Saturday October 22, 454 MC
0935 GMT
Damion
THE NEXT few days passed calmly. Damion was more unnerved from the lack of attempts on his life than anything else. They would do their patrols and come back without incident. It seemed Requiem’s looped playback was working well enough since there had been no more surprise visits. And the Commander hadn’t poked his nose in either.
According to Juni and 108, the President had also showed casual interest in Damion and Requiem. If the President was around and Damion and Requiem happened to pass by or be in the same place, he watched them until they were gone.
Patrol was also easy and passed without incident. There were a few times where it seemed something was on the edge of their radar, but nothing showed up or it left when the scan was expanded, so they never figured out exactly what it was. There had been an extensive diagnostic and physical check of the Olympus. There was no indication who sabotaged the ship or when it occurred in the reports. They were also scheduled for outreaching patrol for the day the President left—the day before the Creators were going to come and retrieve Requiem.
Damion sighed as he dressed for their last day of patrol. The flight suit was a comforting cocoon in which he felt powerful and sure, and things made sense when he wore it. “What are you going to tell the Creators when we get back?”
“I do not know,” Requiem replied quietly as he zipped up his flight suit. He sat on the edge of the capsule to pull his boots on. “I believe this is the type of situation that I can only deal with without preparation. I have until tomorrow to decide.”
“Damn it.” Damion felt his anger and aggression return all at once in the span of one heartbeat. “Just tell them everything is fine.”
“The answers depend on the questions, Damion. I am not allowed to report until ordered to.” Requiem stood, looking at him. “The Creator’s and my agreement was based on your scores. They have improved. Therefore I will not be forced to choose a new Fighter. Beyond that I do not know what to expect.”
“What about the Barrier? The one you can’t even do without almost blacking out?”
Damion didn’t like the idea of Requiem handing that over to the creeps. It was more than just dislike—it was fear. The fear of his Core being taken away for more experiments and never being seen again.
“I must give them the schematics if they ask, but I am the only Core who can transfer energy to the Zodiac and therefore power the Barrier if the auxiliary power source gives out. They want it for the fleet, but it will be useless to them unless I can figure out a way to demonstrate to them how to power it efficiently.” Requiem tilted his head as he explained it, watching Damion.
“It won’t stop them from experimenting.” Damion was furious just from the mere thought of the numerous Cores who would die trying to be batteries. He hated thinking about them taking Requiem from him and using him for their tests. Requiem never thought about the consequences for himself.
“Nothing will stop them from experimentation. Short of termination, that is.” After a moment’s hesitation, Requiem walked over to stand in front of Damion, looking up at him. “What would you suggest for me to do?”
“You wouldn’t like my answer.” Damion put his hands on his hips as he looked down at Requiem. He wondered if those big eyes would suck him in completely one day. Perhaps they already had. Sure seemed like it.
“Would not like, or should not hear?”
“I’m pissed that you probably shouldn’t hear it.” Damion hated not being able to trust Requiem, not completely.
“Very well. Shall we depart? We need to be at the hangar in approximately four minutes and ready to launch in ten.”
“Might as well. Maybe we’ll see what keeps setting off the sensors.” Damion grabbed a few extra protein bars to snack on during the patrol. He despised being hungry, and Requiem seemed displeased by his whining, so it was better to take a snack just in case.
“Our main objective today is to secure the Olympus as it makes its departure. We will be in the outermost quadrant. Once they pass us, they have an hour’s flight before they meet up with their own security force, which was delayed and is now en route.” Requiem opened the door for Damion and followed him out, keying the lock before they began to walk down the corridor to the elevator.
“Why the hell are we the only ones going? Didn’t someone just try and blow the guy up?” He couldn’t believe they would just let the President skip off without his full entourage.
“The President overruled the Commander’s suggestion to wait. The reason was not in the status report,” Requiem answered. “We will be out of the Zeus’s range, enabling us to test the Ares in open space without direct observation.”
