Chapter 5: Evasion
Eva grit her teeth as she took command of the lifeboat's control deck. With a few deft movements, she deactivated the autopilot and glanced over its flight capabilities. She quickly tested the maneuvering thrusters with some light movements, but quickly shook her head in disappointment.
"Not fast enough," she exclaimed loudly. "The launch thruster already expended all its fuel, and the main thrusters on this thing are garbage! It's like flying a sausage."
Instead of sitting idly, she quickly turned the boat away from the cruisers and maxed out the main thrusters. Since only capital ships had jump drives installed on them, they had no choice but to run as fast as they could, the old fashioned way.
The lifeboat surged forward, but the acceleration was incredibly short-lived. The thing shuddered slightly, as though that was about all the abuse it could take. In a few short seconds, the boat had already hit its peak acceleration.
Meanwhile, the fighters that were attacking the other lifeboats were easily going at twice that speed. Although the cruisers were much slower than the fighters, they were still faster than the lifeboat.
Considering that the fighters were currently only using their nonlethal guns, Eva's best option for survival was to put as much distance as she could from the cruisers. It didn't matter if they were disabled and stranded, as long as they were far beyond the range of the cruisers' tractor beams.
"Let me help," said Miko.
Eva looked back at her momentarily, and when she saw her determined face, nodded in agreement. She quickly activated a remote MFD and gave Miko full copilot permissions to manipulate it.
It detached itself from the wall ahead and extended over to where Miko was sitting. Although its swing arm looked frail, it was actually quite sturdy, and barely even shook when Miko started to use it.
Just like Eva, Miko was very decisive with her movements. She quickly set her control deck to display a full readout of the boat's capabilities. She had no need to tap into the lifeboat's visual sensors, and so concentrated only on the internal operations of the boat.
She only took a few seconds to digest it all.
"No weapon systems," began Miko. "Energy shielding minimum. Armor virtually nonexistent."
"Well, it's just a lifeboat," Eva said with a sigh.
Miko continued, "Power output is overall weak, so we cannot constantly dump energy into the maneuvering thrusters. We will burn out the core if we resort to that. But I might be able to supercharge them in brief intervals."
Eva quickly asked, "What'll it cost?"
"I will have to shut down life support briefly, that should give us the power we need. But the boat's computer will never give that permission. I will need a few moments to crack the system's NetDef and adjust its priority."
"What?" yelled the frightened passenger, "Shut down life support? You're gonna get us killed!"
The woman next to him quickly snapped at him, "Who cares about life support? What do you think those pirates are gonna do to us, huh? You men, they might just kill quickly, but us women... I-I don't even..."
She then sternly told Eva and Miko, "Crack whatever the hell you need to!"
"She's the boss," said Eva.
Without a word, Miko quickly hunkered down and got to work. Her small hands flew across the display in front of her, as though she was performing magic. To the untrained eye, she was simply shuffling data around, discarding and replacing randomly.
It couldn't have been further from the truth.
All NetDef systems in Bellum Aeterna were semi-sentient AI, and had the capability to adjust its defenses on the fly. As Miko hacked in and changed code to suit her purposes, the AI was doing its best to repair what damage it could.
It was then a race against time between the two, as they both sought to shut the other out of the system altogether. Every batch of code it replaced was more robust than before. Miko had to fool it constantly in order to stay ahead, and tricked it into replacing related, but unnecessary code.
Her brow dripped with sweat - the AI in this universe was ten times more potent than what she toyed with in-game.
An alert suddenly resounded inside the lifeboat: "Lifeboat systems have been targeted by multiple hostiles."
Immediately afterwards, a half dozen pirate fighters swarmed the boat, their signals painted red on the huge displays in front of Eva. She kept her cool and tracked them as best she could, and paid special attention to their flight patterns.
Based on the flight data on her displays, it was easy for her to imagine the pirates' individual trajectories. She scanned their velocities and checked their firing arcs, and quickly predicted that they were setting up to ambush her with a barrage of accelerator fire at all angles.
