Battle Cruiser

“Association battle cruiser dropping out of jump” Alex’s clam, steady voice broke the silent tension that had been building on the bridge of the Annic Nova.
“The Star Lords preserve us! It surely can’t have been sent to find us, can it?” Luca asked.
“No, this must be a routine visit”. Arun told his crew.
“And they don’t know about us, yet. It will take a few minutes for them to upload and assimilate, the updates from the local branches database, but they will know very soon” Kersson said without looking up from the console he was working at. “We should get to that jump point now”. He added looking towards the helm station and Arun.
“No, running would definitely attract attention and they would try to stop us”. Arun told Kersson, there was steel in his voice. He turned to the jump space navigation station next to him. “Ready, if we need too?” Annalaver giggled a little and then nodded, her crystal blue eyes, looking right through Arun. She sat back in the complex looking chair and as she did bits of it folded around her arms, torso, neck and head. The back of the chair lowed it’s self, so Annalaver was almost laying down. “Ready”, she said.
“Jump capacitors are at 82%, we are good for 1 jump”. Luca said checking his console again.
“What’s that cruiser doing?” Kersson asked Alex, walking over to his station.
“Nothing at the moment”.
Kersson’s thin and reedy looking figure stood next to Alex and operated some of the controls on his console. Alex watched him work with clam unworried eyes. Nether of them seemed bothered by the closeness of their bodies.
“How far are we from the jump point?” Kerrson asked.
“How long till the upload is complete?” Arun replied with a question.
“No way of knowing, I don’t know how long since the last update, could be a few seconds, maybe a few minutes”.
“Then we have enough, time, just”. Arun turned to Annalaver’s chair. “Now we Jump after we get to the point, not before”, he said sternly. Annalaver didn’t show any sign of acknowledging Arun’s words, her gaze was fixed unblinkingly on bridge ceiling. Arun seemed satisfied that she got the message.
“3 large objects leaving the cruiser!”. Kersson said urgently.
“Gunships”. Arun said calmly.
“They have us?” Luca asked.
“I have a firing solution”, Savanna’s voice came over the intercom from the ships turret.
“No! we would have had a radio warning to stop if they knew about us. Again standard procedure. We still have time. And there is no way we can take even 1 of those gunships let alone 3″.
“4″ Both Kerrson and Alex said simultaneously. They both looked at each other and Alex took a step back from the console. Arun looked at both of them. He and Kerrson exchanged glances for a few moments.
“Everyone should get strapped in, the could get a bit rough”. He glanced at Alex as he headed back to his own console and then at Annalaver. She just grinned.
As quite once again filled the bridge, the tension started to build again. Arun worked the controls, his hands moving quickly. Kerrson’s eyes darted around the room as he fastened the belts. Luca checked the status of the jump drive one last time then touching the calved fragment of stone hanging around his thick neck said a quick quiet prayer to the Star Lords. Only Alex and Annalaver didn’t seem worried.
“The gunships are moving, incoming message from the cruiser. We are ordered to heed to and power down all systems”.
“They have us. Hold on”. Arun’s hands worked the controls furiously.
The Annic Nova suddenly dived from it’s previous corse, it’s engines flaring in to life.
“Savanna, stand by on the surprise package. Annalaver, jump as soon you can, forget the jump point”.
“Power spikes from all 4 gunships…”. Alex started to say.
“They are powering weapons”. Kerrson interrupted.
“Where are they? Give me a tactical display”. Again Arun threw the ship in to an other different course. The ships hull groaned and shuddered under the loads it was subjected to.
Arun quickly took in the display of coloured shapes and lines projected in front of him. “Got it Savanna?”
“Almost…” Her voice was hurried, she was working hard. “…yes, ready”.
“On my mark…”.
“Weapons fire” Alex announced calmly.
“They missed!”. Kerrson shouted.
“They won’t miss again” Arun said quietly, as he violently changed the ship course one more time. “Surprise package go!” Arun ordered.
In the turret Savanna hit the large button which looked like it had been hurriedly grafted on to the console. Outside a small cylinder detached from the underside of the Annic Nova, then has the ship pulled away from it, the small drive unit on the cylinder lit and it moved away with huge acceleration.
“Brace for…” Arun started to say.
Outside the cylinder now far from the ship, suddenly blossomed in to a tiny star. For a few brief moments it out shone everything in orbit around the planet.
“…impact” The blast wave hit the Annic Nova. The whole ship shook violently and sparks fell from the ceiling as lighting panel failed. The ships hull groaned and creaked even more. A few sections of Luca’s console lit up in red.
