Cavalier's Gambit -ch 11-

Wayne started making his way to the door that’d lead him out of the cargo bay. Patchwork thankfully was a godsend in this regard as, regardless of what was happening, the magnetic feet kept Wayne moving smoothly.

Then the cargo bay exploded.

The side of it detonated outward with a flash of light and was explosively decompressed in the same instant.

It left Wayne standing there, staring down at the planet of his birth below him. The white and blue skies along with the open plains filled with food.

That was of course one of the reasons Faesin-III existed. A bread-basket world that fed most of the Mirkil house and its systems.

“Shit,” Wayne mumbled, realizing he was actually being subjected to space at the moment. Patchwork and its sealed canopy seemed to be fine.

The work Wayne had done had been enough in the end.

Otherwise he’d be dying right now.

Several large ships were moving across the open blackness of space. The sun seemingly unable to reflect off of black hulls that had no external lights whatsoever. Painted with a color that seemed to absorb all light entirely. Their thin profiles that seemed to vanish when they turned, only to reappear a second later, shimmered as they moved rapidly.

Heavy missiles were launched in a full salvo in a direction away from the planet.

Other ships were letting loose with heavy laser cannons, the type that were only ever seen on massive ships with power supplies rivaling that of a planet.

Kinetic rounds had been fired from elsewhere and were passing through space on their way toward the ships firing missiles. Wayne could only see them as they were backlit by the lasers that were firing off.

It was a full-fledged space battle unfolding in front of him.

Smaller ships darted by at extreme speeds and vanished as quickly as they’d come. Given his limited understanding of physics, Wayne couldn’t help himself when he considered how difficult fighting in space would be.

The extreme costs in propulsion and energy alone to get up to high enough speeds to not get immediately blown up would be astronomical.

There also was no friction in space, which meant the only type of “brake” one would have, was to flip the ship around and fire the propulsion in the opposite direction.

“Fuck all that,” whispered Wayne, trying to concern himself with his own survival. The economics of space dogfighting came down to hit and run tactics wasn’t where he needed to focus.

Moving to the exposed side of the hull, Wayne leaned out and rotated left, then right. There was nothing to be seen other than the fact that the engines for the ship were still on. He could see the blue triangles blaring out the back of it.

Except that something didn’t seem right as far as he could tell, the ship wasn’t moving despite the fact that the propulsion systems on full.

Then Wayne bent down and looked around the bottom of the ship. There was nothing toward the back, but toward the front, he found his answer.

The ship had smashed into something and was now not going anywhere. It didn’t make sense to Wayne at all.

It was as if they’d been a baseball thrown and caught perfectly in a glove’s netting. Instead of the netting though, it was a ship they were snug up against, and a cargo bay entry.

There were a number of markings running down the side of the ship that’d caught them that marked it out as a Blood of Dashi vessel.

Since there was paint at all, that was.

Mirkil system ships were all in that unseen black color without any markings at all, after all. The fact that this had paint that wasn’t black set it apart.

“Right. Well. I guess… uh…” Wayne’s words died away as his brain struggled to figure out what to do.

Standing up, he reached behind himself and disconnected his cargo pod. Slowly, he turned around and found the cargo pod floating there in front of himself.

Wayne quickly unlocked it, opened it, and grabbed Yuna out of it. He took the ammo pods as well and got everything stuck into place.

He fired up Yuna and selected armor piercing as the starting ammo.

There was a clatter as the ammo fed itself from the upper part of the arm he’d loaded it into and down into the weapon.

Closing the pod, Wayne shoved it off toward the back of the ship and then moved back to the hole.

Clanking over the edge, Wayne walked out of the cargo bay, around the side, and onto the bottom of the ship.

Wayne snorted as he clunked and clanked toward the Dashi ship.

The large cargo bay that ran along the side of it didn’t have any windows, but Wayne could see where it’d open.

It was a hatch, it seemed.

Reaching the Dashi ship, Wayne hesitatingly lifted a foot up and stuck it to the other ship. With a thump, it settled into place on the surface.

“Goodie,” Wayne said and then shifted to the Dashi ship with both feet.

If he did everything right, he’d have a few hours of oxygen to work with. Providing everything held together.

“Well, let’s go see if the cockpit has steel-glass. Pretty sure Yuna’s armor piercing rounds can punch through,” muttered Wayne as he began thumping his way to the front of the ship. “If it doesn’t… well… I’ll just start firing down the mid-line of the ship. Swiss cheese’em.

“This thing looks like an unarmed interceptor or something.”

Wayne glanced over to the ship he’d broken orbit on and saw the cockpit not too far away. Walking along the side of the Dashi ship, then to the top of it, Wayne got a view of the pilot’s seat.

Mr. Chavy was sitting there. His face in his hands and not looking at anything.

“Well, at least he’s alive.”

Wayne walked further and finally reached the end of the Dashi ship.

There was indeed a cockpit that had what was likely steel-glass across the front of it. The front of the ship was flattened to a degree which meant Wayne could walk right up to it.