Without hesitation, she jerked the yoke to the side and activated her portside maneuvering thrusters just as the fighters opened a salvo of accelerator fire.
The lifeboat entered a corkscrew maneuver and just barely evaded the streams of accelerator bolts that were fired from six different directions.
Some bolts still landed, however.
They hit the boat's outer hull, and small arcs of electricity danced outward from the point of impact. Those arcs traveled along the ships' electrical systems, and neutralized energy from nearby modules as they passed through.
Inside, the lights faded in and out as the power fluctuated slightly.
"We are at ninety-three percent energy efficiency," stated Miko.
"Shut down ancillary systems and increase energy shielding," replied Eva.
While Miko continued her hack with one hand, she quickly shut down all unnecessary systems on the lifeboat with the other. Lights, secondary instrument panels, even the door controls were deprived of power.
The only thing necessary now was survival, and everything else was secondary.
The only sources of light were now Eva's and Miko's displays, which bathed them both in a warm orange light. She then used the excess power to temporarily boost the boat's energy shielding, which helped resist the draining effects of the accelerator fire.
Moments later, Miko put her full concentration on hacking the boat again, her face filled with grim determination. Eva was also incredibly focused on evading their fire, and was doing rather well considering that she was outgunned and outmaneuvered at nearly every turn.
She wove around the other lifeboats and did what she could to shake off her assailants.
Had it been any other pilot, they would have been disabled long ago. But no matter how good she was at predicting the pirates' attacks, and no matter how well shielded its electronics were, the boat itself was severely lacking.
It was still outclassed by the fighters and was getting worn down faster than Eva was comfortable with. The boat's energy efficiency dropped with every hit, which slowed them down more and more.
There was only so much she could do but hit the turns harder, and squeeze every ounce of performance out of the boat.
Just as the core hit less than three-quarters efficiency, Miko broke through the system's software defenses.
Although the power fluctuations made it harder for Eva to pilot the boat, it made things much easier for Miko to hack in. The fluctuations slowed the computer's logical processes, which took a significant toll on its defensive capabilities.
After Miko shut out the AI completely, she halted the boat's life support system without hesitation and removed the safety limits from the thrusters. The ship's power system started regenerating its lost power very quickly and was back up to 80% before Miko's grin finished spreading.
"Life support is now down," she stated. "We have five minutes of oxygen left, so please breathe sparingly. I am now rerouting the excess power to the thrusters."
Eva grinned as she heard that, and immediately throttled up the main thrusters. In unison, Miko opened up their valves, so to speak, and allowed more power to be poured into them. This shot the lifeboat forward very rapidly, which surprised the fighters - it had accelerated to 200 m/s!
They quickly regrouped and slammed their throttles to maximum in an effort to chase the lifeboat. They realized that whoever was in that lifeboat was clearly capable, and needed to be captured.
Their ransom was undoubtedly going to be high, and the more high-quality pilots they could kidnap, the higher the eventual payday was going to be.
Unfortunately they no longer held the speed advantage and could no longer employ their circle ambush tactics. It quickly became a high-speed chase through the cloud of lifeboats, with the pirates trying to keep a bead on Eva.
They continued firing at her every time an opening presented itself. They hoped to tag her enough to slow the boat back down.
"Persistent fuckers," she cursed.
She wanted to shave off a few of these fighters, and couldn't do much without any weaponry. But that didn't stop her from plotting. In fact, she got a devious idea when she spotted another group of fighters harassing another lifeboat.
She quickly adjusted her flight path and set her trajectory towards them. The pirates behind her followed suit at full speed. They were fully committed to capturing her and suspected nothing.
Once again, Eva scanned the data on her displays and predicted the flight paths that her pursuers were likely to take. She then maneuvered her lifeboat to ensure those trajectories. And then, she did the same for the pirates that she was headed towards.
In her mind, she calculated and predicted the flight paths of the fighters in both groups, and looked for just the right opportunity...
