Chapter Six
"No!" a voice yelled in the background of the EDF Headquarters.
Commander Singleton had the distinct sense he would be equally furious and heartbroken in a few moments, once he got over his numb shock.
He was tempted to tell the radar operator to run a diagnostic (as the mechanical substitute for eye-rubbing), but he doubted it would help much. A visual like that was hard to pass off as a glitch, as much as he wanted to.
"Commander?" Stone said helplessly from behind him.
Singleton turned to look at him. Anything to keep from looking at the garish image of the Yamato, spewing smoke and fire, resting atop the Cometine citadel.
"So that's it," he whispered softly. "Our hope is lost, then."
The government leaders and military personnel turned to look at him before bowing their heads.
Wildstar groaned in pain as he opened his eyes. The hallway was badly damaged from - what?
"Everybody okay?" he said, pushing himself to his feet.
"Did we activate a booby trap?" Knox asked from off to his left.
"As far as I know, there aren't any rigged explosives," Desslok said from where he was leaning against the wall.
"Dash probably did something stupid with the guns," Wildstar said, shrugging.
"Not likely. This area is one of the most heavily guarded in the entire ship. The impact would have had to be incredi-"
They looked at each other for a few seconds, before Sandor yanked out his communicator and yelled into it, "Royster! Royster!"
The only response was a crackle of static.
Royster winced as the despairing transmission from Sandor crackled over his headset. Unfortunately, he was a bit too busy to answer it.
He blasted off another three shots from behind his console, ignoring the pain that lanced through his arm from a lucky shot.
"Captain!" he yelled, spotting the black hat and firing at the Cometines clustered around him. Hijikata brought down the rest and ran over to him.
"Royster," he said, and then noticed his injury. "You're hurt."
Royster smiled slightly. "I think it will be quite some time before we can get any medical treatment."
Hijikata nodded simply and took over the sentry duty as Royster answered Sandor's communication. "Chief, I'm here. What's the big issue?"
"Did the Yamato crash?"
"Yeah."
His headset pinged as another person tried to call him. "One sec, Chief." He flipped over to the other channel. "Mechanical station, Neville Royster."
"Royster!" Conroy shouted on the other end. "Can you call up Sandor and tell him we've blasted the other two centers and ask what we should do?"
He rolled his eyes. "Sandor, Conroy says the other centers are kaput. My readings back that up."
"Great. Can you tell him-"
"Call him yourself! I'm not your secretary!"
Chuckles, likely from a certain Gamilon.
Royster sighed and flicked the channel back to Conroy. "Sandor says to meet him at the other center." He flipped back to Sandor and said, "I told him to meet you there."
"Thanks. Good luck."
He nodded and terminated the connection. "All right, people, as of now we've got a rendezvous to keep at the final energy center!"
Sandor switched off his communicator and tucked it back in his pocket. "Well, then."
"We should probably get to the energy center," Knox said, shouldering his pack. "If he arranged a rendezvous there, we don't want to be late."
"Yeah-"
"Wildstar!" Desslok shouted as he shoved him to the ground. A shot barely missed his right shoulder as he hit the deck.
"Thanks," he whispered right before the Cometines attacked.
A soldier who seemed to leap from nowhere snatched up his weapon. Wildstar kicked the rifle out of his hand and grabbed the Astro-automatic just in time to shoot down another soldier who was sneaking up on him.
Just like the Titan fight all over again, he thought as two more attacked. One shot came dangerously close to his head as he hit the deck and fired on the two. One went down, but the other took a glancing blow on the shoulder and wisely decided to abandon the assault. Wildstar took the brief respite as a chance to survey the battlefield, noticing instantly that they were outnumbered approximately three to one.
It's your own fault for sending everybody not needed to defend the fighters on a different squad, he thought. Across the corridor, a hidden wall rose up and another group of ten more soldiers charged into the fight. Four of them detached to attack him, weapons blazing.
Wildstar squeezed off three shots before ducking behind a collapsed section of wall as the two remaining fired at him. He attempted to fire back at the Cometines, only to be driven back when a shot grazed the back of his hand. Despite their offensive thus far, this couldn't go on much longer without the Cometines eventually finding a hole in their defenses. And they knew it; they had cut off any hope of retreat for that exact reason.
However, that door had given him an idea, if he could only pull it off. . .
Wildstar glanced back over his shoulder, trying to commit the path to memory, and then looked around for a suitable distraction. A light was ensconced in the ceiling more-or-less above his head, the protective covering shattered from impact.
Perfect.
He shielded his eyes with one hand as the other pointed his weapon toward the light and fired.
It broke instantly, plunging them into blackness.
Immediately, Wildstar leaped to his feet and ran towards where he fervently hoped the door was.
And crashed right into the wall.
I am so happy the light's busted, because if Desslok saw that, he would never let it go, Wildstar thought as he felt along the wall for the door. A few feet away, his hand met the edge of the doorway and he pulled himself into it just as the emergency lighting kicked in.
In the red lighting, Wildstar noticed the back of his hand had been sliced open by a sharp piece of glass. He ignored it, turning to look back into the corridor.
Not far away, Knox met his eyes and nodded before punching a nearby soldier right in the face. Disregarding the rest of the half-blinded Comet Empire troops, he dashed to the door and flung himself down beside Wildstar. "Now what?"
Wildstar's eyes flicked across the corridor, unable to locate any familiar faces. He was about to sound a retreat when a hand covered his mouth.
"Not one of your best ideas, Wildstar. I disabled the cameras, but any microphones will still be operable."
Wildstar rolled his eyes as Desslok stepped back, but his curiosity quickly overcame annoyance. "How'd you manage to pull that one off?"
"The time-honored art of shooting them," he replied, amusement showing in his eyes. "Next time, would you be so kind as to notify me next time you decide to destroy the illumination?"
"I'll send a memo."
Desslok rolled his eyes and got to his feet. "This way, insane human."
Nova let out an exhausted sigh as the final Cometine soldier fell. "Guys, you can come out now," she muttered as she dropped the Astro-automatic on the radar console. "Coast is clear, and all that."
The bridge crew slowly clambered out of whatever hiding places they had ensconced themselves in.
"Well, now what?" Venture said as he checked over the helm controls.
"Are the mechanisms damaged?" Hijikata said as Royster, of all people, helped him to his feet. The past day-had it really only been a day?-had really made her rethink her opinion of that guy.
"I don't think so," Venture replied, jiggling the main steering slightly. "Just out of power, right?"
Orion nodded. "Give my crew twenty minutes to repair the engine, and we can be off this rock."
"Twenty minutes?" Hijikata said disbelievingly. "A job like that would take everyone else in the fleet at least a day and half!"
"This is Yamato," Orion said simply. "She's been there for us, and when she needs a hand, we'll be there for her. We rely on each other. That's what the Star Force is."