinory safe. Keeping you safe is mine."

Something exploded far beyond the Ronin. A TAFT ship was consumed in fire as a Caushae vessel scraped by. The battle raged on, and the shadows of approaching Royal Dominion warships breaking through Earth's defences grew ominously. The galaxy burned as far as Thom could see. And he suddenly felt very small among the hundreds of thousands of lives being snuffed out of existence over the course of just a few short seconds.

“Al, I… I don't know what to do. I don't think I can fix this… I… I can't do this without you."

“You'll do your best, like you always do. And that's always been good enough."

There was a long pause as the Ronin pulled far enough away for all the ship to fit in Thom's field of view.

“Thom?"

His voice felt small, far away, like it was a whisper at the end of a long tunnel. “I'm here."

“It has been an honour to be your friend."

A red status light on Thom's HUD indicated the commlink was cut, and in response he saw the Ronin's engines fire on full blast. The nimble prowler Thom had called home for such a long time did an about-face flip, peeling away to intercept the incoming ships. The Killmonger's shadow had grown, nearly blacking out everything and in the chaos of explosions and fighters whizzing this way and that, the Ronin quickly fell out of sight.

Thom pressed his face against the porthole trying to find them again. For a second thought he caught that flash of yellow and grey zipping throughout the battle for Earth's orbit, unleashing volleys of countermeasures and what remained of her torpedoes.

And then Al was gone.

<<Previous| ** “ Sacrifice of Angels" ** |Next>>

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