He noted as he went by that there were a number of brightly glowing propulsion systems. Likely pushing in opposite force to Mr. Chavy’s ship since it was still at full throttle.

Walking down along the side of the nose of the ship and avoiding the jets, since Wayne couldn’t think of another name to give them, he slowly eased up to the front of the ship.

Once there, he finally got a good view of what was going on inside of the Dashi ship.

There were several people with guns pointed at him as soon as he laid eyes on the people inside.

All of them were in what looked to be some type of uniform, though none of them had space sealed helmets on.

All of their faces had a type of covering on it as well.

Wayne grinned, then laughed.

They were all hand-held kinetic rifles. The likes of which that would puncture the steel-glass of their cockpit, but then probably fail. That or just strike the steel-glass Wayne had installed on Patchwork.

It’d been rated well above small arms from rifles, thankfully.

Giggling, Wayne put the tip of Yuna to the cockpit. Centered it on the pilot in the pilot’s seat, then smiled.

As if realizing what was going on, all the people in the cockpit let their weapons fall to their sides. They stared at Wayne with somewhat wide eyes.

He could see them through the face coverings of their outfits.

Wayne slowly nodded his head while smiling.

He was considering pulling the trigger anyways. Then he could force part of Patchwork into the cockpit and see about steering the ship out of this situation.

The pilot in the seat, held his hands up slowly.

Sitting there, Wayne realized he had no way to order the pilot to do what he wanted. To get him to release Mr. Chavy and the ship.

Realizing there was only one way to do this, and there was no guarantee to it, Wayne pointed at the pilot. Then pointed at the ship he’d been on with Mr. Chavy.

He made a shooing motion, as if dismissing the ship.

The first step was to get the ship ready so that he and Mr. Chavy could get away. Once things were prepped, he’d just shuffled back over and they’d be on their way.

Nodding their head, the pilot reached out and tapped at his console. Their fingers tapping across several buttons, then they flicked a switch.

Wayne looked to the side, toward Mr. Chavy, to see what was happening.

He and the other man locked eyes then.

At some point he’d lifted his head from his hands and noticed Wayne. Standing there on the enemy ship.

Then the ship Mr. Chavy was in was gone. Rocketing away and into the distance. Leaving Wayne there on the Dashi raider ship staring at the blue engine exhaust as it blew away.

“Oh,” Wayne murmured, realizing his mistake. If Mr. Chavy didn’t bring down the engines throttle, but the Dashi raider did, then all his propulsion would suddenly be able to move. “Like letting go of a balloon while it’s deflating. Just… whoosh.”

Sighing, Wayne looked back to the Dashi ship. He really had no idea what to do next. The only idea that’d come to mind sounded really stupid to him.

“After, uh… follow that ship,” Wayne said and then motioned with his hands toward the way Mr. Chavy had gone.

The pilot shook his head briefly. Clearly he caught the meaning.

Wayne nodded his head, then tapped the tip of Yuna against the canopy. He had no qualms with blasting the pilots then trying to pilot the ship from inside of Patchwork.

Which didn’t sound like a bright idea, but it was better than staying here with the Blood. They didn’t treat people as human unless they earned their own keep through combat or were part of family.

Blood were all related, even if only distantly, to one another.

As if realizing they didn’t have a choice, the pilot shook their head, then nodded it, only to begin pushing buttons and moving switches.

Then they grabbed what looked like a throttle and brought it forward slowly over a handful of seconds.

Wayne nodded his head, glanced over his shoulder as they began moving forward, and realized they were rapidly catching up to Mr. Chavy’s ship.

Then they fell in somewhat behind him and settled in there.

“Well. That means I’m hitching a ride and going where-ever the solar winds take me,” Wayne grumbled. “Just call me the space cowboy, I guess.”

Trying to get comfortable was tough.

You weren’t magnetically clamped down to a ship hurtling through space at speeds that would normally turn a person to goop.

Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t even sure if Mr. Chavy survived what’d just happened to him. He’d gone from zero to full speed in a flash.

Wayne watched as the planet he’d grown up on faded away behind him, and the blackness of space rushed toward him.

Filled with the unknown.

***

Wayne waved his hand back and forth from inside his cockpit at the new arrival.

A space fighter. Cruising along quietly beside the Dashi ship. The pilot’s head was turned toward him slightly, but the head was covered in a full helmet.

Wondering if they couldn’t see him very well from inside his cockpit, Wayne lifted up Patchwork’s left hand and waved at the pilot with it. While also waving at them from inside the cockpit.

This time he got a response.

The pilot lifted up a hand up to the point that it was visible, and made a chopping motion with it. Then began angling their ship into a different orientation.

To which Wayne looked at the pilot of the Dashi ship.

He repeated the chopping motion, then shrugged his shoulders.

It was a nonsensical hand movement as far as he knew. He doubted the Dashi would know either, but they could actually probably talk to the pilot.

Whereas he couldn’t.

The radio inside of Patchwork only worked with a satellite or an internet connection. All the other parts it’d need to function on a normal radio frequency weren’t currently in the Walker.

In the end, the price had been too high for something that he didn’t need if he was always planetside and working with the contract brokers.

