Make or Break the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 4) Read online

"When they tried to take it off me in the med bay, it crumbled to dust."

  Suits were designed to take a lot of punishment, and ours were boosted. But Alison had caught a lot of fire before being subjected to decompression. The suit had kept her alive, but it was already shredding when I'd found her.

  They were actually a belt, programmable to form a protective suit imitating clothes, space suit, or anything else you wanted to look like. Jane was using one as an avatar, using a security droid with a belt to appear human. She was so good at it now, even facial expression was too good to pick as artificial.

  The suits activated into full space suit in the event of decompression, or into a suit of light armour that completely enclosed you in the event of hostile fire. But there was only so much it could take, and Alison had tested it to the absolute limits this morning.

  "Janet, send Alison a security droid with a belt please. If you can find boosters for it in the station's Mercenary Outfitters store, bring three."

  "Yes my Lord."

  Repulse had fallen well behind now. I slowed us down. I wanted to meet the enemy far enough ahead of Repulse that she wasn’t targeted, but not so far as she couldn’t help if things went pear shaped.

  We waited, the range closing.

  A security droid rushed in and handed it's belt to Alison. Like Jane's avatar, which was usually an early twenties girl, my security droids emulated human males. Their suits were thus available in an emergency to be used by someone else. She put it on, and seconds later was dressed in her 'slinky red' uniform. At least now she was protected if the hull was breached. Both our suits would turn into full space suits, and plug us into the chair emergency air feeds, if that happened.

  One worry out of the way.

  I locked up the middle right Cruiser. It was not in range yet. The moment to fire was when it started to turn, before it could fire its first barrage, assuming it was in range then. The range was dropping rapidly now. I eased back on speed again.

  There. They were slowing.

  My Battleship guns were in range. Cruiser guns, wait a bit longer, yes. Destroyer guns, waiting, waiting.

  The Missile Cruisers came to a stop, and began to turn broadside on.

  The Destroyer guns came in range, and I ripped back the speed slider to bring us to a halt at long range.

  I pulled my trigger.

  Forty eight guns fired.

  I shifted target to the Cruiser to the right, and locked it up, being quick but careful, to get a full bead on it. I pressed the missile launch button, and seventy two torpedoes headed for it. I'd goofed on the range though, I was much further away than I'd thought.

  "Jane, realign the clusters for this range."

  "Confirmed."

  The first Cruiser exploded.

  Destroyer guns came back online.

  Most of the torpedoes missed but a number of them impacted the shields of the second Cruiser, and they failed.

  I pulled the gun trigger again, hoping twenty four Destroyer guns were enough against no shields.

  "Realignment complete," said Jane.

  I locked up the last Cruiser on the right, aimed carefully, and pressed the torpedo firing button.

  The second Cruiser exploded.

  Four barrages of two hundred missiles each, launched from the remaining Cruisers.

  The Mosquito system fired all three launchers at once.

  Point Defense was firing now, and I took my attention away for a second to notice that the Talons had already fired anti-fighter missiles at the station. Jane was systematically destroying them at long range.

  I locked up the first Cruiser to the left, and waited for the Battleship guns to recharge. Destroyer guns, yes. Cruiser guns, yes. Waiting. Yes.

  The third Cruiser exploded.

  I pulled the gun trigger again.

  I lined up and locked the second last Cruiser, and fired torpedoes.

  Another three barrages left the remaining Cruisers. They'd wised up at last. They carried missile launchers on both sides. To bring the other side into play, all they had to do was roll the ship. For the first time, they had.

  Missiles were exploding all across the front of the station now, in a fiery display the likes I'd never seen before. And that was saying something, since I'd already thought I'd seen the maximum display possible in an earlier battle. Some were hitting the shields, and they were slowly going down.

  The fourth Cruiser exploded.

  The Mosquito system fired again. But this time, many of them detonated prematurely as they met explosive residue from other explosions seconds earlier.