“It’s still boring.” Damion shrugged. “But I guess it’s better than target practice or Juni’s stories.”
“It will give us both time to think, as well as attempt to discern what is on the edge of our sensors in that immediate sector.” Requiem keyed the elevator and they stepped in, pushing the button for the flight deck.
“Probably debris.” Damion didn’t fully believe his own words but was unable to think what else it might be. “But debris doesn’t usually move away.”
“Precisely.” Requiem walked out of the elevator, waiting for Damion, then following him toward the flight deck. “Nor does debris move in a way that could be construed as evasive. Debris goes in a straight line. It is intriguing.”
“You like trouble,” Damion teased him. The last thing either of them needed was to be more intrigued or find intriguing enemy spies.
“In actuality I try to avoid any sort of confrontation. It does not seem as if confrontation avoids me.” They approached the door to the dock.
“You could say that,” Damion scoffed, opening the door and walking toward the Ares.
“I just did.”
Requiem looked at him briefly, his brow slightly furrowed. He looked back at the lock console on the side of their Zodiac. He keyed in their code and the hatch on top of the ship opened, the ladder rolling out to the floor. He waited for Damion to board, climbing in himself once Damion was inside the Ares.
Damion slipped into his seat and pulled on his helmet before starting the Ares’s power-up sequence. “Diagnostic report?”
Requiem sat in his chair, jacking in quickly as the chair eased back to a half-reclined position. He quickly went through each of the Ares’s systems. “Diagnostic complete. Ares running at 99.7 percent. Approved for launch.”
“Engaging engines and awaiting bay doors to open.” Damion switched channels on the comm. “Juni, you’re not fucking sleeping over there, are you?”
“So what if I am? You probably had a later night than me,” Juni replied, as chipper as always.
“If I did, it’s because I have more stamina.”
“Screw you, Hawk, I have stamina.”
“Says the guy who once passed out while screwing his girlfriend.”
There was sputtering over the comm from Juni, along with chuckles from the other Alphas eavesdropping.
“Engine heat pattern at maximum output. Bay doors expanding. Ready to launch in fifty-three seconds,” Requiem reported.
Damion initiated the ship forward and led the other Alphas and a squad of Betas out into silent space before the Olympus. “Let’s start scanning.”
“Deep space scans initiating. Radar, heat, and echo sensors all activated.” Requiem’s voice came through the speakers of the Zodiac. “I have scanned through the Ares itself, the sensor output, and schematics of the other Zodiacs. Area clear for a 160-kilometer radius.”
“We’ll do a circle around, then swing back to help the escort for the Olympus.” Damion turned the craft around. He made sure to push the Ares quickly as swinging around the Zeus was no small feat. The expansive battle cruiser was a gleaming metal beast, a testament to all the power of the Corporation. The entire ship appeared seamless. The hard lines where the sides flared out and the lower hangar protruding from the underside of the Zeus made the ship look massive. The main gun on the front was enormous and had the ability to decimate cruisers and smaller fighters in one blast.
“Affirmative,” Requiem stated. “Expanding sensors to maximum output.”
Damion did his circle of the Zeus and swung back just in time to see Olympus leaving the docking bay very slowly. “This is Ares. We’re all clear. This looks like another boring day, folks. We’ll take the aft side of the Olympus.”
Damion switched the comm off, a habit he had started since Requiem came back altered. “We could just fly away, you think? How far would we get before they realized we were running?”
“We would not travel this far before we would be fired upon and terminated,” Requiem’s true voice said from his chair. “And I cannot leave the Chrysalis Corporation. I will not betray it.”
“Yeah. We can’t betray them to be happy,” Damion growled, looking at his gloved hands on the controls.
“No, I cannot. Even if I did want to, when they found out, I would be terminated. The tracking device implanted in my skull would shut down my internal systems,” Requiem explained. “May I request that you stop speaking of such things as it will make it more difficult when the Creator questions me tomorrow?”