Which in retrospect kinda made the current situation a shit-show.

Wayne could only laugh at it all.

Because if he stopped to consider what was going on, about what had happened, he’d probably fall to pieces. Crack mentally and just begin sobbing right there.

Though he must have started to break, as he hadn’t even noticed that the Dashi ship followed the fighter. Who was following Mr. Chavy.

The three of them were all moving toward an extremely large space-station.

Unfortunately Wayne had no idea where he was in the universe. If he was still in Mirkil space or if he’d left it outright.

Soon enough, all three ships had eased up to the cargo bay.

Walkers designed for space station work exited the cargo bay. They were holding large ropes and bringing them forward as they slowly made their way over. Utilizing small maneuvering thrusters to provide just a modicum of speed.

One of the Walkers marched up to Wayne, stuck the line down on top of the ship, and then stood there. There was a thump that shook through Patchwork as the line magnetized itself.

A second later and it clearly began to retract, given that the Dashi ship was being pulled into the bay. There was one other line on the Dashi ship that looked to be beneath it.

Wayne dramatically shrugged with his Walker and in person at the same time.

The Space Walker’s cockpit had a reflective coating on it and was also tinted darkly. He couldn’t see into it at all.

The Walker turned and began thumping back the way it’d come. Wayne didn’t have the jets that they did, but he could at least get closer to somewhere he could get down.

As the Dashi ship was pulled in, Wayne noted that there was a large contingent of soldiers in full space suits and armed with rifles in the bay. All of them were pointed at Wayne and the Blood raider.

Holding his hands up, Wayne stood dangling off the back of the Dashi raider. His feet magnetized to the hull of it even as the whole thing settled into place in the bay.

Then the doors closed tight. Sealing the entirety of the bay.

Wayne watched as all the men with guns kept them trained on him and the ship.

He really didn’t know what to do or how to react.

“Ah! He’s with me!” called a voice across the bay. “That’s my savior! He’s with me! He’s the one I called ahead about!”

Looking toward the speaker, who’s voice had been transmitted by Patchwork’s external microphones, Wayne saw Mr. Chavy coming his way. He was waving his arm back and forth over his head as he did.

Slowly stomping toward them. He was wearing a pair of utility mag-boots.

“That’s Mr. Hesh!” Mr. Chavy continued.

Well damn, he remembered my name. That’s kind of a surprise.

I thought for sure he’d just forget it.

Most foremen forget your name as soon as you leave the hangar.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me. Wayne Hesh,” agreed Wayne after tapping the transmit switch to broadcast his voice out through his speaker.

He figured, since Mr. Chavy was running across the bay, it’d been pressurized. Which meant everyone here would be able to hear him.

“Please holster your weapon. Then step away from the Blood raider vessel,” instructed one of the soldiers.

“Oh, sure. Sorry. I had them at gunpoint and got them to come here. Not like they had much a choice since I was willing to put armor piercing rounds through the cockpit,” Wayne spat out in a rapid-fire tone. Then he laughed.

Engaging Yuna’s safety, Wayne then lifted it up till the barrel was pointed upward. He didn’t have a holster on him since it’d been left in the back of Mr. Chavy’s ship.

Unlocking his left foot, he reached it out and got it to the floor of the bay. It locked onto the deck-plate easily.

Bringing his other foot along as well, Wayne then slowly began walking over to Mr. Chavy.

Wayne looked over to the Dashi vessel.

The inhabitants were coming out with their hands up. None of them looked like they were fighting the current situation.

“Come, come. Once we clear the bay, the artificial gravity will be active,” Mr. Chavy advised him.

Wayne had no idea how such a thing as artificial gravity worked. He figured it was right up there with the insanely expensive power-plants on massive space ships.

Beyond his ken and not something he should really be messing around with.

Not fit for space.

Love me some terra firma.

Though… now… where do I go now?

Faesin-III is probably not going to be what it used to be after all this blows over.

“I need to go see if my cargo pod is still in the back of the ship. If it is, I should probably reload everything back into it,” Wayne apologized and turned toward the ship.

“Oh, right, right. Thanks, yeah,” Mr. Chavy remarked and then followed Wayne as he began walking to the ship. “Thanks again by the way. I really thought I was doomed after that. That I’d get taken by the Blood and turned into a pit-fighter just for sport.”

Wayne grunted at that. He had no idea what to say. He knew precious little about the Blood. Only that they were similar to clans, but not quite.

His education on them had been mostly scary stories or urban legends.

He’d never thought someone would actually invade his home planet.

“I need to go check in with my employer after this and report the damage. They won’t be happy but it’s better than losing the ship outright,” Mr. Chavy explained.

Reaching the cargo bay, Wayne saw that his cargo pod was actually there. It was pressed to the back of the interior.

As were all the boxes.

Still where he’d left them.

Both those that’d been strapped down and those only roughly so.

Even with the explosion, there hadn’t been any losses.

“Everything’s there?” Mr. Chavy asked in surprised.

“I did strap it down. Did it quick and dirty but… yeah,” Wayne confirmed, then moved off to his cargo pod. He was tired.