TheRandomBlueCat
patreon
Corpo Age - Chapter 241: Blowing the Way Open
🕑 Added 2024-12-06 12:46:47 +0000 UTCStrand - Civilian Rescue Force
“Ma’am, we received the signal!” the communications officer in the bridge declared.
It caused everyone, including the captain of the ship, to turn to the Strand, their leader. She walked over to the person who called out to inspect his screen before letting out a groan.
“The code checks out. That was fast.” She took a look around to examine her people’s readiness and nodded. “Alert the other ship to begin the operation!”
The entire crew on deck erupted into shouts of affirmation before getting right to it. Their once quiet ship roared to life as they accelerated, causing the ship to vibrate.
The two starships didn’t hide their approach toward Aurora Corporation’s space station, so they were quickly detected.
Feuds between corporations were common, so the base’s security forces were prepared. They launched a total of four ships out of the base and positioned them around the station. It was evident they were going to make use of the defensive turrets mounted on the space station itself.
This allowed Strand’s two ships to approach without much trouble. They still took evasive actions just in case, causing onlookers to watch them zig-zag around. Trouble only came when they entered the effective range of space combat.
Without any warning or declaration of hostilities, Aurora Corporation’s base simply opened fire.
Blue light could be seen flashing multiple times as their railguns discharged and warning alerts sounded off within the bridge of the two oncoming ships. Salvos of projectiles were launched through the expanse of space for dozens of seconds before they would reach their intended targets.
The entire scene was both tense and eerily quiet. The only noise came from the respective faction’s electronics. In space, there wasn’t any of the typical fanfare of war where flashy explosions rang out. Both parties simply waited at their stations.
Before long, the shower of railgun rounds reached Strand’s ships. A flicker or two on the blue energy shields enveloping the ships could be seen, as a few rounds were on the mark. The majority of them veered off course as the ships continued with their evasive maneuvers.
As the volley of rounds pelted the civilian rescue team, they never ceased their approach, but neither did they fire back. That was because doing so would only slow down their ship from the recoil. It wasn’t worth firing when they were still so far away, where minimal accuracy could be guaranteed.
Just as spectators, like Rollo, believed they could see how this firefight would turn out, the Aurora faction revealed one of their trump cards. The four ships on defensive duty began launching missiles along with a swarm of jet fighters. To be precise, they were unmanned drones shaped like jet fighters.
Strand’s team suddenly found themselves faced with hundreds of objects flying their way. It may be a few times slower than the railgun rounds, but that was just the beginning. The missiles quickly accelerated, and with nothing slowing them down, the speeds kept climbing.
This caused the captain to shout out several orders.
“Helm, hard turn to starboard now! Full rotational thrusters, mark ninety degrees! Alert everyone onboard to brace!”
It didn’t even take ten seconds after the commands went out that a violent shaking rook the entire ship. A missile had evidently hit them!
“Status?”
“Captain, shields are at forty percent after that one! We can only take one more!”
Their crisis wasn’t over right away as the missiles kept coming. They were purposefully set to be at varying speeds. Also, the drones were right on their tail!
“Direct fifty percent of power to ECM measures! Don’t let them lock onto us.”
Thanks to the diligent work of the crew, only one missile managed to hit them. The rest veered off last minute as the electronic countermeasures were able to throw off the missile’s tracking. However, some of them still went off when they were just next to them!
A sparkly cloud of dust could be seen as a result of the explosions before a system alert blared out across the bridge where Strand sat.
“That last missile was an EMP weapon. It damaged the electronic in sections three through fifteen!”
Before the captain could give out orders, more bad news came.
“Five squadrons of enemy spacecraft are within range. Permission to fire?”
“Granted. Fire at will.”
This marked the start of the intensive exchange of deadly weapons to come. Things would only become more chaotic from here.
-----
“Isn’t it about time we activate the charges we planted?” Thorne asked, having seen the same thing as I did on the screen.
Strand and Aurora Corporation’s space force had begun fighting. Even without zooming in, flashes of light illuminated the darkness of space. The corpos understandably had the upper hand, as they had the advantage in numbers, training, and equipment.
“Hmm, you’re right. I’ve seen enough.”
I turned to Andrew and Peng, who were guarding the door, and nodded in their direction. Within a few seconds, I felt the ground beneath me shake. I had been prepared, so I didn’t get thrown off balance, but I could tell that couldn’t be said about the rest of the base.