“I can’t help it.” Damion sighed as he looked out at the Olympus. “If I don’t talk about it, then I just want to shoot something, and right now that might not be a good idea. Alpha Fighter Hawk, why did you shoot upon the President’s flagship? Sorry, sir, I was thinking about the white-coated creeps wiping my Core and taking him away from me forever.”
“Perhaps a visit to the recreational range might be in order when we dock,” Requiem suggested. “Approaching one-kilometer mark. The rest of the fleet is breaking off. At the request of the Olympus’s pilot, Ares will continue as guide to the Olympus to the edge of the zone.”
“We’ll come around the Olympus and move ahead of them once everyone is out of our way.” Damion flipped the outgoing comm open again while letting out a sigh. “See everyone back on the Zeus.”
“I’ll have a brew cracked and waiting for you,” Juni promised as the other nine Alphas moved back toward the distant Zeus.
The Betas continued patrols around the Zeus as was normal.
“Path cleared,” Requiem replied. “Sensors continuing at max output and sweeping. Thrusters activating to medium power to pull out of the Olympus’s wake and move ahead.”
Damion waited for the Zodiacs to pass before pulling forward and dipping under Olympus to get ahead of the flagship. “Should only be about twenty minutes away, then we’ll be able to let your hand go, Olympus.”
“Thanks, Ares.”
“No problem. Doing our duty.”
As Damion communicated back and forth with the Olympus, Requiem concentrated on the sensors.
“Something is out there, just on the edge of my scans, but I cannot quite be clear what it is. It is the same anomaly we have been seeing for the last four days. I have checked the sensors several times to see if there is a malfunction, but they are working perfectly.”
Damion slipped off his helmet so that he could scratch his head and roll his neck. This was boring. “You bored?”
“Bored? I do not believe so.”
Damion watched the empty, star-filled space in front of him. The expansive nothing they were floating in was less frightening than the mines back home. Such a large space, and they didn’t have any part of it to themselves. He gave a full-body shake as he tried to get back on task. “Why couldn’t the President’s security force just meet us at the Zeus?”
“It is for security and space reasons. That many ships in the vicinity would be a flight hazard. Additionally the ships reported that this early departure by the President coincided with their engine maintenance window. Since they are unable to perform long-distance flight, they are watching for rebels or opportunistic assassins to make sure there will be no incidents between passage.” There was a pause. “Something just zipped across my scanner, Fighter Hawk. It is too slow to be a comet or something of that nature. It was just on the edge of the sensors. I would like to recommend secondary alert status and have the Olympus increase their scanner range.”
“All right, if you want, but don’t get me excited over nothing.” Damion pulled his helmet back on and contacted the Olympus.
“You usually do anyway, where I am involved,” Requiem replied over the intercom, his normal expressionless tone sounding exceptionally dry.
The Olympus replied that they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. They might have said more, but their comm systems went out. Requiem gasped as an invisible wave flowed over the Ares. It abruptly knocked out the Ares’s communication systems.
“Comm system terminated by an outside source,” he reported in a tense voice. As soon as he finished speaking, the sensor system went haywire, showing unknown vessels flying in at high speed. “Incoming! Approximately thirty unknown hostiles.”
“Rebels, more than likely. Can you contact the Zeus?” Damion spun the Ares into a roll over the top of Olympus, taking on a defensive position. “Can we talk to the President’s ship at all?”
“Negative. All comm systems have been severed by a pulse of some kind.” Requiem’s eyes flickered rapidly, concentrating on keeping all the ships in sight. “Incoming on the starboard side and aft, three vessels. Suggest evasive tactics and to lead them away from the Olympus.”
“Then we better make ourselves worth following!” Damion rolled the craft again and opened fire on the enemy ships, trying to piss off the attackers as much as possible. He figured taking out one craft and disabling the other was a good start.
“They seem to be ignoring us and avoiding firing on the Olympus. They are leaving half their numbers to surround the Olympus but are not attacking it,” Requiem reported. “The other fourteen vessels are following the Ares.”
