Chapter 93

[WIDE-AREA SCAN: 12.5 REACTIONS DETECTED]

[IDENTIFICATION SIGNAL: NO RESPONSE]

"Hmm, no response? So it’s just the usual WIND mob again?" Taro scratched his head. "What’s the distance? We gonna be trading paint anytime soon?"

"Negative, Mr. Teiro. They are at a considerable distance. If you wish to seize the initiative, I recommend an Overdrive jump. As for the 0.5... that remains a mystery," Koume replied with her usual clinical politeness.

"Roger that. All ships, battle stations! We’ve got twelve unidentified bogies, likely WIND. I'm sending the data now. Prep for Overdrive. Give me the link, ladies."

[SCAN DATA TRANSMISSION: COMPLETE]

[DATA LINK: ESTABLISHED]

[LINKAGE OVERDRIVE: STANDBY]

"Let’s keep our distance and see what they're up to first. Might as well put in a call for backup while we're at it."

Taro fired off a request for reinforcements along with a standard warning to the nearest station. Once the paperwork—or the digital equivalent—was out of the way, he kicked the Overdrive into gear.

"At this range, we’re looking at what, ten seconds? Wait... what the hell!?"

The moment Taro initiated the jump, several blips on his HUD simply vanished. He frantically checked for Drive Particle signatures, but there wasn't a single trace of a warp.

"Whoa, are they shooting each other? Did the WIND actually evolve a sense of friendly fire?"

"I’d love to think they’re that stupid, but it looks like something else," Marl said, her voice tight. "Look at this, Teiro. I’m putting the Optical Scan on the main screen."

Taro stared at the monitor. "...Are those Enzio ships? What the hell are they doing out here? This isn't just 'off the front lines,' this is practically the middle of nowhere!"

A literal cloud of question marks seemed to materialize over Taro’s head as he stared at the chain-link emblem of the Enzio Alliance.

"Seriously, what gives? Is it a domestic spat? They’re split into two groups."

"Mr. Teiro, two more target reactions have vanished," Koume reported.

"Ugh, again? I don’t follow the logic, but what a waste of perfectly good hardware."

"It’s not a waste, it's a slaughter!" Marl shouted. "Look closer at the Optical Scan! There’s a blurred smudge in the footage!"

"A smudge? Wait... gah! Is that an Electronic Warfare Craft!?" Taro’s eyes went wide. "Dammit, so that’s what the 'point-five' was! This is bad news! All ships, prep for a Continuous Drive, now!"

If we don't move the second we drop out of warp, we're toast.

Taro’s fingers flew across the console, cramming a lifetime of navigation math into the few seconds he had left. The enemy had numbers, and a fair fight was for people who didn't like living. Plus, any ship that could hide from a high-grade sensor but still show up as a "blur" on a camera was almost certainly a specialized stealth boat. A high-spec Electronic Warfare nightmare.

[INCOMING: DISTRESS SIGNAL]

"A distress signal? Seriously, can this get any more chaotic?"

The warp ended, and the Plum II and its companions dropped into real-space within spitting distance of the mystery fleet. Taro hesitated for a heartbeat, but his instincts told him to stay mobile. He finished the prep for the Continuous Drive just in case.

"Recalculating... alright, we can bug out whenever we want. We’ve got Warp Stabilizers packed in like sardines, so they shouldn't be able to pin us down easily. I hope."

"Don't 'hope,' be sure!" Marl snapped. "Wait, look. They really are shooting at each other. Between that and the distress signal, it’s definitely infighting."

"Mr. Teiro, we have an incoming External Line," Koume interrupted. "It’s from the lead ship. Connecting now."

Before Taro could even nod, Koume patched it through. The cockpit was immediately filled with static and the frantic screaming of a man who sounded like he was having the worst Tuesday of his life.

"THIS IS THE SPACESHIP MARY ANN!! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!! PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING, HELP US!! WE’RE JUST A CIVILIAN SHIP!!"

Taro let out a non-committal grunt. He weighed the options in his head for about half a second before picking the one that seemed the least likely to end in a fiery explosion.

"...This is the Plum II of Rising Sun, TRB Union, EAP-affiliated. We’re guessing you’re from Alliance space, but... actually, forget the formalities. We can help, but you’re gonna have to play by my rules."

Marl shot him a look that clearly asked if he’d finally lost his remaining marbles. Taro ignored her and turned back to the comms.

"If you want to live, I need you to open a backdoor for BISHOP’s external input. Drop all your firewalls and security. Everything. You’ve got thirty seconds."

"THIS IS THE MARY ANN! I DON'T SEE HOW COMPROMISING OUR SECURITY HELPS US! OUR LOCKS ARE PHYSICAL, IT’LL TAKE THREE MINUTES!"

"Five... six... seven..." Taro started counting.

"ALRIGHT! FINE! WE’LL DO IT IN ONE MINUTE! JUST DON'T LEAVE US!"

Taro nodded, satisfied. He kept a predatory eye on the Enzio fleet as they continued to hammer the civilian ship. If they so much as breathed in his direction, he was going to blast them. If they tried to jam him, things were going to get loud.

"Teiro, are you crazy? It’s a total trap!" Marl hissed.

