Cutlass Sharpened (65 page)

“
Damn, he’s enjoying
it.”

“
WAAHOO!!!” Oliver was alive
flying like this. He was gaining control and having the time of his
life. The speeds were perfect for him. He could keep up with the
sudden turns and maneuvers. This fighter was much more of a
challenge than all other simulations. He felt almost nothing to the
forces thanks to the dampeners. He didn’t experience motion
sickness even slightly though the stars were little more than
streaking lines across the screen.

Jerking motions became crisper, cleaner and
more smooth as the thrills lowered and he remembered why he was
playing. Stopping was nearly as swift as accelerating and his mere
touch made ready for impossible turns.

In the time of a half hour he flew over to
the four orbiting ships, the Dorgenox long gone from visuals, and
he touched the cool, clear sapphire screen displaying target range
and speed of every object it flew towards. His touch brought up the
faces of everyone in the cockpits. “Steven, Stone, Deegen?”

“
Need something?” Stone
spoke first.

“
Yes. Set your cannons to
simulation and team up against me in a dog fight.”

“
Oh, I’m definitely up to
shooting you out of the sky.” Steven’s broad grin grew and his
brown eyes sparkled at the very idea.

“
Three on one?” Renee walked
in on the cockpit of her shuttle when she got bored watching him
fool around, secretly wishing to do it too. “Good idea. Every hive
has Dragoons. Even if they were a day away, they are nasty flyers.
Boys, don’t hold back. Shoot Oliver down…
pretend
to shoot him down. My
shuttle’s weapons aren’t a match for yours, nor is it built for
high speed maneuverability.”

“
Yes, Ma’am!” Steven was
stoked to finally do something. “Setting blasters to
SIM’s.”

“
On my mark begin.” Stone
took lead. “Three. Two. One. Mark!”

Three fighters flew and tore off after Oliver
who threw the stick forward and shot down for their position since
direction was meaningless in space.

Oliver cursed as his cockpit flashed red,
getting shot down. Stone said “My shot.”

He flipped around and slipped between two of
them and decided evading was good enough for the moment. Hunters
were all excellent pilots and the three here were all aces in their
own rights. They were relentless, but after about fifteen kills,
they found it increasingly harder to lock onto his position. More
and more he grew accustomed to evading and tricking pursuers. The
Hunters then began to find themselves fatigued keeping eye contact
on the randomly flying ship.

When Oliver didn’t even get clipped after
five minutes he changed up tactics by how he moved and went on the
offensive. In doing so, his helmet grew on and he began zipping
around his friends and repeatedly taking them down, going so fast
that they couldn’t coordinate a response let alone use one another
as bait before his fighter flipped around and fired practically for
their faces in the cockpits every time.

“
Well damn, I give up. I’ve
been his sixty three times in ten minutes.” Deegen admitted as he
broke off from the fight.

“
Lucky bastard. I told you I
wanted her all to myself.” Steven did likewise along with
Stone.

“
Now I see why. I need to
thank the captain for this beauty.”

“
Already did, Lad.” Jake
Dorgen’s face came up on screen. “She’ll take care of ye better
than me daughter.”

“
Watch it, Papa or I’ll zap
your ass.”

Jake roared with laughter. He sobered quickly
though. “Now that ye got control of yer very own fighter, Lad, put
it to good use. Use it to keep me daughter safe and it’ll continue
to be all yers. Fuck up and it is going to be taken back. Now get
going and do not forget to return the cannons to lethal.”

“
Understood.” A single touch
on the screen switched from simulation back to actual firing
capability. The Hunters all did likewise.

“
Alright, we need to loop
around and go in.” Jessica said as she piloted the shuttle. “Keep
us up to date, Brother. Without long range scanners we’ll mostly be
blind till they’re on us.”

“
Ye know I will alert to any
changes.”