She suddenly turned the yoke, which set the lifeboat into a high-velocity, high angled evasive turn. In order not to lose her, the fighters who followed immediately entered their own pursuit maneuvers.
The blood rushed to their heads as the g-forces of that hard turn pushed on their bodies.
However, they were all focused on the chase, and lost all sense of spatial awareness in that adrenaline-induced moment. Eva quickly changed directions in the middle of the group yet again, which threw everyone completely off balance as they turned to keep suit.
One of her pursuers was blinded by the chase and didn't even realize that he was on a collision course with one of his fellow pirates. His mouth gaped open as his ship blared with collision warnings, but there was nothing he could do!
His velocity was too fast to perform any sort of evasive action. The other pirate didn't even see him coming and had no chance to get out of the way.
The two of them crashed into each other at incredibly high speeds, which resulted in a beautifully chaotic spectacle. Metal twisted and collapsed into each other as pieces flew in every direction. One of the pilots was thrown around violently in his own core, his spine twisted and stretched and snapped by the sudden impact.
His fighter's power plant had also cracked in that collision, which quickly resulted in a reactor explosion that left nothing but burning debris. Meanwhile, the other fighter spun out and accidentally struck yet another pirate with great force.
The impact sheared off entire sections of armor and ripped open both their cores. Both were rendered inoperable as they spun out uselessly.
Eva cackled gleefully in the pilot's seat, having spaced three enemy fighters while flying a clumsy space sausage, and all without a single weapon. Cheers erupted from around her as everyone celebrated their small victory.
But her smile and their celebrations faded quickly, as the second group of pirates quickly regrouped. They abandoned the lifeboat they were attacking and instead set their sights on Eva's boat instead!
Eva grumbled as she found herself now being chased by nine fighters rather than six. She outright cursed when they started firing their ballistic weapons at them.
To hell with capture operations! After being humiliated by a lifeboat, the pirates became furious and wanted blood!
Chapter 6: Retribution
Eva remained undeterred despite the setback she now faced. She simply took a deep breath, collected herself, and refocused on the task at hand - survival. It didn't matter if she was getting chased by nine or nine hundred, she wasn't going to let anyone get the better of her.
Not in this life.
She yelled out, "Gimme everything you got!"
Inspired by Eva's tenacity, Miko also doubled down on her part. Her hands danced across her display as she tweaked the ship's systems and squeezed out every bit of power possible.
Now that the pirates were shooting to kill, she reduced the energy shielding to a minimum and reactivated the life support systems. She gave it just enough power to maintain cabin pressure and cycle oxygen.
More critically, restoring life support also reactivated the nanorepair submodule, which worked to seal any small lacerations in the hull.
The lifeboat's maximum thruster velocity fell slightly due to the shift in energy consumption, which made it a little less agile. It meant they were likely to get hit more often, but they absolutely needed the ability to repair any breaches.
Although the repairs didn't re-strengthen the boat's structure, it was a necessary measure to ensure a stable cabin pressure. If the pressure suddenly destabilized and they lost all their oxygen, they would all be as good as dead.
Keeping the boat sealed was a top priority.
Behind them, the pirates hung on to their every move with murder in their eyes. Fueled by their anger at having lost their comrades, they too grit their teeth and doubled down with ballistic fire.
They took turns throwing bullets at the lifeboat, all in an attempt to tire out its pilot. Just like any predator, they chased down their prey to the point that it was exhausted of all energy. At that point, all they needed to do was strike for the kill.
What they didn't realize was that their target was no ordinary prey.
Eva tensed up as she constantly evaded their gunfire. Luckily she had become much tougher in this new life and was able to endure far more physical punishment than before.
Her muscles burned as she performed her maneuvers one right after the other. And even though it was both mentally and physically demanding, she never once felt drained.