"Eleven... twelve... that’s why I’m making them drop their security. It’s hard to pull a fast one when I’ve got my hand on your throat."

"Pardon me, Mr. Teiro," Koume interjected. "If you intend to keep a count, wouldn't it be more efficient to use BISHOP’s internal Timer Function?"

"Fifteen... sixteen... Koume, you are a literal genius."

Taro sheepishly activated the digital countdown and began rerouting the ship's power. He shoved every spare watt toward the Overdrive generators. The one thing he couldn't afford was getting stuck in a localized jammer field. He thought he saw Koume puff her chest out with pride in his peripheral vision, but he decided that acknowledging it would only encourage her.

"Marl, finish the function assembly. I’ve locked the coordinates."

"Got it. Linking all three ships now."

"Koume, shields up. Just in case."

"Already ahead of you, Mr. Teiro. We are fully polarized."

Taro let out a long breath as his crew worked with clockwork precision. The silence in the cockpit grew heavy as the timer ticked down toward the one-minute mark. The floor began to hum with the raw, violent vibration of the Overdrive generator spooling up.

"Should we transmit a distress signal to our main force?" Koume asked.

"Nah, don't. The Enzio guys will see it as a hostile act and start shooting. Best to keep 'em guessing."

"So they're hesitating?" Marl asked.

"They haven't shot at us yet, so they're at least confused. But hey," Taro muttered toward the comms, "hurry it up, or we’re leaving without you."

I’ve saved civilians from WIND before, but I’ve also seen people die because I was a second too slow. I’ve had to leave people behind. I hated it every time, but out here, there aren't always happy endings. Sometimes you just pick the least-shitty option and pray.

"Time’s up. All ships—"

"IT’S OPEN! THE BACKDOOR IS OPEN! WHAT NOW!?" the man on the comms screamed.

Taro pumped a fist. "Perfect. You don't have to do a damn thing. Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

[EXTERNAL FORCED COMMUNICATION: INTRUDING...]

[DATA BANK ACCESS: DENIED]

Taro ignored the denials and began overriding the Mary Ann’s systems. He watched BISHOP’s display as it executed twenty-four parallel tasks, shredding the civilian ship's encryption like wet tissue paper.

[ACCESS CODE: FORCED OVERRIDE]

[DATA LINK: FORCED CONNECTION]

[DRIVE SYSTEM: HACKED]

"Teiro! Their turrets are turning! They’re locking on!" Marl yelled.

"Right on time! Let’s get out of this neighborhood!"

[LINKAGE OVERDRIVE: ACTIVATED]

Just as the first high-energy beam erupted from the pursuing Enzio ships, a flash of brilliant blue light consumed the Plum II, its escorts, and the Mary Ann. In a heartbeat, the space was empty.

---

"Dammit! Trace them! Find out where they jumped!"

Gowen, commander of the Enzio Alliance Border Guard Unit, slammed his fist onto his desk. His arms were spindly and lacked any real muscle, but he managed to make enough noise to make his subordinates jump.

"We can't, sir! There are several beacons in the area, but we’ve lost all visual and sensor contact with the vessels!"

"They didn't just evaporate! What, did they hop into another dimension!?"

"No, sir, but..."

"The Empire is right on our doorstep!" Gowen shrieked, spray flying from his mouth. "If they make it to the core and talk, our entire plan is dead! Find them or I’ll have your heads!"

Gowen collapsed into his chair, his hands shaking. He tried to hide the tremors by gripping his armrests. The Empire was terrifying, but the people waiting for him back home if he failed were much, much worse.

"Where did they go... think... think..." he muttered like a lunatic. "Any debris?"

"None, sir. Only the wreckage from the ships we already hit. This is just a standard anti-WIND intercept point. It’s got beacons, that’s all."

"I know it has beacons, you idiot! Dammit... if there’s no debris, they must be using stealth. Or a Self-Jammer. I didn't have any intel about that civilian ship having stealth tech, but those three newcomers are a complete mystery."

Gowen stood up and marched over to the BISHOP terminal.

"All ships! Fire the Active Sonar at maximum output! If they’re hiding behind a jammer, I want to blast the paint right off their hulls!"

If the enemy was tricking his eyes, he’d just overwhelm them with so much raw data they couldn't hide. His ship was a state-of-the-art electronic warfare platform. The "Sonar" was a polite name for what was essentially a massive ATTACK ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURE (ECM) WEAPON.

"Captain, won't that give away our exact position?"

"Who cares!? If they escape, we’re finished anyway! Now FIRE!"

"Preparations complete! Firing Active Sonar!"

Gowen gritted his teeth as a high-pitched whine filled the bridge. A massive pulse of electromagnetic energy erupted from the ship, making the entire hull groan and shudder.

"The pulse has knocked out several of our own unprotected systems, sir. Switching to Solar Wind Shielding mode."

"I don't care about the toaster! Did we find them!?"

The technician stared at his screen, sweating. "...No. Nothing. There’s no one out there, sir."

"............DAMMIT! SEARCH AGAIN! SEARCH EVERYTHING! CHECK EVERY SPECK OF DUST!"

Gowen’s voice cracked as the abyss of despair opened up beneath him.

If I don't kill those traitors, I'm the one who gets purged.