  I send another salvo of torpedoes at the last Cruiser. Some of them exploded in the residues as well. Most went through.

  I shifted target now to the Talons.

  They were a cloud of ships, one hundred and eighty strong, still firing from beyond the Cruiser line.

  I lined up on the left end of the cloud, and fired a salvo of torpedoes. I moved aim to the right and fired again. And again, and again, and again.

  The fifth Cruiser exploded. The Talons surged forward. They met a wall of torpedoes.

  A group of the last capital ship missiles struck the station together. The shields failed. Alison screamed as we lost gravity and lights for a moment. But our suits hadn't changed, so the hull hadn't been breached.

  The last Cruiser exploded.

  Point Defense was still picking off missiles, but enough were hitting to stop the shields from regenerating.

  All main guns were charged again, so I took aim into the cloud and fired.

  Talons vaporized, leaving a hole in the middle of them.

  I shifted aim to the left, and fired torpedoes again, doing the same for the right.

  CRACK. Our suits shifted to full space suit mode, and connected us to the air points in our chairs. I'd heard the first part of Alison's scream, before it was silenced by the suit. I was reminded of the flat screen which had first said, 'In space, no-one can hear you scream'. We still had air, for now.

  "Repair droids on the way," said Janet calmly, through my PC. "The breach is small. It'll take a long time for the station as a whole to lose air, and it should be patched long before that."

  The shields started to make headway now, as missile hits, and gun hits, tapered off.

  IR missiles were firing now that Jane had time to target them.

  The red dots representing enemy fighters dwindled now, faster and faster, until at last, there were no more.

  A channel opened.

  "That was bollocks, Hunter. Do it again, and get it right this time!"

  Three

  I could see Alison was laughing as hard as I was, inside her space suit. I could also see what laughing was costing her, pain wise.

  Admiral Susan Bentley had a way with words it seemed. Since she taught Captain's to drive capital ships, I guess it was one of her stock expressions.

  "What's your status Admiral?" she continued.

  We were both full Rear Admirals, in separate Space Forces, she being British, and I being attached to Sci-Fi sector's Space Force. I'd been given the command, even though she was senior.

  "We've a hull breach somewhere," I replied, "but otherwise, we're fine."

  "That was INSANE. You know that, don’t you?"

  "Sorry Admiral, you're breaking up. Repeat your last?"

  She laughed. She'd just told her superior he needed mental help. I had to pretend not to hear it, even if it might have been true. Alison was still laughing, but her pain had tears streaming down her face as well.

  "Your status?" I asked.

  "No damage. There were some missiles that missed you and targeted us, but our Point Defense handled them easily."

  "Stay on alert. I suspect there's one more fleet inbound. How long before it gets here, is anyone's guess, although three and a half hours is mine."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Educated guess. Cobol had two exit jump points, and received two fleets. Avon has four. Four fleets? We've a
lready seen three. And this fleet jumped in four hours after the last."

  "Logical. Let's assume the worst, and stay on alert."

  "Indeed."

  I closed the channel.

  And opened one to the ships which had departed so abruptly.

  "Hunter to all ships, return to the station please. We've a minor hull breach, so remain on board your ships until given the all clear to come back on board."

  I closed the channel before anyone could comment.

  "Janet, any survivors out there?"

  "No my Lord."

  "Send out the salvage droids, and let's get this mess cleaned up. Salvageable hulls on the station please, the rest to the jump point to add to the Debris field there." We'd had one there already, but it hadn't been completed, and there obviously hadn't been enough mass to inconvenience the Cruisers jumping in.

  "Yes my Lord."

  We sat waiting, not being able to move out of our chairs, in case we did fully lose air.

  "Initial patching complete," said Janet.

  Our suits changed. Alison's to 'slinky red', and mine to Sci-Fi sector Space Force fatigues. She jumped out of her chair, groaned at what it did to her wound, and limped over to me. I stood, stepped down to meet her, and she hugged me.