“What the hell are you doing back there, sleeping?”
As good as Damion was as a Fighter, pilot, and shooter, the rebels seemed to be dodging their fire along with firing at them. But with Damion’s erratic movements and their wide attacks, it seemed the rebels weren’t trying to hit them. Taking a deep breath, Requiem closed his eyes, charging up the Impulse Barrier.
Damion grumbled as he saw his panel flicker for a moment. He disliked Requiem at times for this very reason; his Core was preparing to initiate the Barrier. “Can’t you, for once, just have a bit of faith that I can get us out of a situation on my own?”
Damion’s teeth ached at the first direct hit to their shields. The jar was nothing for now, but he knew they couldn’t take many direct hits and live. He wasn’t lying down and taking it, but there were just so many. Since the enemy was clustered together, at least it was easier to hit many of them at the same time before dropping down or up above the debris he left in his wake. Just so many of them. His starlit sky faded under a blanket of metal and fire. “Fuck.”
“Eighteen more enemy craft coming from the port bow along with a larger vessel. Odds of it being their main battleship: highly probable,” Requiem reported as the Impulse Barrier slowly pulled energy from the auxiliary energy pack.
Damion knew it was enough to power one small burst that would disable approximately ten enemy ships with how tightly packed they were. Anything stronger would start to pull from Requiem himself.
“Probability of the Ares escaping the battle with the use of the Impulse Barrier is low. Without it, it is… not impossible, but highly improbable. They are not shooting to kill at this time. They are attempting to disable our shields.”
Another hit rocked the Ares, punctuating his point. Klaxons sounded throughout the small interior, red lights flashing warnings as text scrolled across the screen. “Shields are down to 33 percent. I have concluded that they mean to capture us along with the Olympus, more than likely for information. This cannot happen.” He paused for a moment. “One of us must survive and escape to alert the Zeus.”
“One?” Damion was getting pissed at the computer statistical bullshit that his lover was spewing. Damion wasn’t shooting at the ships to capture them, only to kill at this point. “Screw you, Requiem! We both get out of this or we both die! There is no other option.”
“There is an infinite array of options. This one is merely the most likely to work,” Requiem replied. “Activating the Impulse Barrier. Going offline for approximately ten seconds.”
With his work and practice with the Impulse Barrier over the past few months, Requiem could activate it quicker now. A familiar whine sounded through the Ares, almost too low to hear before it rose to a high pitch and then exploded into a bass thump that ranged outward from the Ares, disabling the rebels around them.
Some of them stayed out of range, just far enough for the blast to be unable to reach them.
“Charging. The Ares has approximately one minute before the enemy vessels come back online. More incoming.” The disabled ships spun in uncontrolled movements, bumping into each other and crowding the Ares to the point where it almost wasn’t maneuverable. “Larger vessel coming alongside the Olympus but not exhibiting any hostile action at this time.”
Damion felt bile in the back of his throat as he thought of what Requiem had to endure just to use the Barrier almost every time they went into battle. This other ship wasn’t some small freighter. Damion knew a battle cruiser when he saw one. “Fuck. We can’t just leave the President’s ship here.”
He’d never get far if he just cut and ran back to the Zeus. If the Commander didn’t kick his ass out of the Alphas, the Creators would because they’d be scapegoats. Doing so would mean he would fail in the true test of being a Fighter for the Corporation. His life was their property as much as Requiem was their toy. He didn’t have a choice. Fight, kill, or be killed. Die at the hands of rebels, fighting their best, or limp back and face another form of death. “We’re in this together. Don’t think I’m leaving you behind.”
Requiem didn’t answer. “Enemy coming from all sides. Powering up Barrier. This is a decision that you must make, Damion. There are too many variables for me to go through all the options. I do not have time to analyze all of them, as I would need to do in order to make a proper decision. This will take a mind that does not need to be analytical.” Requiem took another deep breath as the Impulse Barrier started to power up again, drawing power from the electric impulses within his own body through the jack. The whine increased in pitch.
