Chapter 5: Her Volition
Written by: 菁鸟
"No one knows when this war will end. And all we can do is pave the way for that unknown future."
Foenis, the protagonist, says this in the sci-fi game The Void: Anger of the Deity in Zhey Auna.
1
Phoenix and Disar saw it too.
With an overwhelming might to destroy everything, the dreadnought bore down on them. Its shadow devoured the faint starlight, leaving only the red-glowing barrels.
Disar's blue eyes filled with darkness, her face etched with terror.
"Phoenix, that is..."
She turned to Phoenix, her voice trembling as she called out.
"That's the Roc from the books..."
Phoenix's hands gripped the controls involuntarily.
Their comms crackled with two other voices.
"Neni, take out the turrets."
"Received."
The brown figure was still being chased by squads of Sparrows and Ravens. Streaks of purple blade-light flashed, and debris from downed enemies trailed his flight path, floating in space.
Neni flew into a clear area and tossed her sniper rifle behind her back. Its butt slid into a rail mount, locking in place. In the next second, her chest armor began disassembling, extending forward and reconfiguring into some kind of firing apparatus.
She extended her right arm, straightening her thumb and forefinger to aim at the Roc's turrets. Pinpoints of light were drawn from the vacuum of space, coalescing at Neni's chest into a blue fireball within the apparatus.
The entire process took only two seconds.
Phoenix and Disar just heard two sharp radar pings before a brilliant azure beam lanced out from Neni.
In the blink of an eye, the so-called "Mega Laser" slammed into the enemy dreadnought.
The dim starry night flashed brilliantly, forcing Phoenix and Disar to shield their eyes.
In the soundless vacuum, only incessant warnings signaled the laser's terrifying power - "High energy release detected."
When the azure dragon finally dissipated, Phoenix saw two destroyed turrets.
"Auxiliary batteries neutralized," Neni reported calmly.
"You take out the Judgment Day, I'll handle those drones."
"You know I use direct-fire weapons."
"Then you get the Sparrows."
"I'll just hit the Roc."
The Shogun instantly pivoted, his thruster trails marking an insane angle as he shook off his pursuers. At full burn, he charged straight for the Roc's location.
Just as the Shogun was about to ram the main battery, a dazzling blade-storm erupted nearby, space itself seeming to warp for an instant. Purple light flashed, and the turret base shattered.
"Rotary demolished," Neni's voice announced.
The Shogun executed a sharp ascent, narrowly avoiding the subsequent explosion.
Green sniper tracers lashed out again, striking the hull and Judgment Day's turrets.
Neni kept firing at the main battery, but her direct-fire attacks required staying in its radius. Soon a faint red aura outlined her form.
"Neni, three seconds."
Seeing the turret powering up, Neni gritted her teeth and had to break right, her thrusters flaring as she rolled away from the firing arc.
2
Phoenix couldn’t believe her eyes.
She exactly remembered - the Doomsday turrets were not supposed to rotate.
But...
But the Doomsday laser was spinning, torrents of crimson fury lashing out towards Neni.
A rotating Doomsday turret.
In the span of a breath, everything seemed to be changed.
The situation took a dire turn. Over comms, the Shogun repeatedly yelled "Full retreat!", a rare hint of panic in his voice. He abandoned his pursuit of a Heron squad, accelerating towards the turret's blind spot instead.
Neni's thrusters burned at maximum, but the Judgment Day laser was closing in.
The beam would only last three seconds, after which Neni would be clear of the threat.
Phoenix counted down silently.
Three.
Two.
"Why doesn’t it stop!"
The Doomsday laser persisted - why?
The Shogun tried nearing the turret base, but remaining Ravens and Sparrows refused to let the Shipsian through. Faced with this unknown enemy, he faltered, unsure how to proceed.
Neni had to retract her firing rig again as the relentless beam spun faster and faster, about to catch her.
"Hold on, the laser will drain."
Her prized direct-fire capability had become a shackle, preventing escape.
She raised her sniper rifle. But unable to aim directly, pulling the trigger was useless.
"I can't hit it! Damn main battery -"
How long would it keep spinning?
"Shogun, take out Judgment Day!"
Neni shouted.
"Recei-"
A azure flash cut her off.
For an instant, the Shogun's comms crackled with static before going silent.
"Shogun?"
Neni's confused voice came through, quickly turning to alarm.
"Shogun, answer me!"
Phoenix stared at the grim "G.A.A.S.Shogun OFFLINE" on her console.
What happened?
She checked radar but the Shogun's signature had vanished as well.
What was going on?
Three agonizing seconds later, the Shogun's broken voice finally transmitted.
"I've been...The system...Malfunctioning..."
"Shogun, Shogun!"
After Neni's calls, the Shogun's signal cut out again.
"Systems malfunctioning? How?"
"Phoenix, what's that turret?"
Disar pointed out the window at a small enemy craft - and its flickering azure turret.
"A stun turret? It's a stun turret!"
Disar recognized the crackling purple lightning for what it was a second later.
"But that technology...!"
Even as she spoke, the craft trained its barrel on Neni, still evading the endless Judgment Day beam.
Right. A stun turret. Shogun must have been hit by this new turret. She knew she had to warn Neni.
The devious stun-turret fighter had hidden itself under the Roc's wing, its identical Raven appearance leaving it unsuspected.
There was no time to worry about giving away their position now.
Phoenix's shaking fingers immediately keyed the comm, screaming just as the azure stun round left the barrel:
"A Stun!"
"?!"
Neni banked hard on reflex, but the stun round flew faster than normal rounds, its arcing tail already whistling in too late to evade.
"Tzssh!"
Purple-blue lightning slammed into Neni's left thruster, the violet exhaust immediately dying.
"I’m hit. Thruster failed!"
