Chapter 22 - The Divine Wind

 “It was pretty dramatic, actually,” Jim said, dripping in sweat, as they hustled through the workshop to the debriefing room. “I'm just glad you found us when you did. I'm at like 35% metabolic. Speaking of which, do you have an energy bar? I could eat a boot.”

“Yes,” Carol replied as she pulled a grey-white bar wrapped in clear cellophane from her fatigue's cargo pocket. She slammed her hands on the push bars and the doors swung wide on their hinges. Jim and Marion flopped into the front row of the theater. “Now, tell me what happened.”

“Well,” Jim mumbled around a huge bite of energy bar, “It's like this...”
“Don't eat with your mouth full,” Marion held a flat hand in front of his face. “Standish knew we were coming. He jumped us on the cliffside in Siddhartha. We didn't have time to react. I barely got out our distress signal.”

“Marched us to the transport ship,” Jim interjected after a hard swallow.

“And he tortured you, right?” Carol nodded her head, pleading the answer.

“Right,” Marion said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

“Good. I'll let you get back to the base, just tell me the truth,” she pulled a chair up and sat across from them, folding her hands in her lap and sitting ram-rod straight. “What did he make you tell him?”

“He didn't make us say...” Jim started.

“Everything,” Marion cut him off.

“You can tell me. It'll all be over once you tell me. He made you divulge our plans, right?” Her tone was stern and unyielding, her face set in stone.

“Yes,” Jim nodded nervously. “Can we go?” he shifted uncomfortably, himself.

“He made you tell him about our plans to storm the Windforce and dismantle his Lunar Base, right?” Her gaze was unrelenting. Burning.

“Yes,” Marion replied almost drone-like, unease setting across her entire posture.

“As I suspected,” she stood up and leaned over them slightly, arms crossed over her chest. “Thank you for telling me the truth.” She leaned over them a bit more, blocking the light from behind her, casting harsh shadows against her forehead and nose.

“I'm sorry,” Jim squeaked, squirming under her looming visage.

“It's alright. I knew this would happen,” She shifted again, turning her back on them and folding her hands behind her. “Which is why I gave you all false information. We don't need to ambush the Windforce. They will be fighting on our side. We needed to lure him there and I knew he'd be expecting us to make a move against him after the Siddhartha stunt. I'm sorry,” she turned, her eyebrows arched at the bridge of her nose, pulled down at the corner, a look of genuine sympathy creasing her hardened features. “I'm so sorry, my children,” she ran up and wrapped an arm around each of their necks, squeezing tight. “I didn't mean to put you in harm's way, but it was necessary. I feel so mean. Can you forgive me for betraying your trust?” She pulled back, a hand on each of their shoulders, her face wrought with what appeared to be genuine moral anguish.

“It's alright,” Marion met her gaze with open sympathy, “we understand. We know how tough that must have been for you, Commander. We're sorry you had to go through that.”

“Thank you,” she nodded her head at them, a single tear rolling down her cheek. She sniffled and wiped it away. “You guys are so important to me. It would ruin me if I lost you.”

“It's alright, Commander Cecilia, you don't have to worry,” Marion pulled the corner of her mouth to the side and nodded warmly.

“Thank you,” she stood up and folded her hands in front of her. “Thank you,” she pulled a strained smile. “You're dismissed, now. You can return to Base.”

Jim and Marion quietly got up and made a bow before exiting the room. They made their way to one of the jeeps silently. It was dark out.

“Does she do that to you, too?” Jim asked “That...thing.”

“Yeah,” Marion shifted uncomfortably. “I dunno how she does it. You just...I don't know. Do you really believe them? Any of this?”
“No. Yes? I don't know,” Jim shook his head. The head lights and the roof lamps lining the roll bar lit up the dirt path in front of them.

“Why do you keep going, then?” Marion was holding onto the roll cage, one knee up, the other extended to the bottom of the footwell. “Why do you keep doing this?”
“Molly,” Jim shrugged. Life doesn't feel right without you.

“Yeah, but, you don't know if you'll last,” Marion squinted and pulled the corners of her mouth back.