She knew that every hit they took wore them down bit by bit, and it was critical that she avoided as much as she could. Since this was a lifeboat, it had minimal armor plating, and was mainly held together with the struts that bound the hull. Every hit they suffered would result in those struts getting damaged. And the more they got damaged, the easier it was to get hit.
She was in a terrible catch-22.
But that didn't get her down. In fact, the challenge of it all invigorated her even further. These were the few moments in life when one had the ability to really push themselves forward. No amount of practice or preparation or pondering could ever compare.
And that was a feeling she thoroughly enjoyed.
~
One of the pirates held back and just observed the lifeboat. He tried to figure out if there was a pattern, or if there was an opening that he could exploit. But he found the opportunities were few and far between.
Whoever that pilot was knew exactly what they were doing. He had no doubt that if they had weapons, all of them would have been dead by now.
The thought frightened him.
Despite his quarry’s abilities, he managed to find a good position. One where he believed he had a great advantage with an unbeatable firing angle. He watched and waited for his opportunity, and allowed his fellow pirates to maneuver the lifeboat into the perfect spot…
His finger danced on the trigger, eager to spring the trap.
The lifeboat had to make a hard turn, and his position was lined up so he had a clear shot when it hit the apex of that turn. He squeezed the trigger and fired, and fully expected to perforate the lifeboat just as its velocity slowed at the apex.
But he went pale as the boat applied light lateral thrust and veered just slightly off-course. His burst of fire just grazed the gunwhale of the boat instead. The 'perfect shot' resulted in superficial damage, even after all that observation and positioning and waiting.
He was about to tear his hair out! Who the hell was this damned pilot?!
~
"Tch," Eva muttered. She was visibly irritated that she didn't get away cleanly. Ultimately, this was just a flying sausage, and it was ridiculously easy to hit under normal circumstances. If it wasn't for her and Miko, they would already have been captured.
"Structural integrity down to ninety-six percent," yelled Miko.
Beyond manipulating the thrusters, Miko tensely kept an eye on the ship's well-being, and did what she could to help keep it in one piece. She was as worried as Eva about any damage they took. But she didn't let it sink her either, and instead just focused on the task at hand.
The frightened passenger yelled, "Why'd you mention that? Why does it matter?!"
"It's important," Miko replied. "We need to know how close we are to fifty percent."
"Wh… what happens at fifty?," he asked reluctantly.
For the first time, Eva acknowledged the frightened passenger and turned towards him to reply, her countenance grim.
"Because fifty's when the boat's basically torn in half."
The pirates put in more effort to hit them, and as a result the hull was getting hit a little more often. Miko did her best to manage the repairs and direct the nanites towards the most critical breaches. Though she was quick to seal the tears, she knew it wasn't going to be the end of it, and kept all repair jobs as busy as possible.
The only thing was they were limited in how much they could repair in the first place.
"Eighty-nine percent integrity," Miko stated. "We are also down to ninety-two percent repair materials and four minutes of oxygen."
The lifeboat began to shudder and groan as it strained to maintain its integrity. Eva's high speed maneuvering threw around great amounts of g-forces in every direction. While this kept them from getting outright perforated, the maneuvers also further weakened any support struts that were already damaged.
Despite her efforts, the pirates got even more shots on the boat.
"Eighty-five percent."
The tension in the lifeboat rose with every breath they took. No-one said it, but they all felt it - it was as though their deaths were imminent. Still, not one of them gave up hope, least of all Miko and Eva. In the light of their tenacity, the other passengers couldn't help but be emboldened.
The lifeboat's shuddering became more pronounced as things went on.
"Eighty... Seventy-four."
But even that light of hope started to dim as the lifeboat took on more and more damage. Plus the more breaches they had, the more chances for their oxygen to escape. Every bullet that hit whittled away at them and carved away seconds off their lives.
"Sixty-nine… Three minutes oxygen."
A few passengers started to hold their breaths.
Suddenly, Eva's forward display flashed with a brilliant light!
It was so blinding that everyone else instinctively turned away or shielded their eyes. Eva had no choice but to keep her eyes open - this was a perfect opportunity to gain distance.