“What was that!” Kerrson demanded.
“Everyone okay are we still good to jump?”.
“Err, hold on…” Luca checked systems quickly. “…yes”.
“Okay to go”. Annalaver answered.
“What did you do to those gunships?” Kerrson demanded again.
“Nothing, in probability, well blinded there sensors, but that’s all, might give us the extra time we need”. Arun put the ship through another set set of hard manoeuvres.
“And added more bounty to all of our heads”. Kerrson said quietly but with venom.
“How long till we can jump?” Arun asked. He wasn’t looking at Annalaver, but she was the only one that could answer that.
She lay at the console by Arun’s side, the chair enclosing most of her torso and some of her head, looking calm but excited. She smiled. “Almost there now, about a minute”.
“The 4 gunships are converging on our current heading…”
Arun glanced at the tactical display. “Running out of options”. He muttered as he threw the ship in to another set of sharp turns.
The hull creaked and groaned once again. “Don’t worry almost over”. He told the ship.
“No! We are moving away from the jump point”. Annalaver cried out in sudden desperation.
“I know, I know! We need to be alive when we get there”.
“Gunships readying weapons again”. Alex shouted. It was not fare or worry that made him shout this, he to shout to be heard over the hulls complaints at brutal series of manoeuvres Arun was putting through.
Several alarms started sounding. Luca struggled with the controls. “We taking damage from the manoeuvres. No weapon hits yet”.
“Come on, come on”. Arun shouted. “Now would be a very good time”.
Annalaver had her eyes closed now. Her face was filled with excited anticipation, her lips moved, mouthing silent words as she through the ships sensors felt the ebb and flow of the current’s in the interface between real space and jump space. “Almost there…”.
She whispered. Arun heard her over the noise of the bridge. He glanced again the tactical display. The gunships where closing in quickly now, he would very shortly have nowhere to go that the ships couldn’t cover with fire from the there weapons. If Annalaver doesn’t find that jump point in the next few seconds, it’s over, Arun thought as he executed the last manoeuvre he could. It was down to her now.
Arun knew she was the best jump space pilot there was, but was getting out of this going to be even possible? If it was she could do it, Arun knew.
“Weapons are ready to fire again” Alex calmly informed the crew.
It would be a disabling shot Arun hoped, they still wanted him alive, that mean’t there was still a slim chance.
“Got it!” Annalaver shouted in a ecstatic cry.

The Chase

The Annic Nova jumped.
From outside of the ship a brief flash of lines criss crossed the hull as the jump grid warmed up, then a second later the grid flashed out with searing brightness and faded quickly. The ship was gone.
Inside not much changed. There where no windows on the bridge, there was little use for them and so the only noticeable difference was that Arun’s console, the real space helm, shut down. It had no use in jump space, Annalaver was now flying the ship via the direct data connections to her spine.
Things happened to fast in jump space for ordinary human reactions to keep pace, but jump was was just to volatile and unpredictable for a computer to pilot through, to do it well you needed an instinct for it. Annalaver had that by the ship load.
“By the Star Lords hands, we made it”. Luca exclaimed as clasped his holy symbol.
“This time!” Kerrson said angrily. “And we are not clear yet”.
Arun ignored Kerrson. “Right make this fast Anna, get us clear. They will becoming in after us. Any sign of them yes Alex?”
“Nothing yet. Our entry I has caused some turbulence, that could be masking their entry”.
Annalaver, plumbed in directly to the ship’s sensors and she her own instinct to jump space would know about the gunships entries before Alex detected, Arun knew this. Alex as good, cool, calm and logical, but artificial’s where not people. They where manufactured and lacked the true insight and imagination a person could had.
The ship banked and twisted sharply. Freed of the limits of newtonian physics, jump space manoeuvres could be much more extreme, provided the pilot was good enough not to disrupt the delicate equilibrium of jump space. Annalaver was that good, where the Assoication pilots? Arun didn’t think they would be.
“There in”. Arun told Alex.
“I see no sign of…no wait two entry points. Yes they are the gunships”.
“The others won’t be far behind. We have the advantage now, those things are bricks” Arun said with a smile. Annalaver’s face was filled with a child like glee. This was her world, her playground and now she could have some fun.
The Annic Nova twisted around in a tight spiral. In normal space this would be enough to shred the crew and probably destroy the ship, but in jump space it was just unpleasant for them.
