Savage Heavens: Chapter 2

“Taylor.”

Travis jumped at his name smacking his head on the cross member that mounted the device he was working on. “Damn it” He grunted grabbing his head as he slid out from under the large machine. “How did you find me here?”

“I was a fleet officer. I know my way around a ship. There are systems to detect life forms on board,” Chihiro said.

“There are?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you here for?”

“Bored. Just touring the vessel. Trying to come up with a plan moving forward.”

“A plan... yeah.”

“You have any ideas yet?”

Travis rubbed his head then patted the mechanism he had just been working on. “Right now this is probably as good of place to start as any.”

Chihiro looked it over. “What is it?”

“Its a warp shroud. I think I have an idea how it works but... this one doesn't.”

“Right, the Empire had them. They are a lost tech.”

“Were a lost tech. I think the Federation has them now. I think it's how they appeared on top of us out of nowhere at Vitam Novam.”

Chihiro's eyes widened. “I see. That does seems like a legitimate hypothesis. You think you can get this one operational?”

“Not without some parts. But eventually yes.”

“Damn, that wont be easy.” Chihiro sat down on a nearby railing. “How did you come to be so proficient in ship maintenance and flying as a civilian?”

“Short or long version?”

“Let's go with the short for now.”

“Well my father was a trader. He flew a trade vessel for a company called Galactic Solutions. He took me on trips often and taught me to operate a vessel from a very young age. As for the mechanic part that was more of a... hobby.”

“A hobby? Seems like an expensive hobby.”

“Well... not when you steal or scavenge the parts. I grew up in the New Texas System.”

“Oh. Wow. Rough neighborhood. I guess I shouldn't be surprised you were a common criminal.”

“Whoa whoa whoa. In New Texas there are no criminals, just those who survive and those who don't. I managed to find an old abandoned trade vessel of my own. It was junk, but some friends and I would scavenge or steal parts for it. We all called it, going shopping in New Texas. We got it running and did a bit of smuggling and some legit trading. I ended up eventually trading the ship and some chips for my ZK12 from a black market arms dealer so I could join the rebellion.” Travis tossed the wrench he was holding into the nearby tool box. “What about you? How'd you end up becoming an officer?”

“Well my story is a lot more boring and even shorter. I came from a long line of Federation Officers. It was expected of me. I likely would have been disowned if I hadn't become and officer.”

“And yet you chose to defect? I doubt its as boring as you say.”

“Well I don't have a short version for that explanation so... it will have to wait for another day.” She stood up from the railing. “Oh, by the way I did a radar sweep. There are Federation patrols around. They are still pretty far away but I thought you should be aware.”

“What!?” Why didn't you say so sooner? We should be running on minimal systems to prevent detection.” Travis began to bolt for the door.

“Calm yourself Taylor. It's already done. This was the last section of the vessel that needed to be powered down. I thought I would come get you though before I cut life support for the area.”

“Damn. Why you gotta give me a scare like that?”

She shrugged. “I left the bridge with power. I figure we can observe the Federation patrols from there.”

“Yeah. Well let's go. And... can you try to tell me important shit like that sooner? Damn.”

Travis thought he almost saw Chihiro smirk. “Sure.”

Sitting in the bridge watching the blinking lights of the radar system was not the most exciting thing in the universe but there wasn't much else that could be done at the moment. Chihiro was working on the comm system trying to get it to intercept Federation transmissions.

Static. Then some broken voices.

“Got it.” Chihiro said.

Travis left his seat and joined Chihiro at the comm.

The broken buzzing voice came over the comm again. “Yeah I had a reading briefly but I wasn't able to pinpoint it.”

“Are you sure Gabe? I'm not picking up anything.”

“Positive. I'm not giving up until we find it. I know it's out here somewhere.”

“Fine, but we don't have all day.”

“Damn.” Travis grunted. “We need to draw them away somehow.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“I'm just going to have to go out there and get their attention.”

“Are you insane? Patrols run in groups of five. They will take you out.”

“What other choice do we have?”

“I don't know, but there must be a better way.”

“Well I'm going to go fire up Tanya. If you think of something let me know.”

“Don't do it Taylor.”

Travis was already on his way out. “Well you better come up with something fast. It wont take them long to spot a massive Imperial Worldbreaker once they're close.”

Chihiro smacked the captain's seat next to her as she turned away.

He stopped in the doorway. “I'll be on comm channel sixteen.”

Chihiro didn't reply.

Once he was in the hangar Travis quickly donned his flight suit and climbed aboard his ZK12 Falcon and fired up the engines. The hangar bay door slid open and Travis launched out into space.