“Eh,” Jim shrugged again. “What else have I got? Standish and Carol keep explaining all of this geopolitical stuff, but I honestly have no idea what's going on, I just take orders. Gaming is a reflex-sport that operates on the margin. I've already aged out. I have my dad, but he and I never really got on and still don't, really. Molly's all I have right now. I don't care if it doesn't last.”

“So, it's not that you believe them or not, it just doesn't matter?” Marion furrowed her brow.

“I mean, yeah?” Jim shrugged again. “At this point I don't know what I believe anymore. I thought I had everything understood, but then you get promoted and Tomah takes your place over me. I thought I knew who the enemy was, but then we get some former DPRC goon on our team and she's just a normal person. Pleasant. Wonderful, even.” Jim locked into the middle distance, steering almost by reflex. “I thought the program was going great, and then it gets nixed by NRI and sold off to the IA military. I thought I could trust Standish,” Jim paused a second, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I thought I could trust him, and then he bailed. I thought I could trust Carol, and then this. Molly is all I have left, even if we did get in a fight.”

“But can't you find something else?” Marion replied.

“Probably,” yet another shrug. “But she's a known quantity. I could lose Molly, side with Carol, and meet the greatest woman of my life. Become a hero and lauded through history. Fame, glory, celebrity,” Jim scrunched his nose and tilted his head. “But we could also be blasted to bits. Whole planet goes up in smoking craters again. They kicked us out of the underground bunker. If shit goes tits-up, we're not getting saved.”

“So what do you think is going on, Mr. Conspiracy Theory?” She mirrored my gaze, fixing into the middle distance.

“Like I said, for once, I have no idea,” Jim continued to shrug, a welcome autonomic smirk creasing his cheek. “But if I had to guess? I think they're both barmy. I think the Augs have finally got to Standish and that Terry and Dyman are trying to reset the planet for their richie-rich friends in NRI. You heard them with all that Utopia shit. I bet the entire planet is in on the gig. IA, DPRC, you name it. Everyone's got their important people in their bunkers. They say the Great Collapse was thousands of years ago, but I bet they do this every couple of centuries. Weed out the weaklings.”

“I like it,” Marion released a sharp exhale through her nose that shook her whole body. “Corporate megalomaniacs and eugenic despots trying to genocide the planet.”

“Yep,” Jim clucked his tongue. “And all you have to do is sell our soul to the devil, literally, and you get a cushy seat in the doomsday bunker to ride it out.”

“Exposed, all because some rich aristocrat's daughter fell in love with a soldier from the wrong side of the tracks,” Marion finished. “That's some serious tragic romance, star-crossed lovers shit.”

“I know, you're telling me. All that 'wherefore art thou' bullshit” Jim pulled the jeep into the base. “We're here.”

“Drop me off at the garrison,” Marion pointed to a low-slung Quonset hut at the back of the base. “I bet that's where the boys are. You wanna come in?”

“Nah,” Jim replied as he pulled the jeep parallel to the front of the hut. “I've got some thinking to do.”

“Don't think too much, man” She said as she vaulted out of the vehicle. “Life's too short.”

“I'll remember that,” Jim pulled a smirk. “Also, thank Tomah. Tell him I finally figured it out,” he winked.

“Get some rest, man. It's been a hell of a day,” Marion tapped the hood of the jeep before Jim drove off.

***********************************************************************************

“What's the plan, boss?” Blaize kicked back and rested his feet on the card table, throwing down a Queen of Hearts.

“You asshole,” Tomah threw down his Jack of Hearts.

“And that should be the last Trump,” Blaize smirked as he claimed the trick.

“The plan,” Marion said with a grin as she lead a Two of Spades, “is to play along with the Commander until we get onto the Windforce.”

“Yeah?” Tomah threw down an Eight of Spades. “Then what?”

“Oh this is juicy,” Blaize pulled his feet off the table the legs of his folding chair banging down on the floor of the Containerized Housing Unit. He flicked a card. It glided across the table in 3 elegant twists before landing dead on the pile of, the Ace of Spades. “Thank you, sacrificial lamb. The plan is to beat back the bastards and secure our freedom.” He said as he kicked his feet back up again, locking his hands behind his head with a self-satisfied grin.