And what she saw left her awestruck.
A Sol Federation Battleship had just ported in. It was massive - at least five times larger than the pirate cruisers nearby, and was an imposing sight that choked her up.
Its thick, angular armor greatly protected the ship and ensured nothing but the largest weapons would be able to penetrate it. Meanwhile, its multiple gun batteries, missile emplacements, and defensive turrets threatened to rain down unrelenting terror on any and all who opposed it.
Unlike the cruisers, it was designed to both deliver and receive massive amounts of punishment.
Eva surmised that even by itself, the cruisers stood little chance of winning. However, it didn't come by itself. It was accompanied by four Destroyers and a full complement of fighters, and they all looked like they were itching for a fight.
A man in his 50s suddenly appeared on every ship's main display, friend and foe alike. His hard stare complemented his impeccably trimmed gray beard, which lent him an air of absolute authority.
When he spoke, it was like thunder.
"This is Rear Admiral Tori of the Federal Warship Diomedes, here to answer the emergency beacon transmitted by Regeneration Center Theta. All hostile ships are hereby ordered to stand down immediately and surrender. Any further action on your part will be considered an act of war against the Sol Federation. Such acts will be met with deadly force. In addition, all lifeboats are ordered to immediately retreat to the Diomedes. Tori out."
The feed cut out as suddenly as it appeared, but the hope it gave to all survivors spread like wildfire. All the lifeboats immediately accepted those orders and made a bee-line towards the battleship.
In the same vein, the appearance of the Diomedes caused a wave of fear to ripple through the pirates, but it didn't dissuade them from their attack. In fact, they expected that the Federal Navy would send reinforcements.
However, they didn't think that they would send a fully-armed battleship!
The cruisers that were previously attacking the station had just entered attack range and moved to flank the battleship. Meanwhile, the ambushers sped up their duties, and scooped up as many lifeboats as they could. Even the pirates who were chasing Eva didn't back down, and continued their bloodthirsty pursuit.
"Hang tight," Eva said.
She quickly turned towards the Diomedes, maxed out the throttle, and hoped to make it in time.
~
Admiral Tori paced back and forth on the bridge of the Diomedes, his face dark.
This wasn't the first attack he'd seen these past few cycles, and what he saw prior bothered him greatly. These pirates were attacking various regen stations and kidnapped whoever they could.
Whatever their aims were, he knew they couldn't be good. He guessed that they were being sold to slavers.
And that was unacceptable.
"Report!" commanded Tori.
"Sir," one of the officers said. "Pirate cruisers split between two fleets. One inbound at speed, another mixed in with the lifeboats. Five portside, three forward. They're accompanied by two dozen fighter squadrons each, but have suffered minor casualties and aren't at full strength."
"Armament?"
"Only weapons of note are the TNM-187 Railcannons, ranked B. The cruisers are equipped with one each."
Tori nodded when he heard that. He was familiar with those railcannons, and knew their destructive potential. Without a doubt, they had the power to puncture through the thickest armor. The damage would be even greater if they concentrated on a single spot.
On top of that, their own armor wasn't all-encompassing. There were still many exposed areas of the ship, and the cruisers could still do excessive damage to those sections if they aimed for them.
"Take us right up to the middle. Our primary objective is to ensure the safety of the evacuees. I want the cruisers scooping up lifeboats targeted and disabled immediately. Lethal operations are authorized against all other pirate vessels. Let's acquaint each of those fleets with a welcoming Federation broadside."
"Aye, sir," confirmed the officer.
Another officer quickly stood to get the Admiral's attention.
"Sir! We have a situation! A wing of pirates are firing lethal rounds at a lifeboat. They're seventeen hundred meters from our position and closing at speed. Our readouts indicate that the boat has close to half structural integrity remaining."
These pirates never used lethal force during their previous raids. Why were they doing so now? And why just the one lifeboat?
"Send a wing to intercept! Secure that boat immediately!"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
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