Chapter 259 - Back in the Game

(BSS Starlight Raven, approaching Yathru Corporation Headquarters, Rak’kun City, Maccara)

“…and that is what the Board is discussing right now.”

“Forward the information to the Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi. Inform Commodore Virstina that I request a detachment of shipboard Marines to execute a quick strike on the facility, to prevent that sort of fuckery. And have Shadowdancer come in to cover the landing field they were talking about.”

“Orders sent, Admiral.”

I smiled at Raven’s acknowledgement, and turned my attention back to guiding my personal ship through the war zone. Not that I was all that worried. Any facilities on the ground that were capable of attacking me had been destroyed by the Marines, and the facilities in orbit were dead. I was in little danger from anti-air fire.

On the other hand, while the primary military base was currently under attack and being destroyed, we hadn’t had time to go and take out all of the facilities around the planet. There was always the chance that Yathru could have some strike fighters (or more likely drones) that could try and make a difference. While the Raven was far more capable than a light freighter ought to be, she was still a light freighter, and there was a limit to how much abuse she could take.

This ‘Wesker’ had come up with a really wicked plan. Well, wicked, if you hadn’t played any video games in the last few decades. His plan, at least the way he described it to the board, was to get the executives to a fallout bunker, while a strike team of Yathru operatives from the Strategic Target Acquisition and Retrieval Section went to a secret storehouse Wesker’s faction maintained in the city.

That facility was supposed to house several weapons that the corporation supposedly used for covert action. The weapon Wesker told the board he was going to use was a nuke. The idea was to set the nuke off in the city, and make it seem like Black Star was stepping over the line. This would bring other corporations into the mix, who would also be eager to try and get a piece of our tech.

I frowned to myself. Thinking about it, the plan didn’t make sense. A nuke, especially nuke going off inside the city where my troops were, wouldn’t be enough to get enough corporations involved to make a difference, especially not in time to save Yathru.

“Raven, keep watch on Wesker. His plan might have sounded good to people desperate for a way out, but something just doesn’t sound right to me. I think he’s going to do something.”

Raven acknowledged, and I focused on flying. Soon enough, the headquarters building was in sight. The plan was to land on one of the executive landing pads, and perform a surgical strike behind the corporate security lines.

“Captain, Wesker’s teams are heading to platforms 90-A and 90-B. Shuttles are standing by, presumably to take them to the target facility. Wesker is currently leading the STARS Alpha team personally.”

“Thank you, Raven. Highlight the pad Wesker is using, if you please. And have one of the fighters swing by to take out the shuttle on the second pad. Just in case.” With that done, I changed to the shipwide channel. “Everyone, get ready. We’re landing in five.”

I saw the target show up on my HUD. Sure enough, there was a shuttle on the pad, currently prepping for flight. I could see a squad of heavily armed and decently armored troopers heading towards it. That just wouldn’t do at all.

BZAP! BZAP! BZAP!

I smiled as I pulled the trigger. How long had it been since I fired the Raven’s guns at live targets? It might have been back when I killed those Kul’tiran ships while testing Starbolts for the first time. Hell, I didn’t even get to use my guns that time, just shooting off torpedoes.

The particle cannons blasted the shuttle into a cloud of debris on the landing pad. Of course, that left the wreckage burning all over the area I wanted to land. It could scratch the paint, and that just wasn’t allowed! So, I used the Raven’s shields to scrape the wreckage off the pad, letting it fall down to the ground ninety stories below.

Some of Wesker’s Alpha Team (the ones that had survived, at least) started to recover from the shock enough to try and take potshots at the Raven, but a few blasts from the keel turret ripped them apart. Their armor may have been good for corporate security, but that was like asking a bulletproof vest to stand up to a tank round. It just wasn’t happening. A quick scan showed that there were no more life signs on the landing pad.

I locked down the ship’s controls, and grabbed my helmet. I was already in my armor, and had my weapons ready. For the first time in ages, I was actually getting into the thick of things!

(Yathru Corporation Headquarters, Rak’kun City, Maccara)

“Go! Go! Go!” First Blade Kr’ss Blufield yelled at his team. This whole mess was a bad job. It wasn’t bad enough that the corporation had picked a fight with a clearly superior foe, but they were currently in the process of getting absolutely destroyed by these Black Stars! And now, in the middle of their company headquarters getting attacked, they were supposed to fly outside of town to the Zwellspn’cer mansion, and use the access tunnels to enter a secure site which supposedly would have weapons they could use to fight off Black Star.

The whole thing stank. It stank to the infinite singular abyss, but there wasn’t anything that he could do about it. His best bet for making it out of here was to follow orders, and hope that the Black Stars declared victory before things got completely out of hand. Of course, given what he’d heard through the infonet before it went down for ‘maintenance’, there might not be much of the company left when that was done.

That is when the world exploded.

Particle cannons! Those were ship to ship weapons, not something his team could stand up against! Hell, even the shuttle couldn’t take that!

Shrapnel flew across the landing pad, taking down all the Alpha Team members outside. Jo’frost and V’ckers went down, burning shuttle debris tearing through them. Then, the shuttle was literally shoved off the pad by the freighter (the freighter!) that had just killed their transport.