“You fucker,” Tomah slammed down his hand on the table. “Take it. Take it, alright?”

“Heh heh,” Marion and Jim pushed their cards into the center as Blaize laughed and swept the cards together, straightening them out and flipping the cards into a shuffle with a fwerp.

“Nice,” Jim high-fived Blaize, who started dealing out a new hand. “Standish is going to send in the drone army he secured from the DPRC,” Jim chuckled, “you know, before the whole theft thing. Once they've thinned out the IA fleet, we pull a turn-coat, and pincer them from the inside-out.” Jim pulled in his hand and started organizing it as Blaize fed them all cards, “Then, once we've either cleared the area or pushed them back, jump up to the Luna base and ride out the transfer.”

“Or, get merc'ed as Standish and the DPRC ambush us,” Tomah looked up and scanned the others quickly. “One-Clubs, by the way,” he pulled in his last card and announced.

“Always an option,” Marion shuffled some cards around in her hand. “Two-Clubs,” she said, making firm eye contact with Blaize.

“And then nuke the whole planet to kingdom-come,” Jim rifled through his hand. Long in Diamonds, no clubs. A smattering of face cards. “Three-Diamonds, also,” Jim quickly batted his eyes at Tomah, but then looked back at his hand just as quick, trying not to let the others read his table talk.

“Woah,” Blaize pulled his chin into his neck. “How about,” he held for a second as he reshuffled his cards through his hand, “Five-Spades.”

“Uh,” Tomah and Jim met eyes. “Yeah. Pass.” he folded his cards into his hand and grabbed his beer from the table, taking a long drought. “Also, thanks for smuggling these on base,” he held a toast up.

“Pass, too” Marion smirked. “And, not a problem. Gotta keep my troops' morale high,” she winked as she picked up her own and clinked her can into his.

“Here-here,” Jim crowned his can as well. Blaize begrudgingly joined as they all took a long slug. “Ah,” he intoned. “I'll pass, too.”

“Perfect,” Blaize said as he spun a card out on the table. “Let's hope lightning strikes twice!” he said excitedly as the Ace of Spades landed dead center.

Tomah wordlessly threw in what Jim was sure to be his only spade, the Jack.

“I think you may have killed us,” Marion threw in the King of Spades.

“Ouch,” Jim scrunched his nose with a smirk and glanced side-eyed at Blaize as he sloughed off one of his low spades, a Four.

“Shit,” Blaize sat staring dumbfounded at the trick.

***********************************************************************************

“CentCom says combatants are about 3 clicks out,” Marion came over the official comm. “Do you read, Tiger-three?”

“We have a visual, Gold-one,” Tomah replied to Marion. “Are we also ready?” he said over the private comm.

“Roger,” the other 4 replied in round.

“You're all briefed?” Jim asked over the comm, as well.

“Bull-five and Bull-three are briefed, Bull-one,” Adrian replied.

“Roger that,” Toni came through as well.”

“Good. Remember,” Jim replied, “Keep it cool while Gold-one, Tiger-three, and Tiger-five are engaging Alpha-one, roger?”

“Bull-five, Roger,” Adrian replied

“Bull-three, Roger,” Toni came over as well.

“Perfect. Tiger-five, what is your position?” Jim addressed to the official channel.

“I am tracking Alpha-one as we speak,” Blaize came through, his voice a bit strained.

“Acknowledged,” the Commander's voice interrupted all of theirs. “Keep an eye on Alpha-one. Do not, I repeat, do not let him escape your vision, no matter what the cost, do you read?”

“Copy that,” Blaize replied, “do not let Alpha-one go untracked, full-force authorized.”

“Roger that,” the Commander replied, “but do be careful. I would hate to lose any of you.”

Jim wheeled Vishnu to the bow of the Windforce. The massive carrier had half a dozen giant Mobile-10's on the deck, all aimed starboard at Standish's northern vector, where he would emerge from the river network he had been “secretly” navigating and out into the gulf. The Windforce ran vanguard for about twenty drone warships, or rather, twenty drones were hiding behind the gargantuan floating island.