Chapter 14

Nine hours flying on sublight engines were
spent mostly in tedium silence. All the fun was long since left
behind along with five planets. The tiny binary stars steadily grew
as they went deeper into the system. Oliver was glad for chilled
water and a urination collector for either sex to use. After
reaching maximum speed they merely coasted through the endless
vacuum to conserve power. They already passed the slower Dorgenox
in terms of deepness, but they looped clear away so as to not be
spotted. And periodic updates from the captain or Abdul showed
minimal activity in the hive that would indicate an ability to
attack from the inhabited moon.

Eventually the boredom went away and was
replaced by the knowledge danger fast approached. Oliver took lead
among the three Seeker fighters with the shuttle lingering behind
till the threats were eliminated.

They slowed a great deal so
atmospheric entry didn’t build up enough friction to burn into a
seeming falling meteor. Alerting anything as ferocious as Keptl was
a
very
bad idea. It
was extremely dark on the moon in question, being in the shadowed
side of the planet, which made it prudent not to gain any form of
extra attention. Oliver said to the others “The Keptl are spread
out. I can shoot down two faster than your ships can turn. You each
pick one and on my command we take them out simultaneously so
whatever guides the swarm won’t realize just what happened right
away.”

The Hunters flew stealthily to the
signatures.

The Keptl in question were Trackers, lowest
of Keptl in terms of strength and psionic sensory, but also most
numerous by a wide margin. It was they who fed the hives mostly,
supplying fresh meat to the ravenous horde or becoming the meat to
stronger predators. They were like worker ants in a nest. Soldiers
were the real ones to fear. Trackers sought food and brought it
back. Oliver dipped the sharp nose of his ship down and initiated
the softer, close range surface scanner which picked them up right
away. Even in the dark they were found by DNA scan as well as
through infrared body heat since they ran hot. Fitting considering
their temperament. A rotating image of the type of Keptl type came
up on screen. It was a sleek quadruped, larger than a brown bear
yet shaped like a wolf without a tail, had triangular teeth like a
shark and a tough exoskeleton though it wasn’t an insect. Their
only attributes were great speed due to large back leg muscles, a
bite able to tear through some of the hardest alloys and long claws
that disembowel prey. Most of all when not swarming, they were
stealthy predators. Basically anything with a pulse was considered
prey for them. All Keptl were like that. It is really bad when they
swarm and killing one just brings a thousand in its place.

Everyone was in position and the oblivious
menaces were targeted. “Three. Two. One. Fire!”

In under a second, five Trackers were blasted
apart by a short burst of light. All Keptl life signs disappeared
in the area. But of all the luck, the Salamanders had returned to
their nest inside a cave and didn’t sense anything that made them
want to come out. “Deegen, scan the area thoroughly while the rest
of us clear out the Beasts. Renee, you can come down, but don’t
land till the Beasts are gone.”

“
Save me some. I’m tired of
Piranha every couple days.” It was the best he would get. He didn’t
doubt she intended to land soon. “Variety is good you know. Oh, and
be careful. I’m reading atmospheric disturbance for a gathering
storm.”

Gravity manipulators made for a soundless
landing in a clearing halfway up the mountain. Being closest,
Steven landed first and as soon as the cockpit opened, Visor’s
armored body took to the air, wings spread wide. He needed to be
able to breathe too, hence armor and helmet. Oliver dropped in
next, landing facing the opposite direction so their ships could
fit more easily in the small landing area. He lowered the landing
gear and touched down. Stone followed up, completing the front to
back to front landing and like Visor, Satellite was flying.

Hot air reminding of Zerika filled the cooled
cabin as Oliver exited, but lacked the oppressive humidity. He
closed the lid, looking up into the cloudy sky circling a giant
planet that blocked visuals, coming and building faster than
expected. Winds were rather strong, rustling large leaves on trees
to make for an ominous feel to the jagged landscape. Like himself,
Stone and Steven had their helmets up and ready since Salamanders
were no pushover.

It was Steven though who looked up touching
the area located where his right ear was. “How is it looking up
there?”