Would this be his last flight? Chihiro was right that he stood little chance against a whole patrol but if it could give her a chance to get that Worldbreaker operational it might be worth it. Tanya was fast though so there was a decent chance he would be able to draw them away and still avoid combat. What did he really have to lose at this point anyway?

Memories raced through his mind as he neared the coordinates of the patrol. Watching from a rooftop as Federation Officers took his sister away; his parents being executed as they took her while he escaped the same fate. He thought of his friends dying in battle alongside him. All for what? It was beginning to look like it was all for nothing.

His tracking system picked up the patrol. Well this is it. If I know where they are then they know I am here.

“Greetings Feds.”

“Who is this? Identify yourself.”

“Just someone with nothing left to lose.” Travis fired on the patrol. They took the bait and immediately changed course in his direction. Then another patrol appeared on his system. “Oh shit.”

“Taylor.”

“Yeah.”

“Get out of there. There is another patrol.”

“Yep, I've already spotted them.” He banked sharply away from the first patrol and jammed the accelerator forward charging the second. They didn't come after him though. “Damn it.”

He began firing on them too. Follow me assholes.

The first patrol was firing on him now but they were still too far to get a good shot. They were closing in though. His heart was racing. He was not in a good place with fighters all around him. He fired again and this time hit one of the fighters in the second patrol. That got their attention. They started to pursue.

Banking away again he kept Tanya at full speed heading directly away from the Worldbreaker.

“Taylor. Come back. You need to get out of there.”

“No can do.”

“Get back here! That's an order.”

“Oh, are you giving orders again?”

“Damn you Taylor. Just come back now.”

Travis felt a lump in his throat. “I can't.”

“You asshole. Just trust me.”

He didn't respond and continued to draw the patrol away. Well at least he thought he had. The second patrol veered off in the direction of the Worldbreaker.”

Oh hell no. What did she just do?

“Chihiro. What the hell?”

“I told you to trust me.”

Travis slammed the control yolk and banked towards the Worldbreaker. Now he would have to fully engage and pray for the best. He began firing on the second patrol again while the first patrol fired on him. The Worldbreaker came into view. Well it wasn't a secret now.

They were closing in on him. They were nearly within range to start getting accurate shots on him when suddenly...

The Worldbreaker cannon turrets began firing. They ripped through three of his pursuers and they erupted into pieces.

His eyes went wide. “Oh shit.” He whipped around and began firing on them as well. All the fighters started scattering away from the massive ship. He hit one more and it began spinning wildly. The Worldbreaker cannons had now turned on the second patrol and were tearing through them with ease. He fired on the last fighter in the first patrol hitting it directly in the engine and it exploded in a cascade of debris. The Worldbreaker had stopped firing and the last fighter was quickly getting away. Travis kept Tanya at full speed. He was closing the gap when he saw the warp core on the fighter begin to glow. He had to take the shot now even though it might not hit. Why had Chihiro stopped shooting?

He fired.

The Federation fighter went into a tailspin but continued to try to pull away. He fired again and it was a hit. The fighter burst into pieces.

“Holy shit,” he muttered under his breath. He made another sweeping scan with his tracking system. It looked clear. He made his way back to the Worldbreaker.

Once he was docked in the hangar bay he stormed straight up to the bridge. Most of the lighting was off and he had to use a flashlight to find his way. A lot of other systems seemed to be down too.

When he reached the bridge Chihiro was standing there facing him as he entered.

“What the hell were you thinking? That was an unnecessary risk. You could have revealed the existence of this ship. I--”

“It worked didn't it? And you're alive. I n-- I won't be able to do this by myself.”

“Damn it. We're lucky it did. But now other patrols will come looking for these two that went missing. At the very least you could have told me you had the cannons online.”

“I believe they were intercepting our transmissions. I couldn't let them know my plan. So I acted like I was another fighter calling for reinforcements on my location. As for others coming to look for them I have a way you can take care of that.”

“Well it was still a stupid idea.” He shook his head. “What is it. What's your plan?”

“Federation fighters all have have tracking devices.” She brought up a holographic display from her watch. “They look like this.” There was a small device displayed that looked like a blinking red light. “Gather them up and take them somewhere else. It will lead them astray. It should buy us some time hopefully. After that though I don't have any ideas yet. I had to divert almost all the remaining power for those last few shots. It will take a while for the solar cells to recharge us.” She sighed. “I think you're right about getting that warp shroud working but we'll need to get some generators on line too to power it. Any ideas on how to go about doing that?”

“Actually yeah. It's a big risk but we don't really have a choice now. We need to get it working fast. So... we're going to go shopping.”