Echoes of Harmony

Outer Ailas Orbit

Draconis System

31 October 3296

First Lieutenant Ethan Fischer brought his SF-17 Starhawk space superiority fighter around in a wide arc as he cleared one of the many asteroids orbiting Ailas, a gas giant nearly ten astronomical units away from its star. The browns, reds, and oranges forming the bands of the planet mixed and mingled to form a dazzling array of patterns. Such sights never ceased to amaze him.

Slotting in behind him and to his left was Second Lieutenant Ava Bahr. Her fighter’s wings wiggled back and forth as she caught up to him.

<You didn’t think you could lose us that easily, did you, Alpha One?> she called out over the CAM network, narrowing the gap between their fighters until they were less than a meter apart.

<Of course not, Two,> Fischer replied, easing to his right to widen the gap. Before he maneuvered too far, however, another fighter came screeching into position, overtaking him briefly before retroburning to slow themself and allowing Fischer to take the lead again. He cursed under his breath, chuckling. <Cutting it a little close there, weren’t you, Three?>

<It was a perfectly executed maneuver, One,> Second Lieutenant Riley McCoy replied, his Irish brogue coming in thick. Fischer could feel McCoy’s smile radiating through the link. <Just because you couldn’t have pulled it off doesn’t mean none of us could.>

<McCoy’s just messing with you, Alpha One,> said Erin Burns, the third second lieutenant and final member of Alpha Squadron. She caught up to the rest and slotted into position on the opposite side of McCoy from Fischer, finishing the Finger Four formation with uncanny grace. <If he wanted to hit you, I’m sure he would’ve done it long before now. So, what’s out here that’s got command in a tizzy?>

<Sensors are reading some sort of ship in Ailas’ rings. Metallic concentration in the belt is too high to get a proper reading from long distance scanners, so we’re the lucky ones attempting to gain a visual and contact whoever’s out here.> With a thought through his CAM, Fischer’s Starhawk accelerated, briefly leaving the others behind before they caught back up. <There’s been reports of ships going missing in this sector, so keep your eyes peeled. Standard protocol when dealing with pirates. Call out all anomalies, no matter how vague or seemingly insignificant.>

<Copy that, One,> Bahr called out. The others echoed the sentiment.

Fischer guided his fighter through the thick belt of rock and ice surrounding the gas giant. Most were no bigger than a few centimeters across, but some, such as the one he curved around just minutes before, were many times larger than his Starhawk. Slamming into one of those was not something he intended on experiencing.

Several minutes passed in silence as the four of them sailed through the void, nothing in their sights besides for the countless rocks and the gas giant to their right. The frigate they came in on, the Traveler, stayed just outside the belt to avoid being pummeled by thousands of asteroids. It would have been nothing short of miraculous for a ship to actually be hiding in the dense field.

<Alpha One, I’m reading something directly ahead of us,> Bahr called out. <Hard to get a read on it through all the rocks, but it appears to look like a ship.>

Fischer checked the scanner through his own CAM and confirmed the anomaly flickering in and out. Parts of it appeared and disappeared with each sweep, the metal content in the surrounding rocks helping to obscure it. What parts that could be seen resembled a long, rectangular object, unlike any of the rocks that would be found orbiting the gas giant.

<Alright, everyone, focus time. You know the drill. Keep your weapons disarmed but ready to switch on at a moment’s notice. Don’t fire until they prove themselves hostile.> He switched to a wide-band channel directed towards the ship. <Attention, unidentified vessel. You are in Stariek space. Disarm all weapons and state your intentions, or you will be fired upon.>

Silence followed as they steadily approached the anomaly. It was not yet in visual range, hidden behind a cluster of larger asteroids. Fischer gently changed course to curve around counterclockwise when they reached the asteroids and repeated the message. Still no answer. The scanner image steadily resolved as they neared, showing more and more of the unnatural shape.

<Listen up, everyone,> Fischer said after switching back to the squadron channel. <Stay on your current course to the ship. I’m going to send a message back to the Traveler with our status, then we move in and get a visual on these guys.>

After receiving confirmation from the others—whether verbal or simply by a check mark on their status in the corner of his vision—he pulled up relative to the others. After several seconds of listening to the impacts of pebbles against the metal hull of his Starhawk, he cleared the field. Though he couldn’t see it, the Traveler was marked with a green dot twenty thousand kilometers away.