Neni gunned her remaining thruster desperately, but her speed was crippled. The single engine could never let her outrun this relentless beam.
It was over.
Neni gave a bitter laugh, clutching her rifle.
The enemy's new weapon had caught them all off-guard. The Shogun disabled by the stun weapon, and she would be torn to shreds by this endless Judgment Day - maybe not even debris left.
"Damn Void bastards."
Neni sighed, watching the beam bear down.
"We knew death comes swiftly."
3
Phoenix moved without thinking.
Her fingers flipped the switch labeled "Autocannons", lighting up the indicator. Crosshairs and ammo counters projected onto the canopy, aimed at the massive object in space.
"Four light autocannons online. Four hundred rounds total."
The instant "online" registered, Phoenix pulled the trigger.
"BRRRRRT!"
Violent shudders ran through the ship's floor and sides as endless azure tracer streams lanced out, converging on the Roc's hull in a thunderous fusillade.
"Phoenix, are you insane?"
Disar screamed in horror, trying to grab Phoenix's shoulder to stop her. But Phoenix was oblivious, unmoving, her finger locked on the firing stud.
"One hundred rounds remaining."
The flat electronic voice announced over half the ammo expended in seconds.
"Phoenix!!"
Disar wailed, her eyes reflecting the stun-turret fighter swinging its barrel towards them, weapon charging.
She looked at Phoenix's eyes, those familiar golden orbs filled with only determination and fury.
4
Was someone calling her?
It was Disar.
From the canopy's reflection, Phoenix glimpsed her comrade's terrified eyes in her peripheral vision.
Wipe out the Void forces.
But her vision narrowed to the flickering crosshairs, ammo counter and the Void dreadnought.
What was Disar saying?
The sounds reaching her were cannon thunders and the ammo voice, transmitted through the metal hull and cabin air. Not deafening, yet they monopolized her hearing.
"TZZZSSSHH!"
Static pierced her ears like needles - no, like a thousand needles shredding her eardrums into sieves.
"Autocannon link severed."
The attack stopped. Hit by counter-battery, the cannon's control link was instantly cut.
Do not wait.
Switch weapons, now.
Do not hesitate.
A voice seemed to echo in her mind.
Almost on instinct, Phoenix flipped another weapon switch.
"Linking heavy railgun."
"Warning, entering enemy threat radius."
5
"Phoenix!!!"
Disar's voice was filled with desperation.
Phoenix's attack had worked - the Doomsday laser stopped just before hitting Neni.
Then, the turret began slowly rotating until it aimed directly at their ship.
The harbinger of death swung its barrel towards the two children, without warning or mercy.
"What are you doing! Get out of here!"
Neni's frantic shouts came over comms.
Her mobility crippled, Neni opened fire on the enemy hull, venting her fury.
"Void bastards, come here! Just kill me, not those kids!!!"
There was no opportunity to escape. Disar turned to look behind - the rails were wrecked, the ship immobilized, shields useless against the coming barrage - they were trapped with nowhere to run. Only seconds had passed, but the Shogun was still silent with no reinforcements in sight.
Disar's legs gave out and she slid down the sealed rear hatch to the floor.
Neni's shouts still came over the comm.
"We're going to die..."
Disar's peripheral vision fell on Phoenix.
Phoenix.
What was she thinking?
6
She could hear it.
The railguns cycling, shells clanging against breeches in piercing cacophony; every tiny gear-whine and rotation her ears picked up.
She saw it all clearly.
The Doomsday turret's glare, the crimson fury belching behind it, scorching the cosmos red.
Two breech-loading rails extended from her left and right, gripped in white-knuckled fists.
"Warning. Warning."
Red lights pulsed inside the cabin. But Phoenix's golden eyes seemed to glow, defying the all-consuming death.
"CHANK!"
Straining her arms, she wrenched both breeches back with a heavy clank.
"KRRAK!"
Two shells instantly fired from the underbelly, slamming into the turret. The breeches snapped forward again as Phoenix was violently pulled back, wrists cracking.
Pain froze her for half a second.
Pull it.
She heard her own ragged breech-cycling, joints popping with each frantic tug.
She had become the cabin, her arms now motor-driven rams, her eyes fused with the crosshairs.
"Chank! Chank! Chank!"
In mechanical rhythm, shells fired in staccato pairs.
The Roc shuddered under the impacts, explosions blossoming across its hull - yet the turret stood defiant, its crimson glare intensifying.
Three seconds to charge.
How long had it been?
Time seemed to stretch endlessly.
The young girl's brow furrowed, sweat-soaked azure bangs matted to her face.
Her features contorted from exertion. Phoenix bared her teeth, blood screaming for slaughter, mind emptied of all but primal killing intent.
"Phoenix!"
Disar suddenly rushed over, embracing her friend one last time before death.
Three endless, fleeting seconds.
Doomsday had come.
The stars dimmed in an instant.
A tidal wave of ruby light crashed over them.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
The girl howled, screamed in feral defiance.
In the microsecond before impact, she fired her dwindling shells with reckless abandon into the growing crimson glare, eyes alight with murderous fury.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The all-consuming Doomsday laser swallowed the girl's hoarse screams.
In an instant, all fell silent.
7
In the haze, someone looked up at the sky.
The brilliant stars were not the cosmos' eyes, but the enemy's gun barrels.
"I must go now. Just me."
The person suddenly spoke.
"You all must live on. Go through this war and every war until victory as well as the war's end."
She turned to look at those beside her.
"I will perish here. Whether the future comes or not, carry on with my blessing."
Her eyes seemed to glisten - but they should not.
"Live on, my most beloved."
She left a bittersweet smile and turned away.
"I love you."
8
Darkness.
"Beep...beep..."
"She's waking up."