“We have a visual on Beta-one,” Blaize updated. “I count seven carriers hybrids, and about 300 airborne.”

“Three hundred!” the Commander exclaimed. “That's twice as much as we anticipated. Keep an eye on them, Tiger-three, we're updating our battle plans.”

“Roger that,” Blaize replied. “Also, the reconnaissance drone is saying there is a massive fleet approaching from the southern flank, behind the flotilla.”

“What? I want a full status,” the Commander demanded. Her voice was audibly surprised.

“I tried hailing on all frequencies, no reply,” Tomah replied, himself taken by surprise. “They are scrambling our visual and radar detectors. Judging by the wake pattern, however, I am tentatively estimating approximately fifty large vessels, or some combination of smaller and larger vessels adding up to as much.”

“There aren't any mercenary groups with that many vessels. They couldn't even join up with several groups and get close to that, at least not without evading intel,” the Commander sounded frantic. “That's a nation-sized fleet.”

“Alpha-one has cleared the woods,” Blaize came over. Standish's limping warship emerged from the delta. “Drones are aweigh,” he followed up. No sooner had the words left his mouth than did a blot of black appear in the sky above him. The fleet of sleek, triangle-shaped planes hummed silently across the sky, blotting out the sun behind them. They broke out into a scatter fleet and immediately started skiffing around the outside of the warships' killzones, completely encircling the fleet.

“You didn't think I'd fall for that, now did you really, sweetheart?” Standish's voice cracked over the CentCom channel.

“I mean, maybe a little?” Carol snarked back. “You've never been the sharpest tool in the shed.”

“I'm hurt, darling. Deep wounds,” Standish's voice was dripping in sarcasm, evident even through the difficult static. “You can call off your little shadow squad, too.”

“My 'shadow squad?' I thought they were your 'shadow squad,'” the Commander scoffed back.

“They are still too far away for me to be sure,” Toni replied in her usual crisp, over-corrected tone. “But they appear to me to be the combination of several fleets from the Homeland.”

“Shit,” Standish cursed into the comm. “I think they want Siddhartha back.”

“You absolute asshole,” the Commander replied.

Standish pulled his warship out deeper into the gulf, just skirting the killzone of the Windforce. Behind him, his several carriers began to emerge from the delta as well. “You were wrong, by the way,” his tone cocky, “there are way more than fifty big ships,” his black fleet scrambled and headed full-speed at the DPRC fleet. “I'm seeing like, just, so many ships, you guys.”

“Well, what do we do now,” Marion inquired on the CentComm channel.

Their conversation was interrupted as an explosion run out near the incoming fleet. “Oops!” Standish came over. “I might have just dropped a bomb on one of their corvettes.”

Without any hesitation, more explosions began to ring out as Standish's black drone fleet began to deftly dart in, drop a charge, and then dart away. The DPRC fleet, unhappy to be attacked, scrambled their own drone fleet, their battle cruisers training their mass drivers and laser turrets on the fleet. But, with skillful mastery, Standish danced the planes in for an offensive, and then returned them to their scramble pattern on the perimeter of the ships' effective ranges, ducking in and out of drone dogfights.

“This is not good,” Blaize came over. “I finally have an accurate visual,” he said with dread, “I'm counting two dozen small vessels, at least twenty warships, half a dozen battleships, and fifteen carriers.”

“I hope you've been drilling in frogman fighting,” Standish emerged from his warship in Siddhartha. Built much like Vishnu, the contouring on his sensor stalk gave his “face,” in as much that humans find a “face” on anything, a very placid look. The garb he wore, however, more resembled Cúchulainn's toga than Vishnu's vest and dhoti, the exception being the long piece of cloth slung over its shoulder. With a prodigious leap, Standish vaulted Siddhartha into the sky, and with a thunderous crash, slammed down on the deck of the Windforce. Before anyone could react, he'd vaulted yet again into the sky, slamming down this time on the deck of a fast-approaching frigate. The ship swayed and rocked with the massive impact, Siddhartha being nearly a third its size. He removed a massive energy hammer from his back, and, with a flick, the handle telescoping to almost the entire length of Siddhartha. With a mighty downward swing, knees bending into a squat for added force, Siddhartha slammed the hammerhead clear through the deck, nearly cleaving the ship in half lengthwise. “Mmm,” Standish cooed into the comm, “nothing like the smell of destruction to perk you up.” He slammed the hammer down again, this pivoting to hit the other side, the littoral frigate completely shattered.

