Echoes of Harmony

He smiled. Sometimes, they made it way too easy for him.

He pulled his Raptor into a tight Immelman, flying upside down briefly to go back the direction he came before rolling upright. The enemy fighters continued flying toward him, turning away to avoid a collision. They came lumbering about in a futile attempt to follow. Their boxy frames, however, did not allow them to turn nearly as quickly as his fighter.

<Astral One, guns, guns, guns,> he called out over the squadron communication link through his CAM to Keith and Lina. With a thought, his neutron cannons lanced out, firing quick bursts of blue beams. They ripped through the first craft’s fuselage before tearing into the reactor. Like the last, the fighter exploded.

Blue neutrons beams from his left struck another one of the enemy craft as another Raptor sped by him. The enemy tried veering off before its reactor too ignited and detonated.

<Nice one, Astral Two,> Skylar said. He brought his fighter around in a tight turn and lined up with the fourth enemy before releasing one of his Echo missiles. <Astral One, Fox Three.>

The LIDAR-seeking rocket sped into the void, slamming into the rear of the ship even as it tried to release its electronic countermeasures. A moment later, it was another field of rubbish floating through space.

<Thanks, One,> Lina replied, <but you did the work of distracting him for me, so I can’t take all the credit.>

<Yeah, that’s still another one for me and two for you.> Skylar checked the overlay in the corner of his vision counting their victories. He smiled as he read the numbers. <That makes it seven for me, four for you, and one for Keith.>

<I’m trying my hardest!> Keith yelled over the link. His voice cracked slightly. <You’ve had a lot more training than me.>

<I suppose so.> Skylar couldn’t help but continue smiling. In some ways, the boy reminded him of himself. Eventually, he was sure Keith would be a great pilot. <Just keep trying, and you’ll be as good as me someday.>

He returned his attention to the tactical map, noting all the enemy fighters in the area had been eliminated.

<Next work, Astral Squad.> Skylar brought his starfighter around to start heading back to the station. <Resume regular patrol outside Vesta Colony.>

As he sent the message and the other other two fell in on either side of him, a brief alarm sounded through his CAM. A quick, somewhat confused glance at his tactical overlay showed a new contact that slowly shed a dozen others. An analysis conducted by the scanners aboard his fighter indicated it was a Druthagar skirmisher designated the Gorn Darohm. As one of their Iron-class ships, it was not the strongest the Druthagon Kingdom had to offer. Against the small fighters, however, it certainly posed a real threat. Assuming they got within range of its point defense cannons, something that, as their classes taught them, the Druthagar did not bother implementing into their ships until just a few years ago.

<Alright,> Skylar said, <New mission: take out that skirmisher. Astral Three, watch my six. Two, stay by my side. The Iron-class has a vulnerability in its ventral hull we can exploit.>

The slight g-force of his acceleration pressed him against his seat before the inertial dampeners kicked in. Ahead of him, the angular form of the skirmisher steadily grew larger. It was a metallic gray, shining with the light of the nearby star glancing off it. Atop its midsection was a single double-barreled magnetic cannon. So far, this went unused in the battle.

<One, there’s too many of them,> Lina said. A hint of panic came through the link, prompting Skylar to look at the tactical overlay. As he watched, several dozen more fighters were appearing on the map. Far too many for the skirmisher to have hid them in its twelve bay hangar. <We’ll never make it through.>

Skylar gritted his teeth, slowing his Raptor to give himself more time to think. He tried to calm himself to allow time for his OODA—observe, orient, decide, act—loop to catch up. Work the problem, a voice in his head, that of their trainer over the last six years, said. No point in dwelling on issues he couldn’t solve. Better to do what he could with what was available to him.

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Even as the thoughts passed around his head, his hands began to shake. The feeling of being overwhelmed swept over him. He felt as if he returned to the basement safe room in his parents’ estate all those years ago. When he was completely powerless to do anything, even if that meant saving those he cared about from being kidnapped by the Hyperions.

Skylar closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He forced his hands to stop shaking, clenching the pants of his flight suit so tightly he was sure the fabric would rip. The enemy fighters were still several minutes out. Plenty of time to work out a solution. But the encroaching wall of red dots against the small blue blob representing himself, Lina, and Keith was impossible to look away from. Even the two other squadrons didn’t make a dent in the force approaching them. His thoughts were so deeply absorbed in the image, it took a few moments for him to realize Lina was talking to him.