“Okay, let’s start our plan then, too. Get to your pose and start ushering those people out of here!”
“Right!”
Thorne eagerly jumped out of the comms room with my two other employees following close behind. They were all assigned roles and would soon split up. There was no way to control over a hundred test subjects if we stayed in one big group.
Before I left as well, I made sure to place another explosive in the comms room, next to where the jammer was. It wasn’t the only one, but Andrew and Peng had the others covered. We would blow them all out at the same time, allowing us to get into contact with Strand and her people.
I set it to go off at the agreed time and quickly made some distance from the place as there wasn’t long left.
Before I even managed to get to my assigned area, the explosions went off as planned. Immediately, our communications were restored, and I could see where my allies were throughout the base.
I even opened the feed from Thorne to observe what was happening with the captives.
Things proceeded smoothly as they were ushered toward our planned path through the base. With the ongoing fight outside, the researchers had gone into a lockdown, so there weren’t any obstacles.
Instead of guiding the group, Thorne forced open the sturdy airlocks that had kept them locked in, and gave them the escape route. Along that path, Andrew, Peng, and I would be there to continue guiding them and oversee if any issues arise.
I happen to be at the destination point. A storage closet near the point where we had infiltrated the base from.
There were almost a hundred captives on the way, so our shuttle wouldn’t be able to hold them all. Instead, we had to wait for our allies to prevail over the enemy fleet.
Thankfully, they seemed to be winning. They had the element of surprise. Aurora Corporation’s fleet had scrambled in a rush. They managed to set up a defensive formation around the station, but they showed their unreadiness as soon as Strand’s ships got close.
They had hastily readied their weapons system, but neglected everything else. Their electronic countermeasures weren’t even up, as they relied on the proximity of the base’s jammers. Combined with the sudden explosions we created to disable the station’s turrets, the two ships abruptly found themselves alone.
They were slow to react to Strand’s ships maneuvering around them and their weapons missed the mark even more so than before, despite the distance having closed. Their engines also weren’t ready to speed them away into cover, and they were stuck in a position that maximized their firepower. That meant they were out in the open, and their only saving grace was their energy shields.
However, that didn’t last long.
Once their last line of defense faltered, shots began landing on their hull. The results weren’t bombastic like one would see in movies. No fancy explosions happened. Their hull simply began to gain holes. These holes meant mechanical failure was imminent. Their systems began to be disrupted one by one until their ship could only float there.
Seeing the scene, I didn’t waste any time and reached out to my allies.
“We have about a hundred people who need a ride over here. Can you come over to where our shuttle is?”
The communication officer on the other side affirmed, but I was no longer paying attention to him. That was because I caught sight of what was happening over by Thorne, who was bringing up the rear.
Just as he was exiting the lab, a group of patrol was detected by his sensors. They approached with such speed toward the only exit of the lab that Thorne wasn’t able to do anything but confront them. Otherwise, the escaping test subjects would definitely be found and recaptured.
I watched as the patrol pulled up on their cart, all equipped with Aurora Corporation’s power armor.
Thorne didn’t give them any time to prepare, and lunged at them. They didn’t see what was coming, thanks to his active camouflage. However, his wrist blade couldn’t do any damage to them, as a blue energy shield revealed its existence when he thrust out.
Quickly drawing his particle beam sword, he made another attempt, but the other party had already been alerted. Combined with the fact that the beam sword had revealed his whereabouts, the other party managed to hold their ground. A flurry of blows was exchanged at blinding speeds. Thorne gained the advantage and managed to puncture the thigh of his opponent, but unfortunately, he was outnumbered.
He couldn’t deal a finishing blow as two other power armors came to intercept him. He could only jump back.
“Move back. I’ll take care of this,” a voice sounded out from the back of the newcomers.
Instantly, Thorne ducked out of the way as something was shot toward him. He didn’t have to wonder what it was when a yellowish gas quickly filled the corridor. A figure shot into it without hesitation, gunning straight for Thorne. As he tried to move out of the way, the figure quickly adjusted its course, evidently able to read his movements thanks to the way the gases moved.
It reached Thorne in no time, and my screen began to distort. The connection had been lost.
Comments
Pannath
A cliffhanger during a fight scene. I wonder if we finally got rid of Thorne. I doubt if he survives that this close call will do anything to curb his future actions.