<Traveler, this is Alpha One,> he said in a tight-beam transmission to the ship. <Alpha Squadron believes we’ve located our ghost ship. We sent a transmission across all bands and received no reply. If you do not have any dispute, we will move in and get a visual.>

<Traveler copies all, Alpha One,> came the reply from Communications Officer Vanessa Makart. <We will recall all deployed squadrons and move to your position. Obtain visual of ship but do not engage until we are there. Our ETA is approximately seven minutes.>

<Copy that, Traveler. Alpha One out.> Fischer disconnected the connection and dipped the nose of his fighter down until he returned to his position at the front of the formation. <Orders are confirmed: don’t engage unless necessary.>

<Let’s see if we can get a visual first,> McCoy said, urging his Starhawk faster to get Fischer to speed up. <See who thinks they can feck around in our neighborhood.>

<Settle down, Three,> Fischer said, maneuvering his fighter in front of McCoy to slow him down. <It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, and, even if it was, it’d need to get out of the rocks before it could open a wormhole out of here.>

<Alpha One, are you seeing these readings?> Bahr asked. <It looks like there may be more than one ship out here.>

Fischer brought the scanner image to the forefront of his virtual heads-up display in his CAM. Sure enough, there were two distinct shapes in the mess of rocks and ice. One appeared to be about the same size as the Traveler, which, as a frigate, was towards the smaller end of the spectrum. The other was significantly larger, though the interference made it difficult to get an exact size. There were also trails of something that seemed to go from one to the other, though the scanner was having difficulty resolving it. A quick glance at the Traveler’s position showed it still five minutes out. Plenty of time for something to go wrong if they were dealing with something that could blast them out of space before they even laid eyes on it.

<Everyone, stay alert.> Fischer took a deep breath, willing his worry to not transmit through the CAM link. Knowing the squadron leader felt uneasy could send a ripple through the others.

After nearly a full minute of the rising tension, they finally crested the final section of asteroids obscuring their view. There, they found a curious, if not intimidating, sight. Two vessels sat in the middle of a band of ice and rock. One, that which was about the same size as the Traveler, was a simple transport liner with no real defense of its own. Scorch marks charred the rear hull of the ship near its engines and near the center, where its missing communications array should have been. The other, which sat behind it relative to Alpha Squadron, was completely unfamiliar to him, not resembling any pirate vessel he had seen before. It was nearly a kilometer long and rectangular, the front of it shaped like the head of an axe. Paint covered at least the side facing them, resembling the head of a shark, though not like any he had seen on Stariek or in any of his classes in school. The ship appeared as a mostly solid block save for half a dozen large openings that appeared to be hangar bays. Six cables from these openings connected the two ships, each of which ferried a container between them. Emblazoned on the side was a symbol of a sword.

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<Unidentified vessels,> Fischer said over a wide beam channel directed at the two ships. He used the same speech for pirates on at least a weekly basis. Almost without fail, they would surrender themselves. <You are in Stariek space. Cease operations at once and prepare to be boarded.>

Fischer held his breath, and he knew the others were doing the same, except for perhaps McCoy who would be rearing for a fight. There were no obvious cannons on the ship as he expected from a military vessel, but the size of the cables themselves worried him. A carefully placed shot from one of those would rip his Starhawk to shreds in an instant.

Surprising Fischer, the containers moving along the cables slowly came to a halt, some of them halfway between the ships. Then they all started returning to the larger, rectangular ship. Along with them, ten engine plumes from what seemed to be transports also began to head back. When they were all nearly back, a message came through from the ship to their CAM link.

<Stariek ships,> a gruff voice replied, coming through in two languages as the translation matrix built into the CAM automatically converted it. In the corner of his vision, his HUD identified as Druthagar. <Our presence here is necessary for the safety of the cosmic order. It is best for you to not interfere in our duties.>

<Negative, vessel.> Though no one could see him, Fischer shook his head. What is this guy going on about? <You are not registered as part of the Stariek Navy, therefore you have no authority here.>

<Pitiful humans,> the voice said. <Space does not belong to you, especially when you are not strong enough to protect it. But we have what we wanted, so we will leave in peace. Be warned, though, stardust will not settle on our discontent.>

With the final word, the connection ended and the cables detached from the far side of the transport. They retracted, revealing thick, barbed harpoons as they returned to the larger ship. As soon as they disappeared into the hangars and the doors clamped shut, the ship began to turn away, pushing through the asteroids as if they were nothing more than specks of dust.

Fischer, however, was not about to let them off the hook that easy.

<Unidentified vessel, you will shut off your engine and prepare for boarding immediately.> He did not know if they were still listening, but he continued anyway. <If you do not comply within the next fifteen seconds, you will be fired upon.>

A timer started in the corner of Fischer’s vision so he could make good on the threat if it came to it. The vessel made no sign of slowing.

<Uh, Alpha One, are you sure that’s the best idea?> Bahr asked on the private squadron channel, the concern she felt emanating through the link. <The Traveler is still two minutes out.>

<I’ve been rearing for a fight all morning,> McCoy answered before Fischer had a chance. <Let me at them, and I’ll teach them a lesson they’ll never forget.>

<Negative, Three,> Fischer said. <I’m just trying to buy time for the frigate to get here and stop them.>

Several seconds passed as the timer ticked down closer to zero. The squadron of four continued forward, nearing the civilian liner. As the timer reached zero and ended, the vessel still did not stop. Fischer took a deep breath.

<Three, go ahead and put a neutron beam across their bow,> Fischer said on the private channel. Then, he thought better of it and added, <Warning shot only. You hit them, you buy the first round at Stone’s.>

<That’s all the motivation I needed, Lieutenant.> McCoy’s excitement oozed through the link.