“Change of plans,” the Commander came in, “Simo, Annie, you're on anti-air duty. Defend the Windforce at all costs!”

“Roger that,” Adrian and Toni replied in unison. Both of quickly strided from the port side, facing Standish, to the Starboard side, facing the DPRC fleet, and flopped down prone, adjusting their laser rifles. With quick burst, they began picking off DPRC, the large black drones spiraling down into the gulf.

“Cúchulainn, Musashi, you keep the shore fleet at bey,” the Commander orders were crisp calm.

“Roger that,” Marion and Tomah both replied in unison as well. They jumped off the battleships they were resting on, at the far flank of the flotilla behind the Windforce, and began leapfrogging to oncoming ships that were now engaging the droneship fleet.

“Ehecatl, now is your time to shine,” the Commander's voice was skeptical.

“I got this,” Blaize came through confidently. “I've been training for, like, ever. I'm ready,” his voice switched from confidence to determination.

“Alright,” she still sounded skeptical, “Ehecatl, I want you to airdrop into the rear fleet and start working your way toward Cúchulainn and Musashi. Vishnu, I want you to swim underwater to Ehecatl's position and assist the rear pincer. Keep an eye out for for submarines, I'm positive they're there.”

“Roger,” Blaize replied. Jim looked up and watched a tiny black dot of a drone helicopter drop below the cloud-line at the rear of the DPRC fleet. Another tiny black dot started falling away from the little black dot before landing on one of the smaller dreadnoughts slowly making its way up the flank, rocking visibly at the impact. “Man,” Blaize said with an exasperated sigh, “I'm not used to actually being in combat,” Jim watched an explosion burst out of the top of the ship as Blaize lit up one of the dreadnought's turret nests. “I almost feel like I'm betraying Enlil.” The dreadnought began to swerve back and forth as Blaize made quick work of the turrets and began peppering the command helm.

“Deploying now,” Jim responded to the commander after shaking his head, freeing his mind of the distraction. With a swan-dive, Jim leapt Vishnu off of the Windforce's deck and into the turbulent, battle-chopped sea beneath it. “Chart me?” Jim said outloud.

“I have shown you the way,” Vishnu replied, a blue mission line appearing, floating in the inky blackness. Though close in the context of naval warfare, the ships were actually quite distant from each other, everyone trying to keep clear of eachother's effective killzones. The mission line said Jim had several minutes of underwater travel before reaching the rear flank. Jim looked up at the erratic, battletorn surface, watching the prows of ships dart back and forth, the droneship flotilla in full scramble. Occasionally, in the far distance, Jim could see ravaged drone planes and broken warships plunge through the waterline and slowly descend into the seemingly-infinite depth below. “I hear something,” Vishnu eventually broke the silence of travel.

Jim looked at his mini-map, the sonar detector spotting a loud acoustic disruption. “What is it?” Jim inquired.

“Missile!” Adrian bellowed into the comm. A shower of fragments rained into the depths ahead.

“Good hit,” Marion replied.

“Vishnu, upload the coordinates,” Jim said into the comm channel.

“They have been informed, ” Vishnu replied cryptically.

“I am seeing several submarines,” the Commander replied almost instantly. “Droneship flotilla is at 80%,” she followed up. “They are using X4 torpedoes, not X3's. Updating our battle plan.”

“Hey!” Standish yelled into the mic, more debris and flotsam falling into the sea above Jim as he near-silently skiffed beneath the turmoil above. “Watch it, some of those are my drones!”

“Sorry,” Toni responded. “They are scrambling our signature detection. My targeting computer could not tell the difference.”

