CHAPTER IV : BLOODMOON

Another ship was in flames behind me. This was a good fight, I had decided.

We were taking fire from all sides. Not that I minded really… I was born to fight. My name even meant that. Nakar-Tess Alkor…

Chronogians always receive a honor name as well as their birthname on the day of their arrival on this life. But your deeds could cause changes to your honor names… I did not even remember what was my original one, but I know what mine means today : “The Reckless”.

I liked the idea of being called the Reckless. It suits me fine. I was well known in the Empire. The only Chronogian who ever was part of a squadron and my number of kills was impressive as well. Twelve years among the Gold Squadron and already 250 targets dealt with.

The Empire praise itself on protecting its people, being a shield against evil. I’d rather say I’m the spear that fucks them from behind!

Joining back with the Dark Star and the Constellation, I looked around to see how the battle was going. It was beautiful. Blue and green blasts meeting against dark red and dark purple. Explosions everywhere and fire…

It seemed clear that the Empire was winning. I could see our ships clearly pushing through the defenses of the enemy. Just below my ship, I could see the remnants of the Transport Barge we had bombed just seconds ago drifting away slowly. It was an ugly thing when it was whole… Now cleaved in two, it looked like a shapeless gigantic jaw of a monster…

Just in front of us was the main target : “The Bull”. Only a few minutes and we should be there. This was easier than I imagined…

Too easy, I thought… Way too easy. The Vegarels are not putting a fight. I had known the Vegarel for decades now, fighting them on land and in space. They are foolish and stupid, rushing through every traps you would put in their way… At least most of them are.

But one thing is certain… They’re not cowards. They’re bloodthirsty and enjoy a good fight. Had I been born a Vegarel, I’d be their fucking King, I bet!

But still… This was odd. Usually Vegarels tend to fight against all odds, trying always to take back the upper hand in any combat. Here, we had them almost five to one. Any other army would’ve started retreating, they were not. That was normal for them… But any Vegarel army would have tried to push us back! They were not.

That’s when it struck me… They’re not trying to fight for themselves. They’re trying to delay us… And, since when did the Vegarel use a fucking bloody entire fleet to capture one small cruiser… Even a War Cruiser like The Bull… There was another thing at stake, I was sure of it! I could feel it in my balls!

“Gold Leader to Gold Squadron. Seems like we’re going to have a problem…”, said Asher of Elinzer in the comlink.

“What do you mean, boss… Oh, fuck me!”, replied Julius Makinter.

What the boss meant was a 150 feet tall Vegarel War Cruiser blocking our path and turning towards us, ready to shoot. This was not a problem, I thought… This is the main course of my entertainment.

“Alright boys…”, started Asher of Elinzer.

“AND GIRLS!”, Myra of Loeb interrupted.

“ANYWAY! We’ll have to do this as a team. We’ve trained for this kind of situation. Gold Three, Gold Four, Gold Five, you three, take the right side and try and flank their turrets. Gold One, Gold Two, you follow my lead, we’ll try and take down their bridge and draw their fire.”, said Asher of Elinzer, ever calm.

“Got it, boss”, replied Ellios of Cronos.

“Following your lead, Gold Leader”, I answered.

Splitting our squadron in two had the exact effect that Asher anticipated. The cruiser’s turrets all turned towards us and tried to shoot us down, completely ignoring the three starfighters making their way around their lines of fire.

On my radar, I could see the Dark Star and the Constellation engaging a fight with the cruiser and some Vegarel starfighters meaning to join the party. I sighed… I’m going to miss all of the fun doing my part of the job.

Opening fire on the shields of the cruiser, I flew around their turrets, slowly and lazily… I had to be the bait… A very tempting target for them to shoot.

“Come on, you stupid fucks… Try and shoot me…”, I muttered under my breath.

Suddenly Silver Squadron appeared on my radar screen, joining forces with us. But they were not alone, another squadron of those bloody Vegarel starfighter was joining it. This was turning into a freaking orgy here!

The Silver Squadron was doing a decent job I thought… Taking down a good number of them. I counted at least twenty starfighters heading our way and for now seven had fallen under the fire of the Silver Squadron.

One of the member of the Silver Squadron was having difficulties, I saw. Two starfighters had taken him in a dog fight and from what I could see, they were not giving him a break. Without a word, I broke my attack, leaving the two other members of my squadron.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING BLOODMOON! GET BACK HERE THIS IN…”, said Asher in a really angry voice before I shut him up all the same. Deactivating my comlink, I went directly for the silver starfighter and his two attackers.

I was going to get into a lot of trouble for this, I knew. But fuck it… I’ve been spanked before. And I doubted Asher of Elinzer was as good at it as was my father. As my mind remembered this part of my childhood, I almost felt the sting of the blow again on my cheeks.

Well, if I was going to get spanked… Might as well be for good reasons.

I opened fire.

The first two shots got one of the Vegarel starfighters right in the engine which exploded almost instantly. The other one had just the time to realize he was dead before it happened. Three shots: one in the left wing, one in the right wing, one in the engine.

Disabled, the Vegarel starfighter started spinning and falling. The poor pilot was probably being thrown everywhere in his pilot seat before he impacted on an asteroid. The explosion left nothing behind.

Well, two more on my list of kills. This was worth a spanking. I opened my comlink channel again, ready to be yelled at.

“Well done, Gold One. Now get your ass back here before I change my mind and shoot you down”, said Asher of Elinzer in a rather amused voice.

Well that surprised me. But we didn’t have much time for surprises. The fight was going sour on the other side.

Silver Squadron had taken out most of the threats and was starting to attack the cruiser as well but the right side of our squadron was not so lucky. A swarm of starfighters were trying to take them out and they were outnumbered.

“Gold Leader to Gold One and Gold Two. We’re calling off the attack. The rest of the team needs us. Wings into speed position, we need to get there before it’s too late”, said Asher of Elinzer.

Calling off the attack. Damnit! But I knew he was right, they were not going to hold their own for much longer. I folded my wings back into speed mode and boosted my engine. The Bloodmoon was not the fastest ship in the squadron, too much armor and heavy weapons on it. The others would get there before me.

But it was fine… Once we get there, we’ll get them. Asher and Ellios would be the anvil, I will be the hammer.