A moment later, a trio of blue neutron beams lanced out from McCoy’s fighter, skimming the surface of the front of the ship. Still, it did not slow. Moreover, they did not send any further messages. Instead, the vessel turned slightly to angle upwards, heading for the closest edge of the belt surrounding Ailas.

<Alpha Squadron, prepare to fire on the engines of the vessel on my mark,> Fischer said, sighing. It wasn’t often pirates ran, but, when they did, it annoyed him for the inconvenience it posed. <Shoot to disable only. Three, two—>

<My god, what happened here?> Burns said, interrupting Fischer. A wave of terror swept through the CAM link as one by one the rest of the squadron saw what she was talking. Fischer, too focused on the departing vessel, was the last to notice.

Their flight path took them over to crest the civilian liner. The entire backside—rather, the starboard side—was gutted, the hull stripped to the skeletal beams of the interior structure. Each individual deck of the liner was visible, as if it were bisected down the middle. Loose metal floated carelessly, gently drifting in space. Countless suitcases in a variety of sizes and shapes and colors rotated and bounced off one another. In some spaces, bodies drifted freely as well, none with space suits and all with skin turning blue from the cold of space. Froth appeared to have manifested around their eyes and mouths. At the sight of them, Fischer’s mouth went dry, and he fought to control his breathing. After a few moments, his CAM warned him of an elevated heart rate.

<They… gutted it,> Bahr replied. Her Starhawk slowed, breaking formation and heading for the wreckage. The rest of them followed behind her. <Scanners are showing no life signs. That was no ordinary pirate ship.>

<No. It was the Druthagar,> Fischer said, clenching his fist in the cockpit of his fighter. He knew his anger was passing through the link, but he didn’t care. The Druthagar were a race of dwarves who went from system to system scavenging for metal wherever they could find it, whether that was mining a planet’s crust or attacking ships. They were nothing more than sophisticated pirates, hurting whoever they could get away with. <I can’t believe I didn’t put it together before now. We have to go after it and show them they won’t get away with this.>

<Ethan, it’s too late,> Bahr said. The sympathy in her voice was accompanied with pity. Pity that Fischer wanted to squish until it oozed between his fingers. <Besides, it won’t bring her back.>

<Maybe not.> He took several deep breaths, attempting to keep from allowing his anger to get the best of him. With a thought, his Starhawk turned back towards the Druthagar ship, which was growing steadily smaller. He rocketed forward, the throttle maxed out. The inertial dampeners attempted to counteract the G-forces pushing him against his seat but were unable to compensate entirely. It felt as if an elephant was sitting on his chest, pinning him to the flight chair and making him struggle for every breath. Luckily, he didn’t need to speak to send the message through his CAM. <But I can’t just let them run without a fight.>

<Getting yourself blown up isn’t going to make things better, mate,> McCoy said, uncertainty plaguing his voice.

Fischer stopped himself from scoffing. McCoy didn’t know Elina, so he obviously couldn’t realize the importance of chasing down the ship. Who knew how many other people were affected by the Druthagar this time? If he had the chance to get vengeance for just one of them…

He shook his head and allowed the thought to clear his mind. Sighing, he turned his fighter back around. Now, he got the full view of the destroyed ship. Each layer’s section was clearly delineated with some bulkheads having attempted to seal off the exposure to the vacuum. Many of these looked to have been cut through, precise circles sitting in their centers. Parts of the metal hull looked to have been peeled back as if opened by a giant can opener.

Fischer deactivated his primary engine and used his attitude control thrusters to point himself back in the direction of the departing Druthagar ship. Near its engines, he saw scratches in the hull of the vessel, each one seeming to be a tally. He made a note of it, saving the image to his CAM for future use. If he couldn’t stop the vessel now, he would do whatever he could to stop it later.

It was too late to save Elina. It was too late to save those that died on this civilian liner. But if he could stop it from destroying even one, maybe it would be worth it. He couldn’t do that if he got himself killed now.

He turned his fighter back around and fired up his engine again.

<Come on, Alpha Squadron,> he said, his voice devoid of any emotion. <Let’s rendezvous with the Traveler and get to our debriefing.>

The others silently followed him to the frigate as it slowly pushed through the belt. Smaller rocks were vaporized by the shields of the ship while larger ones were pushed aside by the thick metal hull, sent bouncing into others.

<Traveler, this is Alpha One,> Fischer called out over the link. He couldn’t help but let his frustration seep through. <Requesting permission to land for debriefing. This civilian liner is a bust, but I recommend deploying search and rescue birds to look for any possible survivors.>

<We read you loud and clear, Alpha One,> Makart said. <We’ll see what we can do. Alpha Squadron has clearance to land at Bay Three. See you on board. Traveler out.>

<You heard her, Alpha Squadron,> Fischer said. <Let’s go home.>

Together, the four fighters flew to the Traveler, leaving the civilian liner behind. Fischer took one last look at it as he passed, making a silent promise to bring the Druthagar to justice. Even if it was the last thing he did.

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