Chapter One: Deep Space Music

[Akirapryde]

The force against Jake’s chest was unbelievable as he fought to keep the shuttle on an angle that would limit the force within the shuttle its self. He fought hard against the controls of the shuttle and managed to stabilize the shuttle in to a controlled fall. It started to become clear to Jake that there were some kind of forces beyond the shuttle that were interacting with the wings and the body of the shuttle. Using this force like wind across the wings, Jake worked the shuttle’s controls and maintained control over the shuttle. Because these forces were turbulent and unpredictable, it was, at best, a manageable solution to the crisis but not a lasting one. Jake knew that this situation couldn’t be maintained for long. He had to get the shuttle out of this vortex before it broke apart.

Through the lights and shadows, Jake could start to make out the other ships around the shuttle. The vortex was ripping the ships to shreds. Adding to this, the debris around the area was only causing more damage to the ships trapped within the vortex. It took nearly all of Jake’s skill to avoid destruction by the debris. The shuttle twisted and vaulted up and down, and side to side in an attempt to being slammed in to by debris.

Sweat dripped from Jake’s face as he focused all of his efforts at noting getting hit by pieces of broken ships. Because there was so much debris around the shuttle, it was a never ending threat of destruction. Jake knew it was only a matter of time before something struck the shuttle. Even IF Jake managed to keep everything from hitting the shuttle, the forces and stress on the shuttle were risking ripping the shuttle apart.

Jakes’ eyes fell upon the Sckicksal. The way the dropship was tumbling and moving, it was clear that there was no power or control being exerted over the dropship. Jake switched the heads-up display to magnify the image so he could get a closer look at the party’s dropship. What he saw made his heart sink. There was a long rip along the spine of the Buccaneer as if a jagged twisted line was sliced along the spine of the dropship. The rip seemed to start near or above the bridge and ran all the way in to the engineering sections of the dropship.

Jake searched for any sign of life aboard his dropship and saw none. He could make out corridors and rooms within the dropship, even floating bodies nearby. It didn’t take long to realize that whoever was left onboard had perished. The good news was that the cargo bays seemed to be sealed and secured. This meant that the party’s mechs were still safe. Based on the power outputs of the engines, Jake assumed that the ship’s computer shut them down. From what Jake could tell, despite the damage that the dropship was relativity intact even though it was lifeless. Jake knew without power that he couldn’t attempt a landing. Someone would have to go over there and manual open a bay door. Given the current situation, that would be nearly impossible.

Jake turned his attention towards the closest object to the shuttle, which was the Comstar Jumpship. It wasn’t fairing any better than the other ships within the vortex. A series of small explosions near the engineering section spelled the death of the Jumpship. It was only a matter of time till the entire ship broke up. Jake watched as the ship twisted and tumbled. The Jumpship shuttered as massive chunks of the ship broke free and tumbled around the ship. It was clear that this whirling tunnel of lights and shadows was ripping the ships apart.

As Jake assessed the situation, he watched the Fortress fire its nose weapons and broke free from its collar on the jumpship. Within moments, its massive engine came alive as it slowly turned. The Fortress turned its engines towards the direction that everything was ‘falling’ as if trying to slow their fall. Once the Fortress was positioned correctly, the engines fired at full power creating four powerful plums of fire from the base of the dropship. The flames were twisted and danced around due to the force within the vortex. Jake’s shuttle started to move past the Fortress, as the dropship continued to slow down.

Jake thought for a moment about doing the same thing, but realized that the shuttle simply didn’t have to the power to match the maneuver. He had to come up with a new plan if he was to save the shuttle and all those aboard. He continued to watch the Fortress as his mind raced with possible ideas. The hope of maybe boarding the Fortress and using them for shelter came to mind. With this hope in mind, Jake scanned the area between the shuttle and the Fortress.

Jake realized that he was unable to close on the dropship due to the debris field caused by the Comstar Jumpship breaking up. As Jake was considering his options, the Comstar Fortress slowly started to roll towards the edge of the light. Jake paid close attention to the actions of the Fortress as it slowly worked its way towards the edge of the vortex. The engines of the Fortress were glowing red hot as it fought against the forces within the Vortex. Once the Fortress reached the edge of the vortex, the mighty dropship shuttered as if it slammed in to a massive solid wall.

As the Fortress pressed through the vortex, large layers of armor were stripped from the dropship as it pushed through the wall. Jake realized that the Fortress gave him a means to exit the vortex, but he also knew that the shuttle didn’t have the armor to soak that kind of damage. He had to find a way to penetrate the wall of the vortex without letting the shuttle get ripped to shreds. Jake watched the Fortress vanish from sight through the walls of the vortex.