“What the hell is she doing?” Kerrson snarled. “We need to put some distance between them and us!”.
“Gently now” Arun told her. Annalaver responded with a childish giggle and reversed the spiral. “Anna!” Arun shouted.
Annalavers smile quickly became a scowl as the ship returned to a more normal course.
“The other two gunships are now in and all 4 are bearing on us directly. But they are not closing the distance. Heavy turbulence behind us now” Alex reported, not looking up from the console.
Arun smiled. “Good girl. That will give them something to think about”.
“What has Annalaver done?” Luca asked.
“I believe the violent manoeuvres have created the poor jump space conditions we see behind us”. Alex told him.
“Yes and without effecting the conditions in front of of us. Annalaver, you are the best”. Arun patted her shoulder. “Now lets put some distance…”
“One of the gunships is powering it’s weapons again”. Alex interrupted.
“Impossible, they wouldn’t be…” Before Kerrson could finish, the energy weapon on the lead gunship fired. The shot was well wide of the Annic Nova, the chaotic nature of jump space makes long distance aiming very hard. But it didn’t matter, the effects hit the Arun’s ship hard.
That much energy released in to the volatile environment of jump space, caused huge waves of turbulence to radiate out from the beam path.
The ship shook under the impacts of the waves. More alarms sounded and a number of systems overloaded, blowing panels and inspection hatches open all of the ship.
“Fools!” Arun shouted uselessly was the displays.
“They don’t want to bring you in now, they want to kill you and us!” Kerrson shouted.
“No, that was a rouge action. None of the others are firing”.
The tactical display now showed the ship that had fired, was slowing. The effects that they had felt, would have been felt 10 fold on that firing ship.
“That ship appears have taken serious damage. I see power fluctuations all over it. They are…” Before Alex could finish the marker for that ship disappeared from the display.
“Brace for impact” Arun shouted. No sooner had he said these words than the shock wave from the exploding gunship hit them.
The bridge seemed to become a mass of nose, light and hard objects flying through the air. She’s lost it, Arun through for a moment. But the shock waves passed a in few moments and level of calm returned.
“Everyone okay”. Arun looked around. There where several fires burning now, but all the crew looked more or less in tact. Alex had taken some damage from a damaged conduit but he was still functioning. “There is a jump storm forming around the gunships explosion, it is spreading rapidly. The other gunships are caught in it”.
The ship shook violently. “And so are we now” Kerrson added. “Now what?”
Arun glanced at the display and then around at his crew. He knew there was probably only one way out of this. He looked down at Annalaver. She was smiling and giggling manically to her self. She had made the decision for him.
The only way to get clear of a jump storm was to try and fly around with its flow and hope you picked up enough speed to throw you clear. It could work, but it was very dangerous.
“No”. Kerrson shouted. “You’ve got to stop her. This is crazy”.
“And the only way out of here. Hold on this is going to get very rough”.
The outer edge of the twisting, boiling storm of jump space matter had already reached the Annic Nova, the hull creaked slightly with each geometry distorting wave. Annalaver was turning the ship to the waves hit it front on and had the least resistance to passing.
“I hope you know what your doing”. Arun whispered as his display showed the extent of the storm, it was going to be a big one. Just as the Annic Nova’s drives fired and it started it’s curving curse down towards the storms eye, Arun noticed that another one of the gunships was gone. Was it destroyed or did the crew see sense and revert to the safety of normal space. Arun didn’t have that choice, they would be waiting for him there. Onwards and down wards was the only way for his ship and crew.
The already badly abused hull was once again creaking in complain. “Not long now…I hope”. Arun patted the console.
He looked down at Annalaver, her exposed flesh was pasty white and covered with sweat, what he could she of her face was caught somewhere between agony and ecstasy.
The Annic Nova was really picking up speed now and as it did, the little pockets of denser jump space hit more and more regularly.
Arun’s hand grabbed the arm of his chair. The impacts where coming to fast to be felt as a separate impact. The whole bridge was shaking. He couldn’t make out anything now, the world outside his head was just a blur of constant motion. The sound of the all the alarms, the complains of the hull and the endless pops and bangs and circuits gave way, just became one long, very loud noise.
Arun wasn’t sure they where going to make this, both the ship and the pilot had taken to much already today. If I die here and now will anyone care, he asked him self. Will the universe notice? Will the star lords come to collect my soul?
No, Arun didn’t believe in any of that stuff, he believed in him self, his crew and his ship. “Come on, we can do this”.