“The Valiant is en route,” the Commander piped through. “ETA twenty and counting. Windforce primary cannon is online.”

“Alpha-twelve is the best target,” Marion said, her comm channel unable to filter out the destruction around her. “My scanners show it has twice as much ordinance as the other cruisers.”

“It's also the most fortified,” Blaize replied, his voice strained and stressed. “I can't get close.”

“Roger,” the Commander confirmed. A huge ripple broke the surface above him, creating a massive line of wake.

“Alpha-nine down,” Blaize replied. Just up ahead a massive cruiser had been rent in half and began descending into the abyss, enveloped in a curtain of bubbles and fire.

“Approaching the flank,” Jim updated as his mission line finally terminated and brought him to the surface. He kicked on his afterburners and turned Vishnu vertical, rocketing him out of the water and onto the deck at the very rear of a gigantic carrier. Even considering Vishnu was the size of a small skyscraper, Jim felt dwarfed by the humongous control deck at the bow of the ship. He began slowly walking his way up the airstrip that ran down the center of the deck, pivoting at the him and unloading a flurry of laser blasts at the turret nests lining the sides, each blowing up in rapid succession as they unloaded a torrent of mass rounds, keeping the drones at bey outside it's killzone. The ship was not prepared for a landing party, allowing Jim to make quick work of the turret nests and march up the air deck. Jim collapsed his laser rifle and withdrew his mass driver, withdrawing a Javelin round from his hip compartment and loading it into the breach. With a quick sighting, his aiming computer locked onto the deck. The round sped out of the muzzle and slammed into the control deck, a violent shockwave propagating visibly as the gigantic control deck collapsed in on itself. Jim withdrew a magazine from his hip compartment, clipped it into the mass driver, and lept into the air as hard and high as his jump jets would allow. The smoking wreckage of the ship beneath him slowly receded as he gained elevation. “”Target the munitions,” Jim said aloud.

“I can see their evil,” Vishnu replied. “Unleash your retribution and I shall guide your hand.”

With a few quick trigger pulls, the mass driver rounds slammed into the deck and burrowed into the ordinance stores. With a massive shockwave, the protections breached and the carrier split at the center with a gigantic rocket of smoke. The force was so strong it knocked Vishnu out of its ballistic trajectory, causing him to slam into the water, missing the guard frigate he was attempting to vault onto. Upon breaking the surface of the water, a flurry of alarms began sounding and an immense pressure began to shoot through Jim's hips and knees.

“We have collided with a submarine,” Vishnu came replied calmly. “I am severely damaged.” The screens flashed red in Jim's face, sirens blaring in his rig, the plug constricting Jim's legs into immobility. Jim flexed his legs against the mildly painful pressure. Vishnu's legs began to respond slowly as he rolled off of the submarine's hull. He had breached it, thankfully, and the sub was rapidly descending into the lightless expanse below, followed quickly by Jim, unable to get his legs below him and activate his jets. “Mobility is at 65%. My left leg is damaged up to the Core joint.”

Slowly, the pressure in the right leg began to subside and Jim was able to get a foot beneath him, firing the impulse jet, allowing him to begin ascending instead of descending. The pressure, however, did not relieve from his left leg, which very slowly moved into place. Jim could feel the actuator and joint grind as he forced the leg beneath himself. The jump jet was still functional, and relieved some of the burden from his right leg, but motion was all but paralyzed.

“Vishnu, please respond,” the Commander's strained voice Jim was finally able to notice over the incessant sirens, near tears. “Please respond, Jim.”

“I'm alright,” Jim replied with a sigh. “My left leg is shot. I need to retreat.”

“Affirmative,” the Commander responded with a breath of relief. “You had me worried. Please return to the Windforce.”

“We need you,” Toni replied.

“Roger,” Jim replied. He surveyed the battlefield quickly before submerging back underwater. The DPRC fleet was considerably smaller than previous, but so was theirs. Standish's drone fleet looked to be less than half the size he'd started with. The droneship flotilla was all but wiped out. Standish was missing at least two carriers, and the frigate fleet had advanced inside the Windforce killzone and were trading a continuous volley of munitions with it. Marion, Tomah, and Blaize were in still in the back ranks with Standish wiping out their heavy fleet, but were now coalesced into a single party, Ehecatl in the center, and were slowly making their way back to the Windforce.

