Chapter Eight: Grand Stream
The CU CHULAINN buckled as the vessel entered the Grand Stream's storms. Tom stood at the center of the command post, quietly staring out at the gray clouds that buffeted his ship around. The strong winds had swallowed more than one hapless ship – even mighty battlecruisers – but he wasn't afraid. He knew the CHULAINN could handle it. Yet, although he had flown the Grand Stream countless times in this ship, he felt the familiar rush of adrenaline through his veins every time the ship shuddered under the pressure and seemed to groan in protest.
The Grand Stream was the birthplace of many myths and legends – from the dragons of the ancient times to the ghosts ships that were supposed to haunt its winds. Many people feared it, for it meant death to most of those who dared to venture into it. The winds were so strong that almost anything would be torn apart eventually. As they traversed the storms, he could barely make out the shapes of wrecked vessels that hadn't made it safely through. The Grand Stream was a graveyard, and countless people had found their deaths here.
Still, it was an unearthly attraction that pulled him into its grasp every time he watched the storms. Somehow, they were beautiful in their destruction, and he smiled as he recalled the dream of flying, surrendering himself totally to the winds, flowing with the current to prevent the ship from being torn apart. The Vanship was dancing with the winds, flowing with its current naturally.
The Grand Stream had housed many of the legends, and offered shelter to most of the forgotten myths of their history – it was were the heros's resting place after their death, it was the place from where their ancestors watched them. It was the den of the giant dragons of ancient times that came roaring out of the skies, majestically sweeping the lands. And then, it was the monster that swallowed everything that lived.
The sleek ship cut through the dangerous winds with frightening ease, the wind forming vortexes around the tips of its wings. Like a silent predator, the CU CHULAINN continued to stalk the Grand Stream.
Alongside the CHULAINN, a little off to port, flew her sister ship. Night-black agains the background of gray, the BATTLEMASTER cut through the air as swiftly as the CHULAINN. The gunship cruised the skies as its master surveyed the gray clouds before her.
Caroline tore her gaze off the viewport. The storms brought back memories. Their base – their home had been here, not too long ago, before it had been destroyed by the Guild. Their home for nearly ten years. Actually, she thought, the CHULAINN was our home. We spent more time on that old bucket of bolts than on solid ground during the last decade. She smiled as she recalled the memories of the cruiser that was now flying alongside her. As much as she liked being able to boss around this much firepower, she had liked being a second-in-command. No responsibility, no constraints. The absolute freedom. She had liked it that way.
But their fight with the Guild had thrown them into positions neither had wanted. Tom had wanted to fly – and it had gotten him into the place he was in now. At the spearhead of a rouge ship that fought its personal crusade. Sought by their former homeland, hunted by their merciless enemy. It was a wonder he had survived this far, and that this many of them had made it. That would change with this battle, she knew.
She chuckled mirthlessly. The list of people who wanted them dead was ever increasing. She watched as another sonic torpedo traversed the short distance till its fuse blew and the shockwaves hit them. "Nothing," the listening post reported.
As much as her brother had been thrown into a position of leadership that he had never wanted, he had handled it astonishingly well. And now the same had happened to her. She had never even had ambitions about commandeering her own vessel, yet here she stood, on the bridge of her personal battleship. It was the Guild that had forced this upon them, and it was the Guild who would pay for all the suffering they had caused.
But all this has a good side, she mused. They brought out the best in us, to fight the worst. The Guild had brought out a potential in so many people that they probably never dreamt of having – Madosein, Sophia, Vince...Alex. Caroline straightened. They'd make it out of here alive. If her brother could keep them alive this long, she could do it a little longer.
"Signal from the SILVANNA!" Tom spun around. "What is it?" The observation post scribbled down a note hastily. "They indicate they got a positive signal from one of their torpedos! They confirm they found an object that corresponds to Exile!"
Tom's heart nearly leapt out of his throat. "Set a direct course! Inform the BATTLEMASTER and instruct her to break formation. Head for the SILVANNA and URBANUS at maximum speed, but maintain inaudible drive!" As the CHULAINN accelerated, he could hear the strain as the old ship blasted against the winds. He smiled slightly. Maybe they weren't so dead after all.
"Incoming fighter screen! They're in standard wall formation!" The shout echoed across the bridge of the BATTLEMASTER. "Shoot, they knew we were coming," Caroline leaned over the guardrail. "Or maybe not. It looks like they're retreating. All cannons, use the incendiary explosive rounds. Open the new gunports. Fire at will – don't let any escape."
The gray sky around the formation of Guild fighters suddenly lit up in a brilliant flash of light. A wall of flame raced towards the fighters, melting and twisting the metal of the craft. The few that survived attempted to fight back, but their weak return fire was answered by an equally brutal barrage. The pilots never knew what hit them.
Tom glanced quickly to the side as he noticed flares lighting up the sky. "The BATTLEMASTER has engaged a formation of Guild fighters in combat!" The observation post shouted. Tom nodded. "We'll have incomings, too. The SILVANNA has been spotted." He considered his options for a moment. "They're probably on their way back. Ahead full speed. Disengage inaudible drive, and prepare the main guns. Don't let one of them get away."
As the CHULAINN closed in with the wall of fighters, the ship charged up speed as it sped through the clouds. When the ship broke out of the clouds at its maximum speed, the fighters were ready for it – since their cover had been blown, there was no sense in maintaining a stealthy approach.