  After she released me, I turned to Jane.

  "See Alison back to her hospital bed please Jane. If she tries to go anywhere else, carry her."

  "Monster," said Alison, but with a smile on her face.

  "Confirmed," said Jane.

  I wasn’t sure if she was confirming my order, or Alison's comment.

  I watched them walk out, and returned to my chair. I rather liked the view from up here. It gave one a sort of lofty view of the minions below. Except there were no minions.

  I opened a new vid.

  "Marshal, Admirals, and General," I started.

  The Marshal, was Space Marshall Bigglesworth, of the British Fleet. The Admirals were Admiral Jedburgh, commander of the Dallas based American fleets, and Admiral Hallington, who commanded at the Miami blockade. The General was General Harriman, my boss back in the Australian sector. Bigglesworth and Jedburgh were the equivalent of four star Generals. Harriman was a three. Hallington was a two.

  "The fog of war just came to bite us on the arse. Less than half an hour ago, another Midgard fleet jumped into the Avon system. It was a standard size for them, six Missile Cruisers and fifteen squadrons of Talons. The station and Repulse successfully took them out. The station suffered minor hull damage, and Repulse was undamaged. Battle feeds will be attached."

  "Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I now believe yet another fleet is on its way to the Avon system. The number of fleets seems to be determined by the number of outward jump points in the system. However, unless the next fleet is working on a different timetable, we'll expect it around the time our reinforcements arrive from Avon Shipyards. We'll remain on high alert until we're ready to begin offensive operations. This will likely be delayed as support ships are repaired, but I hope we can begin removing debris from the jump point as early as late today, in preparation for going through. Hunter out."

  I assembled the email and sent it off. General Harriman wouldn’t be receiving his anytime soon, as the entire Australian sector was currently cut off from the rest of the Orion arm of the galaxy. Midgard was waging a war against technology, space travel in particular, and they were destroying all the coms satellites they found. Cobol had been taken by them a few days earlier, and as the gateway into the Australian sector, all coms traffic each way, had ceased.

  "Jane, did they launch any Assault shuttles?"

  "Yes. I killed them with IR missiles before they came anywhere near the station."

  I hated to think what the total death toll was. Hopefully I would never find out.

  "Janet, close the airlock on the Docking Deck, and re-air and heat it please. Best we don’t decompress our own people coming home."

  "Yes my lord."

  I sent off an email to Miriam. This was Lieutenant Commander Young, stationed at the Miami blockade. I was still trying to work out if she was my girlfriend, unexpectedly, or if our relationship was still what I'd thought it to be. We'd so far had 'Thank you for saving my life' sex, and 'We might be dead tomorrow' sex. But in a recent email, she'd used the 'B' word, although the context was ambiguous. As I'd slept with Alison last night, being 'I don’t want to be alone tonight' sex on her part, with a 'We might be dead tomorrow' undertone, my social life, such as it was, could only be called complicated. Alison had nearly died this morning, justifying the need in my mind.

  One thing I was coming to believe. If your number is up, you should have at least one last good bonk, before you go.

  Four

  While I waited for the station's people to return, I had two options. No, make that three. I could think. I could do karmic releases for all the people I'd killed this morning. Or I could go back to sleep. The latter was my favourite.

  Releases.

  I never ignored this voice in my head. It was always right. One day I wanted to figure out who was talking to me. So far, it had refused to identify itself. Such is the way trust and faith work. I had them, it knew this.

  At home, we believed that any negative event between two people showed the presence of karma between the two. We took karma seriously. Within meditation, we used a specific statement to release the karma of the event or person. Every kid had this memorized before they were eight.

  Home was Gaia, but it was locked away behind Outback system's isolation policy, for all except five days a year. The next Door home didn't open for over ten months. I'd missed the last window to return home, when the events of the last couple of months had begun, with a Pirate trying to kill me. There were not a lot of Pirates left in the Australian sector now, thanks to me, and their single minded need to kill me.