Deegen, slowly circled the
mountain and his professional tone was mixed with genuine surprise
“The captain
wasn’t
bringing us on a suicide mission. The mountain
is
a starship covered over
by time and debris. Most of it is collapsed and filled in. If it
were at the edge of Keptl space we could bring a full squadron to
take it, but this deep would not be possible. Stealth is our only
option. It is the largest ship on record, larger than the Emperor’s
by fifty kilometers. Judging by the structure it could be a medium
size star port, but I’m not finding any personal crafts. I’m
guessing they abandoned ship when this monstrosity was doomed for a
landing it couldn’t survive.”

Stone said “Keep scanning to make an ideal
path for us to follow, but send me where our fire breathing friends
have made their bed for the evening.”

“
No need. I smell them.”
Oliver said behind the helm and his stomach rumbled. “And I hunger
for them nearly like the Fire Wyrm.”

“
By all means,” Steven’s
tone spoke of a hidden smile behind the mask. “follow your nose.
Just don’t come crying if one farts and you pass out.”

“
Ha ha. I fear your smelly
ass more than theirs.” Oliver quipped.

“
Got a point there.” Steven
chuckled and made his lance extend and also took out the flail from
the ring at his hip. “I sure can funk up a room.”

“
Do you have a plan?” Stone
asked.

“
Yep. I’ll go in and draw
them out. Since there are two I think you and Steven can renew
yourselves over the last Salamander fiasco. Charge up and let loose
when they come out to play. From the readings I studied, their cave
is too small and I can’t produce a shield capable of holding back
their fire breath. If I can kill them in their sleep I will,
but…”

“
They have an excellent
sense of smell and can sense changes in the air. Even Phantoms
can’t sneak up on a Salamander half the time.” Stone nodded,
understanding. He drew his large hatchets and readied.

Oliver let his nose guide and followed the
scent of the mouthwatering prey up the thick foliage of an untamed
jungle. Despite the overall darkness, he could just barely see and
the scent grew more pungent the closer they made it to the cave.
The two men followed his path crashing through the windy
forest.

Not even remotely winded Oliver stopped at
the mouth of a well used cave that had many telltale signs of
scorch marks from when Steven lifted a wrist and created a kinetic
plasma ball for some added light between his fingers. Visor and
Satellite swooped down to land on a nearby tree branch and not
making another sound.

Without needing to be directed, Stone and
Steven moved to either side of the cave mouth. They hid from sight
and nodded once they were in position. It was clear Stone would get
the first kill and Steven would get the second since his flail and
lance combination could react to close or long range kills
depending on how the creatures would react.

Cutlass sang upon release and Oliver silently
stepped into the oppressive darkness. Howling wind of an
approaching storm quieted in the cave. It was clearly unnatural,
having a slight square shape caked in scorched stone. Additional
light was given by the curved blade flickering in Oliver’s left
hand. Thinking about hunting these creatures made the orange arm
spike dangling around his neck weigh a little more heavily. He
clearly remembered the long necked, fire breathing, winged Beasts.
He remembered the spiked arms, dragonfly-like wings and a stinger
that resembled a scorpion. Like most of the higher ranked Beasts,
these had more than the ability to eat. They had extra physical
abilities.

Caution took precedence, but no fear held him
back. Hunger led him on. Their scent held powerful essence that
called out to him more than any lesser Beast. It made Oliver come
to understand the deadlier the creature, the more he craved to
assimilate it into his very being. His hunger found worthy prey
that would in turn make him stronger or would make the Beast
stronger if he were slain. Either way, he could not deny it was a
thrill. To find strength and to become more.

Thousands and thousands of years had changed
what once was a space faring ship into something less than ruins.
Nature had reclaimed what once had purpose. Here and there were the
grey signs of petrified wood, revealing the ship was made much like
the Dorgenox rather than out of metal or pure gemstone.

Steadily Oliver took hallways and turns,
keeping to the areas that hadn’t collapsed or filled completely
with debris.