“We're on our way back, too” Blaize updated as Jim rapidly traversed the underwater path back to the ship. “I took a hit, my sensor stalk is gone, I'm flying by smell,” a term that meant he was leeching the other core's sensor data to navigate.

“No,” the Commander replied, “do not retreat. I repeat, do not fall back. I need you to disable all of the carriers before you can return. There are only two left. If we can take out the carriers, they will have no choice but to retreat once the Valiant arrives.”

“Commander,” Blaize replied indignantly, “with all due respect, I am flying blind. I have no sensors.”

“Do not fall back!” the Commander yelled. “That is a direct order. Take out those carriers at all costs, Soldier. If you must, activate the Vortex Drive.”

“Commander,” Blaize replied fearfully, “You know that isn't fully operational. You also know I've never successfully controlled it in the simulators.”

“Do it!” The commander yelled again. “It's our only chance. We need to play our Ace, we need to play our Trump card. Tomah, stay close, and keep eyes on. Feed your sensor data to Blaize's Augs.”

“Um, I hate to up the tension,” Standish interjected, “but we have a bigger problem. My team on Luna is saying that there are DPRC and PIR cores storming the nuclear base. Defenses are holding, but probably not for long.”

“What!” the Commander gasped. “When? How?”

“The DPRC and the PIR have been collaborating together for a while now,” Standish replied. He and the party had finished destroying another dreadnought and were almost to the first of the two remaining carriers. “If you had been paying attention, you'd know that they don't like the IA controlling all the nukes.”

“We're protecting them! We can't let them fall into the murderous hands of the DPRC!” the Commander screamed into the comm, livid.

“And most of the international theater,” Standish replied calmly, “sees the IA as the murderous thugs. They played you Carol,” Standish said a they began to decimate the carrier they had landed on. “They played me, too, the witty bastards. This was a diversion to ensure the cores were grounded so they could intervene on Luna. They sacrificed their queen so they could checkmate the King.”

“Everyone except Ehecatl and Cúchulainn,” the Commander said through what sounded like gritted teeth, “pull back to the Windforce. We'll launch you from the impulsor cannon. This is check, not mate. We're just trading Queens.”

Jim emerged onto the deck of the Windforce just as the away team was jumping onto the last carrier. He limped over to the deck elevator, lowering Vishnu into the hold. “I'm staying,” Marion replied. “We need Cúchulainn on Luna, I can handle sensor duty for Ehecatl. Everyone, Standish, fall back, now. That's an order.”
“But,” Tomah replied, paused and then replied “yes, sir,” deflatedly. Everyone dove into the ocean and begin their return. Marion and Blaize began unloading on the carrier.

“Engage the Vortex Drive,” the Commander said in her sternest voice. “Now,” her tone was finite.

“But,” Blaize replied, his voice surrounded by heavy gunfire. The dreadnoughts and battleships had finally entered into range and they were unloading on the carrier as well, now a sacrificial lamb. “Marion,” he said over the private comm softly. “I have a drone feed right now. Fall back.”

“I won't,” Marion replied her voice breaking. “I can't leave you.”
“Blaize,” Tomah replied as well, a wetness in his voice, “you know what that means.”

“I do,” he replied softly again. “My mind is made up.”

“I can't save you,” Standish replied, his usual braggadocio vacant from his tone. “If you burn out now, I can't save you. I only get one shot at the transfer before Tessa figures out what's going on. I can't tip my hand now.”

“It's fine,” Blaize replied, resigned. The carrier was taking a beating, Blaize at the center of it in Ehecatl.

“Flight Lieutenant,” the tech said to Jim once he'd lowered into the bay, “The leg itself is not that badly damaged. The fall just knocked the actuators out of alignment. There's a little damage from you moving it, but Vishnu will be ready in time to launch to Luna with about 85% mobility once we get everything back in place.”