<Astral One, did you hear the order?> she asked. He wracked his brain trying to figure out what it could have been when she continued, <Command’s ordered a general retreat. We need to get back to base.>

<No.> Skylar shook his head even though she couldn’t see him. <We can take them. We’ve already destroyed twelve of them, what’s another…>

His voice trailed off as he began counting the dots. There were many times more than what they already destroyed, and Keith’s supplies were showing low. Skylar and Lina also sat below half what they left the station with. When they ran out of missiles, they would have to resort to neutron cannons and hope for the best.

<Skylar, the other squadrons have already started heading back.> Keith sounded panicked, his voice rising an octave. If the CAM network didn’t prevent children’s emotions from passing over the link, it surely would have been oozing with fear. Skylar rolled his eyes despite feeling a similar bit in his stomach. <There’s too many of them. They’re going to blast us out of space!>

<They’re the ones that taught us to never retreat.> Skylar accelerated again towards the enemy fighters and left the other two behind. His hands began shaking again as he saw the first visuals of the incoming swarm. He forced them into fists and took another deep breath. <They taught us the mission was more important than any one life. Let’s see how much they really meant that.>

<I don’t think this is what they really had in mind,> Lina said. They continued following him, though the hesitancy in their movements spoke volumes. <Stop being stupid and come back with us.>

<They also said follow orders no matter what!> Keith’s frantic message came through. His voice seemed to be even higher than before. <The new order is to fall back.>

Skylar ignored him. He continued plowing forward, marking targets for his four remaining Echo missiles. They dropped out from the body of his H-19’s wings, shooting forward. Two hit their marks. The other two exploded early, harmlessly sending small pockets of debris through space.

His CAM’s interface lit up with warnings of incoming return fire. Half a dozen missiles were converging on him. His breaths came in rattling gasps as the courses were projected with times of arrival just milliseconds apart. He tried to tell his fighter to roll out of the way, but he couldn’t form the thoughts. Tremors once more shot through his hands. He forced them into fists, hoping it would help. Instead, it seemed to compound the shaking.

Just before the missiles slammed into his fighter, the laser defense system on his Raptor activated and fired countermeasures at them. Brief flashes lit up the void, some just a few hundred meters away, as each rocket was prematurely detonated. Red neutron beams lanced out. Some impacted his shields while others harmlessly sped by. Finally, he managed to change his course and dive down, passing underneath the wall of enemy fighters.

<One, my shields are down to twenty percent and rapidly falling,> said Lina. <We need to retreat.>

<I can do it,> Skylar replied through gritted teeth. They chattered as the shaking expanded up his body. Pulling up, he locked his course onto the skirmisher. He was coming from underneath, staring at its belly. <I just need a little more time if Keith can give me that.>

<Afraid that’s not possible, Skylar,> Lina quickly answered. <Seeing how they destroyed Keith’s fighter thirty seconds ago.>

The statement caused him to look at the tactical overlay in the corner of his vision where there was a missing dot. Skylar slammed his fist against the side of his cockpit. A stab of pain ran up his arm. He knew the kid wasn’t ready for this. But did the Hyperions listen?

With a thought, he spun his Raptor in a tight roll to the right, dodging around one of the approaching fighters. He activated his neutron cannons. The pale blue beams tore through another enemy craft. It detonated as he continued flying towards the skirmisher. A single goal ran through his mind: destroy the enemy to complete the mission. Just like one of the hologames when he was Keith’s age.

More enemies continued to swarm around him. Like Lina, his shields dropped precipitously in the span of a few seconds. He pushed his fighter faster. It screamed in protest as the engines exceeded their standard capability. Metal creaked and groaned around him with the stress put on the hull.

The underbelly of the skirmisher was its weakest point, and he just happened to be at the perfect angle to take advantage of it. Just a bit further, then if he could break through its shields, he might be able to take it out.

His CAM warned him a second before the missile hit. A flash of light on his right. Intense heat on his left. A horrible alarm rang in his ears. Rushing air and the sound of shattering glass. Frigid cold rushed over him. Then nothing but darkness.

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