On the landing pad, Wesker stood, and shouted for people to get up, and start firing. Ji’valtine started to charge forward and answer the call, but Kr’ss grabbed her by the back of her armor, and yanked her back, just as the turret on the freighter’s underside began firing. The first blast hit the side of the building above the doorway. As the blasts tracked down to focus on the Alpha Team members outside, their view was cut off by a massive chunk of the building’s facing crashing down just outside the door, with enough force to crush a being caught in its path.

In a shocked voice, Burton, one of the human members of the team, looked over at Ji’valtine, and shook his head. “You almost became a Ji’valtine sandwich!” The female Ihm was not amused.

Kr’ss cut off that line of discussion immediately. “Enough! We’ll route back to platform 90-B, see if we can get a ride with Bravo Team.”

Ji’valtine looked at him. “What about the rest of the team, First Blade?”

Kr’ss made a cutting motion with his hand. “They are dead already, or wishing they were. We move, now, and see if we can get out of this death trap. Move!”

As they approached the platform, the building was rocked by another series of explosions. Turning the corner, Kr’ss saw fires sputtering as burning fuel tried to burn the plascrete walls. Two figures could be seen, huddling against one wall. Looking out through the doorway, Kr’ss gaped. The platform was simply gone, having been blown off the building entirely.

Turning to look at the two survivors, he saw that one was a medic, and the other was Blade Leader Enmarini. The Blade Leader was gasping for air, a jagged piece of debris lodged in his chest. As the Blade Leader choked on the last of his lifeblood, the medic looked up at him.

She was a knelfi, like most of the medics the STARS group employed. Light, nimble fingers were better suited to medical work than thick claws like his. Clearly trying to choke back a sob, she offered a single salute, “Reveka Chambers, Medic, Bravo Team. Th-they’re gone. They’re all gone!”

Kr’ss clapped the knelfi on the shoulder. She was in shock. That much was obvious. They didn’t have time for her to break down right now, so he went the other way. Give her a task to focus on, and let the breakdown happen later.

“I understand. You’re with Alpha Team now, until we have time to sort this out. For now, we can’t stay here. Can you move?”

Dully, Reveka nodded, and rose to her feet. Looking back to the rest of the team, he said, “All right, we can’t stay on this level. Options?”

Burton nodded. “The underground garage. The main elevators are probably locked down, and the stairs will be monitored by Black Star, but there’s an executive elevator on an isolated system. We can access it through one of the executive offices one floor up.”

Kr’ss nodded. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was still a plan, and that was better than what he had right now. “Right. Ji’valtine, on point. Burton, rear-guard. Reveka, with me. Move!”

(Landing Pad 90-A, Yathru Corporation Headquarters, Rak’kun City, Maccara)

Cali and Jaynie flanked me as I stepped off the ramp, Sheila, Shearah, Carissa, Raven, and Sana filling in behind me. All of them were armored up, weapons in hand. We hadn’t gone out as a tactical team in a while, but for this, when we were likely only going to be facing corpsec at best, rather than the X’thari swarm or the crazed followers of the ‘gods’ of chaotic space, we weren’t expecting that high a level of danger.

It was a damn impressive sight, to be honest. Too bad that there was no one on the platform alive enough to appreciate it. The corpsec that hadn’t been caught in the shuttle’s explosion had been ripped apart by the turret guns. Unfortunately, the first shots had been off, since I was out of practice remote targeting the guns, and there was now a very large piece of plascrete blocking the door.

That, as one might say, was a bit inconvenient for me, since I wanted to get into the building and hunt down the executives on top of the corporation. Since I had not figured out how to do things like turn into a ghostly mist, or teleport short ranges, or walk through walls, that meant I needed to get the rubble out of my way. And Firelord 3’s attack on the other side of the building had just taken out the entire platform, so I was hesitant to start using big booms to move the mess.

That was fine, though. I was more than just a guy with good looks, good toys, and good women. I was The First Sorcerer, recognized by the game itself.

I took a deep breath, and then stretched out with the force of my power. A blue field surrounded the largest piece of rubble, the visible effect of my Telekinesis ability, which I hadn’t used in combat for ages, but had been diligently training when I could. Slowly, the plascrete slab, which had to weigh almost four tons, lifted up into the air, just a foot off the platform. Gently, I pushed it to the side, so that it was no longer over the platform, and let go.

As the rubble fell, I took a breath to recover, and said, “All right, move out.”

(Below)

Wesker grunted as he pulled himself up over the railing of balcony on the thirtieth floor. It had been risky, jumping off the platform when the freighter began to open fire, but the experimental gravity belt had slowed his fall enough, and given him enough control that he was able catch the railing without ripping his arm from the shoulder. That would have to be enough.

This was a setback, for sure, but it was just a minor setback. He wouldn’t be able to get to the research lab outside the city, and get the data he intended to sell to the other weapons companies, but it was just a setback. He still had other cards to play.

A shadow loomed over him. Looking up, he saw a massive piece of plascrete falling, directly at him! “No, don’t come this way!” The plascrete did not listen to him, however, and his ‘setback’ was no longer minor.

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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Memoirs of a Supervillain - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NWS8J

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

SCI Stories (Dark Supervillain story):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RL93VQN

Winterborn (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082S3S3K8

Dark Fate (Postapocalyptic GameLit):
Book 1 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086S35WZ6

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T