His eyes shifted deeper in to the vortex and saw the Kellington and the Ark. The two ships were tumbling and twisting as they moved through the vortex. Jake could see cables from the Jumpship whipping around. The cables were the supports for the Jumpsail which had been ripped to shreds by the vortex. Now the cables whipped around like long razors, slicing through anything they touch. It was clear that one of these cables caused the damage to the Sckicksal. Any approach on the Kellington or the Ark would be suicidal.

As Jake searched the vortex, his eyes fell upon something further down. He couldn’t make it out but realized that there was something deeper in the Vortex. He magnified the image as much as possible and horror crossed his face. He saw a planet directly within their path. He couldn’t gain any information on the large world other than it had large oceans on it. Not that that matted. What did matter as the fact that Jake knew that the shuttle would never survive the impact. The situation had just gone from worse to ‘Oh My God!’.

A bright flash brought Jake’s attention back to the Kellington. The aft section of the Kellington erupted in to a fireball as other flashes climbed up the spin of the ship. The force of the explosion ripped the Ark from the Kellington and sent a powerful shockwave through the vortex. By the time it reached the shuttle, the wave had lost enough force that Jake was able to maintain control. However, Jake did notice that the shock wave caused the Sckicksal to tumble closer to the edge of the vortex. This gave Jake an idea.

Desperately Jake charged up the shuttles medium lasers and started a control fall towards the Schicksal. The change in direction increased the forces within the shuttle greatly. Jake knew that there was no other way to save the shuttle and everyone on board. But navigating through the Vortex was nearly impossible. He had limited reference points for navigation. Using the Schicksal helped but he needed more. Something to help him judge distance between the shuttle and the edges of the vortex. At that moment, he started to hear something coming over the communication channels.

Jake used the communication controls and dialed in the signal. It was a signal from somewhere outside the vortex. The frequency the signal was being transmitted on was one that was commonly used by the party. Jake wasn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth as he set the communication suite to directional finder. This signal gave Jake something to follow as he worked through the Vortex. It didn’t take him long to realize that the signal was music….but not just music, he could hear someone singing.

With the signal dialed in to the directional finder, this second reference point helped Jake judge distance. He switched channels on his headset so that he could hear the music. Within seconds his headphones were flooded with the sounds of a woman singing. The language was strange for him, but he understood a few of words that were repeated only twice. Those words were, “I’m your only one.”

Using the signal as his guide, he calculated his angle of attack on the Schicksal. Fighting against the forces of the Vortex increased the force within the shuttle causing everyone to scream out in pain. As Jake continued to maneuver the shuttle closer to the Schicksal, the forces within the shuttle grew. Once more, that mech stepped hard down upon Jake’s chest. He worked the engines carefully not to over shot his target as he positioned the shuttle in to a firing position on the party’s dropship.

The weight on his chest was so great, that even Jake couldn’t hold back the scream as he tried to move in to firing position. The controls felt as if he was flying through sludge. Jake knew that he had to be careful as he didn’t want to destroy the Schicksal. He had to have his angle of attack just right to get the dropship to do what he needed.

He needed to use it as a ram through the vortex wall, and hopefully follow behind in its wake. Jake targeted a section of the dropship where he knew that the armor was at its thickest. As the music play in his ears, he lined up the attack. Jake heard the engines groaned while the edges of his vision started to blur. He felt the darkness threatening. Jake pulled the trigger and the medium lasers fired.

To Jake’s shock and horror, the beams twisted and bent as if the laws of reality no longer applied here. In the back of Jake’s mind and in his periphery vision, that unnamed world was rapidly approaching. As time slowly counted down, death loomed upon Jake and everyone else in the shuttle. Jake glance behind him and saw that everyone else in the shuttle had slumped over. The force upon them must have caused them to black out. Jake felt darkness pressing down against his mind and body. Letting could seemed so tempting, but to let go now meant death!

Jake focused on the woman’s lyrics as he resisted. In the music he heard people clapping along with the song as if it was some kind of live performance. Her voice filled his imagination as he focused his eyes at the Schicksal. Holding on to every beat and every word from this imaginary singer, he searched the space between him and the Schicksal. Then in that moment he saw the bubble of space that caused his first attack to fail. With darkness creeping further in to his vision, Jake moved the shuttle to the side so to avoid the bubble. His body was starting to fail him as he let out a scream.

He pulled the trigger once more and the beams of his medium lasers reached out for the Schicksal. Jake didn’t wait for them to hit. He activated his engines and afterburners at full. The shuttle groaned once more and threatened to break apart as it leaped forward. Jake couldn’t focus on the Schicksal any longer as his vision started to fail. Within seconds ether the shuttle would be free of the vortex or everyone would be dead. In his ears, Jake could hear the last words from that phantom singer, “Même sans moi, tu connais la fin…..”