“You’re a real pain in my ass.” Damion dipped the ship to the right a few degrees, leaving the disabled enemy behind and then raced back toward the Olympus and the other ship. “Hopefully when the President doesn’t reach his convoy, they’ll send someone and the enemy ships will be too slowed down to have gotten him far or have killed him yet.”
“Incoming,” Requiem reported loudly as enemy vessels suddenly surrounded them. Another shot hit their shields, rocking the Ares and sending sparks throughout the interior as the shields failed. Requiem let out a small sound of pain. “Shields are down. Damage to the starboard thruster. It is only at 37 percent capacity. Guidance system is also damaged and inoperable.” His voice was tight as electricity crackled through the Ares. “Core offline for fifteen seconds. Engaging the Impulse Barrier.”
The Ares rattled as the Pulse spread out from the Zodiac, leaving ships dead in space. But more peeled away from the Olympus and also exited from the larger vessel. Requiem immediately began powering the Barrier again.
“Shut down everything we don’t need! I just need the engines and the weapons. Reroute everything, Requiem, even life support.” By this point Damion had given up thinking they would get out of this alive. It was now time to show the rebels exactly how much damage an Alpha Fighter could do and that there were no cowards in this small craft. “Give me some shields.”
“As you ordered,” Requiem replied in a breathy voice.
The shields flickered back to life just in time to take a hit that would have taken out the number two power supply. The lights within the capsule pulsed and then dimmed, the only light now from Damion’s operating systems and the outside lights of the Ares. The air within the ship grew warm, almost stuffy except for the occasional burst that circulated fresh oxygen. The life-support systems were failing and misinterpreting commands. “Shields at 46 percent, engines at full, weapons at full, life support down to 30 percent, starboard thruster leaking and at 12 percent,” he reported.
“Let’s see how much damage I can do to that ship.”
Damion tried to get out of the other ships’ way while laying fire over the battleship’s hull. He turned the Ares around and flipped them over, cursing loudly as he realized how much harder it was to make the Ares respond now. He was able to lay down another burst of fire over the hull before having to break off to avoid enemy fire.
The shots only hit the large ship’s shield, sending flickers of light over the dark metal. The rebels’ vessel was as large as the Zeus and had opened a bay, slowly pulling the Olympus into its large underbelly. There would be no problem with the Olympus fitting within it. The entire hull of the Olympus disappeared fast as if the rebels were used to hauling large vessels inside, and quickly. All their ships split off from surrounding the President’s ship, heading toward the Ares.
Another hit, and the shields were torn down again, sending the Ares into a spin.
“Engine one down. Both thrusters damaged but functional.”
Red lights strobed throughout the Ares. “I do not understand. At any point in time, the rebels could have killed us, but they seem to be waiting, circling like Earth sharks.”
Damion heard him take a deep, shaky breath.
“Activating the Impulse Barrier. The only logical action at this time is to retreat. You will have one minute to do so.”
“No! You can’t! Requiem!” Damion screamed, wanting to turn and shake his lover to make him stop but unable to take his gaze from the window or his hands from the controls for even a second. He was filled with terror for Requiem, his heart pounding in his chest with the knowledge of what Requiem was doing to himself. To them.
The whining of the Barrier filled the capsule, combining with the shriek of the alarms, the crackling of failing systems, and the smell of burning electronics. Requiem didn’t stop.
“Wait! Requiem! No! No!” Damion screamed again desperately, but he was too late once the Ares pulsed outward.
Tears, along with sweat, trailed down Damion’s face. The cabin began to heat up and then suddenly cooled as life support failed. The aftershock from the Pulse on the unprotected Zodiac sent pain up Damion’s arms.
He looked over his shoulder at Requiem with wide, tear-filled eyes—broken, chest not moving, face in the lax expression of death, unresponsive to any of Damion’s screams. All this made a fire in the pit of Damion’s stomach, forming a rage that he wanted to show to the galaxy. Damion screamed futile insults, only using up more of the precious air that was already thin in their cabin, as he beat his hands bloody against the unresponsive controls.