“Vishnu,” Jim said to himself, ignoring the tech. “Give me eyes on Blaize.” Jim's heart was pumping. His ears were ringing, he tried to shake his head, but the plug resisted.

“I will give you vision from on high,” Vishnu replied.

Jim saw Ehecatl standing on the carrier, now completely surrounded by the all that remained of the DPRC fleet. From the rear of his vision, Jim watched a brilliant flash of light burst off of the Windforce.

“I am away,” Toni said into the comm. “I will be at Nav point Tau on the Luna surface shortly,” her tone was flat, her usual sing-songy lilt completely absent.

“Valiant has arrived and is in position,” the Commander said over the Comm, “Activate Vortex Drive at will,” her tone still was flat and stern, but lacking her former enthusiasm.

“Activating Vortex Drive,” Blaize said, his voice sullen, but laden with determination. Ehecatl wore a tubular skirt sort of like Cúchulainn's, but without the pleats, aside from that he was a very plain-looking core, save for his dragon-like sensor stalk. However, upon activation of the Vortex Drive, a wreath of feathers rendered in a pure blue plume of energy spiked out of his crown, a blue-energy beard of arrowheads appearing around his neck. He began to levitate just then, a wreath of wind spinning around him as he floated into the air, sucking in ocean spray and flotsam from the ships, creating a lashing tornado of smoke-white wind around him. Uncontrollably, the vortex grew and grew in size. “Vortex Drive at 40% capacity. Energy reserves at 38%. Twelve seconds of vortex remaining.”

“Valiant is scattering drones now,” the Commander replied. “We're on our way to retrieve you Blaize. Just stay strong.”

Another flash of light blinked across Jim's periphery. “I am away,” Adrian announced.

“We're aboard,” Marion came across the comm.

“You're up next, Cúchulainn,” the Commander responded. The vortex had grown to twice its size, and was now sucking up the smaller corvette ships, tumbling them up the length of the tornado before spitting them out the top, where they fell down, only to be consumed by the upforce winds yet again. The frigates were resisting the draw, riding the prodigious vertical wave surrounding the base of the behemoth spout. Soon, however, the vortex grew yet bigger, swallowing them up in violent turmoil.

“Vortex, 80%. Reserves, 12%, 4 seconds remaining,” Blaize reported, a bit of optimism creeping into his voice, “I'm holding it!”

“Good job,” Standish said, “You've got this Blaize. You have this,” he sounded like a dad his child's sports game. The vortex expanded farther out, swallowing up the battleships and dreadnoughts, flinging them into the air. The sound in Jim's headset had automatically adjusted to attenuate the noise, but was still at a near-deafening howl.

“Shit,” Blaize quickly interjected into the Comm. “Vortex 100% and falling, Reserves 4%. Vortex is in decline. 24 seconds to settle. Energy reserves are failing. They won't make it.”

“We have drones,” the Commander was frantic. “Just hold it. You're doing so well, Blaize, you're doing so great. Just hold, we'll be there shortly.”

“I am away,” Tomah said calmly into the comm as a flash streaked across Jim's lower field of vision. “I will see you in the heavens.”

“Don't say that!” Marion shrieked. “You've got this Blaize. Be strong!”

“I...” Blaize trailed off. “I'm just so tired.”

“His metabolic rates are tanking,” Adrian replied. “He's exhausting. Focus, Blaize!”

“Vortex, 50%. Reserves, 2%. Switching to emergency life support,” Blaize sounded hollow. “Thank's guys.”

“His comm is dark,” the Commander muttered. The Vortex was slowly burning out, the rapid white giving way to the crisp blueness of the sky behind it. The water slowly unchurning as huge breakers gave way into tall swells, which themselves gave way to wide undulating ripples. Once the vortex had subsided, the damage could be assessed. All DPRC ships were totaled, some floating upside down as they sunk into the choppy waters, the carrier itself was turned up on an end, the deck bent at an angle, barely keeping it afloat as it took on water.

“No!” Marion yelled into the comm as another streak flew past.

“No sign of Ehecatl yet” the Commander said after a long pause. “Drones are searching. Vishnu, report to the impulsor once repairs are complete.”