Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller Brandon Ellis (ebook reader for comics txt) 📖

He could get use to this, but each time something like this occurred, it spun him for a loop. Thinking it unwise to gawk any longer, Jaxx turned on his heels and rushed to an open cockpit Air Wing and climbed the ladder. He jumped onto the seat, quickly pressing the aircraft canopy’s close button.

He searched for a helmet. It wasn’t there. Shit. That’s the only way Shaughnessy told him how to turn on the vortex Doppler system, Adaptive Boost, and get the frequency code dialed on the comm line and send it to the portal. He may need that.

To live, he needed to escape. By now, they knew it was him and they wouldn’t open up a damn thing, not even an air duct, for him. If he blasted the tubes with some Slingers or AAIM-5 Darts, and it punched a hole in the ship or broke open a few of the tubes, he’d be sending hundreds of people who worked in the bay to an ultimate end—death by space.

But ending this ship was his new goal.

He clicked on the comm line, wishing he had his helmet with him. He could do everything he wanted without a helmet, but reaching for dials, levers, and holographic buttons may be the instant he needed to use voice commands to get himself out of a deadly dog fight.

“Mission Control, open a launch tube.” He drove the Air Wing forward.

“Negative. You’re unauthorized to launch.”

“I’m blasting the shit out of the launch tubes if you don’t open one. That would compromise everyone in this bay, including you.”

“You are not authorized. I’m ordered to shut down the entire bay. No one is coming in and no one is going out.”

Jaxx clicked on the holographic AAIM-5 Dart icon, readying it for launch. “I have a Dart ready. You going to open up the tube, yet?”

“Negative.”

“It’s your funeral.” He aimed left, targeting the wall. It wouldn’t puncture, but it would leave a mighty explosion, and he was still far enough away that it wouldn’t damage his fighter.

He wiped his forehead. He was sweating, profusely, his hand shaking. “Here goes.” He dropped his hand to the control stick, switched to plasma cannons, and pulled the trigger.

Zoooshaaa! Bright flashes erupted from his port and starboard. Electric-blue bolts hit the wall several feet from a launch tube. The heat blanketed his cockpit. A reddish-orange light highlighted the bay, and he instinctively put his forearm up to guard his face.

He turned his starfighter around and faced Mission Control. Dozens of officers and bay crew members pushed themselves to a standing position, eyes wide. Jaxx shifted his target to an Air Wing and let loose.

Bolts, followed by red tracer fire, erupted against an empty Air Wing. The cockpit window tore from its fasteners, spinning to the ground. The shots split through the forward integral energy tanks, and the Air Wing buckled. The craft exploded and rocketed debris throughout the bay. What was left of the ship was in a blaze of fire.

Guards dove and ducked, mechanics and techs ran out of the bay.

He readied a missile. “Mission Control. I’m not shitting you. I’ll light you up.”

No response. He looked around. The bay doors were closing and people rushed toward it and slid under the doors.

He rotated his ship back around, facing the closed launch tubes. He had to get this right. If he broke open a launch tube, his Air Wing would be sucked out almost immediately. He’d have to guide the thing perfectly without damaging his wings—if he could get the hole big enough for a safe vacuum ride out.

He readied his Darts and targeted two tubes. That wouldn’t be enough. He readied two SSSRM-23 Slingers to launch a split second after the Darts. Slingers were heavier, caused more damage, and would open up a large enough hole to get his butt off this ship.

“Here’s for wishful thinking.” He pressed the trigger, one flame, then two shot from each wing. The missiles slammed into the tubes. A fire cloud flared then was quickly sucked into the dark void as space opened up before him. He didn’t have time to think. He pushed his throttle forward while being inhaled by the pull of the cosmos. He zipped through the opening with a myriad of unoccupied ships following him, spinning in the darkness of space.

He cranked his control stick to avoid a Star Frigate. Out here, giant ships were everywhere and they weren’t the ones from Starship Atlantis’s launch bay. “What the hell? The SSP fleet?”

He swung his Air Wing around to avoid another frigate flying too close to Starship Atlantis. A holy-shit Star Carrier brightened in the distance. He gulped. The Secret Space Program had entered the star quadrant. But it wouldn’t deter him. His mission? Kill Starship Atlantis and every last soul on the ship. It would stop a Solar System war which may lead to a galactic war.

His cockpit blared with a beeping alert. He brought his eyes to the holographic display on his flight console. Starships bared down on him, most likely from the SSP fleet. Missiles fired. Twelve seconds to impact if he stayed where he was.

He pulled away. It was him and Starship Atlantis, face to face. Then Atlantis pulled away as well, its afterburners sending blue flames out its stern. Jaxx pushed the throttle forward and accelerated, and then pushed the control stick down. A gasp flew past his lips as he narrowly avoided a frigate that moved closer to block his attempt to end Slade and his political allies.

Six seconds and the missiles would hit. Without enough time to get to Starship Atlantis, he changed trajectory and hugged one side of the Frigate.

Two seconds.

One.

He cranked the control stick and accelerated toward the frigate’s bow. The big lug of a ship dipped and shook. Blast after blast nailed its port side, Jaxx successfully using the ship as a shield.

A pull came from his solar plexus and tugged at him. The pull was strong and almost caused