Without Requiem to hold them, systems began to fail, powering down. The only items that remained operational were the weak thrusters and parts of Damion’s flickering screen that showed him which way to retreat.
From the distance, four rebel vessels at the edge of the Pulse radius that had been waiting for this opportunity swarmed in. The sound of grips hitting the metal of the Ares’s hull echoed throughout the chamber as they latched on to the Zodiac, pulling it toward the large ship that had already swallowed the Olympus. They maneuvered easily through their comrades who remained dead in space, and they weren’t taking their time. They moved with urgency.
Lastly the systems that monitored Requiem’s vital functions started screaming their own alert but were suddenly silenced soon after they began as power was taken from them as well. Damion found himself heaving large gulps of air and looking at the last few panels around him that still had power. There was no escape. They would be dragged into the belly of that ship and he’d be slaughtered or tortured for information. Requiem would be dissected. He reached out to the main monitor, pressing a few buttons before inputting his personal code.
A static voice crackled throughout the cabin, barely audible. “Initialize self-destruct.”
“Confirmation by Alpha Fighter Hawk, Damion Pierce. Core deceased. Override Core sequences and set to destruct in five minutes.”
That gave him just enough time to say good-bye. It gave the rebels time to think they had won, and it would put them right in the belly of the battleship. Then he’d blow it all to Hades from the inside out. It might not take the ship down, but it should fuck up enough of their bay to give the President’s convoy time to meet up.
There was a red pulsing light that read 04:30 on the screen above Damion’s head. Damion couldn’t send a wave out even if he wanted to. Who would he have called? Mom? Juni? Sorry, guys. Finally fucked up big enough to end up spaced.
Damion’s heart began to race as the battleship eclipsed the Ares as his Zodiac was swallowed. Requiem. That one name was on his mind. Damion hurriedly took off his helmet, dropping it to bounce on the metal floor as he reached for the single pistol holstered to his right thigh.
He could see people now through the red numbers on his window.
03:24
“Why don’t they just kill us?” Damion didn’t want to wait for the indignant death of being shot, trapped in his ship like a fish in a barrel. He couldn’t quite turn enough to reach Requiem with his safety harness holding him tightly to his control chair.
He unbuckled his safety harness, and while it was a tight fit with the top hatch of the Ares down, he managed to squeeze himself next to his lover’s chair.
Requiem wasn’t moving, nor did he seem to be breathing. His eyes were closed and his head tilted to the side. His arms had fallen off the rests in the last jolt, and the only thing that kept them there were the input jack cables.
02:15
The enemy ships pulled the disabled Ares through the atmospheric barrier, a glittering of silver as they did so, bringing the damaged Zodiac into the same bay as the Olympus. Hydraulic arms reached out, grasping the Ares with a jolt as the vessels disconnected their cables. The arms dragged the Ares into a docking plate where people were waiting at the end of the ramp.
The first thing Damion noticed was people who looked like security—men and women with various weapons—and medical technicians around a stretcher. There was also a tall woman with ruby red hair, tan skin, and a slight scowl on her face that caused the beauty of her features to appear severe. Beside her was the President, calm, cool, and collected.
Alive, and obviously there of his own choosing.
Damion’s Core had sacrificed everything for a traitor. Betrayal, hate, and sadness filled Damion’s chest as he saw the President standing there seemingly safe, sound, and right at fucking home. Damion looked away from the collection of people outside their view window, pressing his forehead against Requiem’s, trying to will life into the man he cared most about in the universe. The one person Damion had come to truly love.
His hand tightened on the pistol grip as the strident tone of the two-minute warning echoed in the small dying ship. Damion pressed a soft kiss to Requiem’s lips with his own trembling ones in a final gesture of love. “We die together. There was never any other option for me,” he whispered softly against the cooling lips as he shut his eyes, awaiting the inevitable.