Yet when the CHULAINN's rapid-firing quad turrets opened up, the blasts sent the waves of fighters reeling. The Guild units fought back, swarming the CHULAINN with their pure numbers, and raining machine gun fire on the gunship. The vessel's heavy blast armor absorbed the shots, and the CHULAINN rattled every time a salvo struck. The retaliation blast cut through the Guild fighters, but something about the behaviour of the star-shaped vessels changed. They approached on a direct course, groups of them from any one direction.
As the fighters accelerated, Tom froze as he realized what they were about to do. "Hard to port! Maximum speed, now! Secure the outer decks and bulkheads, prepare for collisions!" The CHULAINN arced to the side, smashing some of the Guild fighters into its port armor plating before their momentum had built up. Still, the fighters were faster, and dozens of them plunged themselves into the ships's armor, ramming the armor plating.
The CHULAINN shuddered under the impacts. "Damn! Prepare for intruders!" Tom yelled over the noise of the breaking armor plates. He had realized too late that the fighters had been ready to sacrifice their numbers to destroy the CHULAINN. Heh. At least that shows us how serious they take us. They're seeing us as a large enough threat to resort to these tactics. "Damage report!"
"The starboard armor plating has been breached, integrity is still intact. We have multiple impact spots, and several intruders." Tom spun around at the shriek of metal that came from above them. Suddenly, part of a Guild star-shaped fighter blasted through the ceiling. Tom winced as it nearly missed one of his crew, then drew his twin gun batons and started shooting at it. The thing came crashing down on top of the main bridge area. Miraculously, no one was seriously hurt as the thing jerked in its death throes.
The last Guild fighter went down in a blaze as the CHULAINN's anti-aircraft turrets riddled it. "Set a course for the last known location of the SILVANNA!" Tom ordered.
The CHULAINN broke through the clouds ready for a fight. However, by the time they had breached the Guild fighter screen, a half-squad had bypassed the BATTLEMASTER and had run, gunning their engines. The SILVANNA lay before them, dormant, with the URBANUS alongside. Tom didn't like the feeling of dread that rose in him when he saw the ship nearly untouched. Something was wrong.
When the transport entered the hangar of the SILVANNA, they were greeted by the muzzles of several armed guards, both wearing the rag-tag clothing of the SILVANNA's crew and the crimson uniform of the URBANUS's soldiers. Tom glanced around and noticed Vincent and Sophia standing at the door. His quick scan revealed that someone was missing. Suddenly, it clicked in Tom's mind. Alex. Where the hell is Alex? He glanced around, looking for the man, but the captain of the SILVANNA was nowhere to be seen.
Sophia looked glum, and the captain of the URBANUS had a grim determination in his eyes that prophesied nothing good for the Guild. "What happened?"
"The SILVANNA was boarded by Guild forces...they...they took Alex and Claus." Sophia hung her head. Tom just stood there for a moment, in shock. The SILVANNA, boarded? His eyes narrowed. "What's the damage to the ship? Can we keep going?"
Sophia nodded. "We had found Exile, and were towing it back when the Guild fighters came out of nowhere. They attacked and boarded us, their battleship hauled away Exile," Vince told Tom as they walked down the corridors to the SILVANNA's command deck. Dark thought began to perculate in Tom's mind. He shuddered at what the megalomaniac, narcissian Delphine would do to her prisoners.
The knock on her door startled Sophia out of her reverie. "Sophia? It's Tom." She leaned against the door heavily. "What do you want?"
"To talk."
"Will you leave if I tell you to leave me alone?"
"No."
The second-in-command of the SILVANNA sighed and unbolted her cabin door. Tom stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself. "What really happened, Sophia?" He glanced at her. Something was wrong – besides Alex gone missing and Exile having fallen into the hands of the Guild, something was majorly wrong.
"What happened when the Guild boarded? Alex doesn't surrender that easily," he asked. He saw her trembling and knew he had hit a nerve.
"They...took ...hostages..." Sophia muttered, burying her face in her hands. Tom's mind clicked. They used her as a human shield against Alex. By the time he found a way to safely strike, they'd already got him. Those bastards. He sat next to her on her bunk and awkwardly placed his arms around her trembling form. He thought back to the times he had done this before, almost a lifetime ago. The familiar movements came back to him easily, and she clung to him in a death grip.
After a while, Tom heard her breathing slow down. He glanced down at the woman asleep in his arms. With a smile, he laid her out on her bed and headed for the door when her hand wrapped itself around his wrist. He didn't even try to pry loose her hand and sat down next to the bed.
When she woke up, the slight stirring of her hand on his wrist woke Tom. "You know, you're not half-bad as a psychatrist yourself," she commented and smiled. "I learned from the best." Tom grinned. "We'll get him back, and we'll teach the Guild a lesson that's long overdue."
"Will we?" Tom nodded firmly. "We will. He's a fighter. He won't die just like that." Sophia nodded. "If we'd been a little..." Tom shook her lightly. "Don't start that again. The Guild had this trap planned out from the very beginning. There's nothing you can do about the past now. Focus on the future. We need you out there." He smiled. "Ready for some retaliation?"
Sophia nodded. "That Maestro Delphine is in for the fight of her life."