  In less than two months, fifty two days to be precise, I'd gone from an eighteen year old space apprentice on his first flight away from home, to full Rear Admiral in three space forces. Personally, I couldn’t see why they kept promoting me, except General Smith had once told me I projected command, even if I didn’t know it. Admiral Jedburgh had used the word genius on one occasion. Nope, I can't see it. I'm just me, doing what I have to.

  "Jane, let me know when Gunbus docks."

  "Confirmed."

  Stop thinking. Start releasing.

  I sighed. Meditation state comes easy to me, having meditated since I can remember. Outback was colonized by spiritual groups who wanted a place no-one else wanted, where they could be left in peace. So far it had worked. A few missiles here and there, ensured it worked. Kids are taught to meditate early.

  I let 'the voice' guide me in what needed to be released. I had no idea how many people had died by my hand today, so I needed the guidance for once.

  My official kill score was now six hundred and six. But that didn’t take into account the crews and soldiers on the Cruisers.

  George had once asked me why I wasn’t a basket case, being a spiritual person forced to kill. I'd responded that we took the responsibility for our own actions seriously. It didn’t involve us being a doormat. When we did something against life and karma, we did the releases, which included forgiveness for all involved, including ourselves. BA had called me a 'Warrior of God'. The term made me cringe. We didn’t use the 'G' word at home, preferring the word Divine. And the Divine had no need of warriors.

  So sure, you are.

  This voice I knew. Buddha Amitabha.

  So I'm a warrior of God?

  We communicated in conversation mode, inside my head.

  Silence.

  I hated it when they made statements and wouldn't answer questions after.

  All in good time.

  In other words, have patience.

  I completed the releases and nodded off.

  I found myself in a fog. People were yelling at me, but I couldn’t see them. I told them to shut up and let me sleep. Something soli
d hit my left foot.

  I woke.

  People were shouting at me.

  "Ouch!" I said.

  "Serves you right," said Amanda. "Who gave you the right to decide when the team fights or runs?"

  She was angry again. I could tell, because I'd seen her anger directed at me once before. I'd accidently left her behind once.

  "You did," I responded.

  She hit my left foot with the butt of her gun again.

  "Stop doing that," I yelled at her. I made an effort to calm down, while my foot throbbed. I had enough trouble already, with bruising down my left side, without being attacked by my friends. "Sorry, I wouldn't be yelling if everyone else was talking normally. It's been a long morning."

  Amanda looked like she wanted to whack my foot again, but reluctantly holstered her gun instead.

  They all looked glum. They knew they'd given me the power when they joined me, instead of me joining them. They didn’t like running away though. They were professional Mercenaries, originally Smith's Alpha Team, before they joined me, and as BA had put it, they went in at the shit end.

  I looked around the room at their faces, faces I'd come to love like family.

  Amanda and Aleesha Peck, identical twin sisters, had originally been assigned as bodyguards for me, while I learned how things worked, and how to defend myself. We had a relationship that was still evolving. They were an ongoing tease. We shared the shower together on occasions, and had spent one memorable night together doing more than sleep. More interesting though, we shared dreams, including the nightmare I'd been getting since I was a small child. We didn't know why this was happening. Yet.

  Alison, who I noticed wasn’t in her hospital bed after all, had helped me learn as well. The four of us were more than friends. Alison, who was the team medic and administrator, had a knack for massage, and I'd taught her what I knew of Reiki. For some reason I still didn’t understand, our massage sessions had a habit of ending in sex. Back home, no-one had ever suggested this might happen. But then, I was a lot younger when I learned, and it wasn’t the sort of thing you'd mention to a child. Then again, it wasn’t very professional for it to happen either, so maybe they steered clear of the whole situation, and hoped people avoided it. Maybe they taught healer ethics later on. I didn’t know. In spite of being a good healer, I'd been mad for space, so I’d never completed any of the healer courses.