Sb-1. The Sveta Maneuver

My sister and I had been together our entire lives, from our childhood on the streets and in the factories through the trials of the military academy and four subsequent deployments as Gravity Frame pilots. We were practically two facets a single individual, so in-tune with one another we could communicate without words. In battle, I could tell exactly what my sister was going to do next by watching the posture and little movements of her Frame, and she could do the same for me. It made us a deadly combination when we fought side by side.

It was that reputation which won us the most dangerous role in Sveta’s plan, that of close-in escorts. While explaining her idea she had pointed directly to me.

“Sabina!” she said. “You and Genevi will escort the packages until they’re delivered!”

What am I, a postal worker? Knock knock, Mr. Sarchophage, I have a package for you! I thought wryly.

After issuing that proclamation, Sveta turned to my sister with a worried look on her face. “Will you be okay, Genevi? Last time you got this close to a cruiser was, uh…”

“I-I’ll be fine!” Genevi responded, waving her hands around. I noticed the slight twinge of redness bloom on the tips of her ears and smiled internally.

Sveta saved her last time, and now she wants to prove herself to Sveta in exchange. Oh my dear sister, you’re like an open book to me.

I gave Sveta a thumbs up. “We’ll be alright. Just make sure you keep up the suppressive fire so our asses don’t get cooked.”

“Roger that!” Sveta saluted, grinning.

Meanwhile, Laria was grumbling to herself about how her briefing had been hijacked by yet another of Sveta’s ridiculous antics.

*****

As I waited for my turn in the linear accelerator, I briefly glanced at the photo I had stuck to my control console. It was a picture of a gaunt woman with long purple hair and a sad smile. She was the mother of Genevi and I, and this ragged old photo was only memento we had left of her. She had died when we were both only four years old and we had spent two long, hard years on the streets before we were old enough to work in the factories. Now that Sveta was about to meet her own mother, I couldn’t help but reminisce a bit.

I only ever remember my mother being sickly, constantly huddled in her bed beneath blankets. The cold winters had been harsh on her, especially after she gave birth to us, and it was only a matter of time before she succumbed. Nobody had medicine or food to spare for a destitute woman who couldn’t work or fight, and so she simply became another casualty of the harsh conditions visited upon humanity by the Sarcophage. In a way, her death had defined my life as I swore I would become strong enough to protect my dear sister Genevi from a similar fate. I also swore I would visit upon the Sarcophage a hundred times the suffering they had on my mother. Now, twenty-one years later, I was well on my way to fulfilling that promise. I had notched up Sarcophage kills in the thousands and even been recognized as an ace alongside my sister.

I sincerely hoped that Sveta would have a chance to forge better memories with her own mother. It would be nice if she experienced the warmth of family that had been denied to my sister and me. I crossed myself and said a small prayer to that effect before guiding my Frame into the launch tube and flying into the darkness of space.

*****

Sveta’s plan, the uncreatively named Sveta Maneuver Mark Two, required a staggered formation. In the rear were the unmanned Gravity Frames from the Telesthesia, six Voidtress units under Sveta’s remote control. They had been stripped of all weapons to decrease their mass and increase their maneuverability. Maurice and Miette, Sveta’s pilot, accompanied those units in the rearguard of our formation. Their job would be to provide long-range covering fire with their shoulder cannons, and Sveta would handle the CIC duties by keeping everyone’s sensor data and tactical information synced. Directly in front of the rearguard was the midguard, two chimera Frames piloted by 2nd Lieutenants Alexis Jemison and Leonard Mastracchio, both pilots I wasn’t terribly familiar with. They would be fighting at mid-range, laying down suppressing fire with their positron rifles. The vanguard was myself and my sister Genevi, both piloting Huntsmarks. Maurice had given Genevi his Huntsmark and taken her chimera unit in exchange. That meant me and Genevi were in the highest-performance units the Radiolaria could field. That extra edge would be needed in our vanguard role.

I gripped my controls eagerly and grit my teeth, ready to once again visit pain and suffering on the enemy that had caused us so much grief. Come feel my wrath, alien bastards.

As the tentacle-coffin outline of the first Sarcophage cruiser entered visual range, Sveta gave the signal. “Okay, everyone! Are you ready?” After everyone assented, she proclaimed “Let’s GOOOOO!”

Maurice has really been upstaged as our commander. I thought with some amusement. Still, he doesn't seem to mind.

Two of the Voidtress units blasted towards the enemy cruiser, Genevi and myself keeping pace on either side. The mid-guard pilots accelerated as well at about two-thirds of our velocity, falling a bit behind. Above and below us, long-range positron fire from the rear guard seared past, smashing directly into the cruiser’s cloud of escorts.

As the frame-class Sarcophage began to swarm towards us, our midguard opened fire as well. Genevi and I bobbed and weaved through this hail of positrons, laying down short bursts to take down any projectiles or enemies that got too close to us or our charges. We were so close to the enemy, I was able to skewer a couple of clawteeth with my plasma blades, avoiding their gnashing teeth and delivering a blow directly to their reddish eye.

Damn. Sure is satisfying to get up close and personal. I thought as I licked my lips. In contrast to my direct approach, Genevi was dancing around like a ballerina, never allowing an enemy to get within thirty meters of her, and picking them off with short, accurate bursts of rifle fire. She was poetry in motion, as always.

The two Voidtress units continued to accelerate, the cruiser locked directly in their sights, and pulled ahead of us. When the cruiser itself began to open fire with its super-spines, Genevi and I directed all suppressing fire forwards and trusted our allies behind us to intercept anything that might hit either one of us.

Alright, my comrades. If you let one of those spines skewer me, I swear my ghost is gonna haunt you forever! Keep us safe!

The two of us focused on protecting the Voidtress units as they accelerated towards the cruiser. Sveta was jerking them around like ragdolls to keep them away from the thickest concentrations of enemies. Such sharp maneuvers were beyond any human-piloted machine, as the G-forces would have rendered biological matter little more than slurry. Those very forces were probably playing havoc with the internals of the Frames as well, but since these units were little more than remote-controlled kinetic missiles it wasn’t a matter of concern.

An AI on the frontlines is really a game-changer, huh? If you gave Sveta a full squadron to remote control, she could tear through the Sarcophage like tissue paper! I marveled.

When the suppressing fire thinned out the escorts enough, Sveta saw her opportunity. “NOW!” she yelled over the comms, and Genevi and I peeled away from the cruiser at top speed. A few second later, there was a bright flash, and then another as the unpiloted frames slammed into the side of the cruiser at velocities exceeding 12,000 kilometers per hour.

When the light faded, we saw the cruiser had been cloven in two and fallen silent. Debris from the impact had also pulverized its closest escorts. We all stared in awe at the sight for a moment before moving in to mop up the remaining enemies. Wary of any further movement from the cruiser, we kept our distance from the wreckage as we fought, and Sveta used the lull to send a drone with a firing solution back to our mother ships. Positron artillery fire from the Radiolaria and Telesthesia soon pulverized the stricken cruiser's remnants, and we all led out a loud cheer.

“WOOHOO! Sveta Maneuver Mark II is a complete success!” exclaimed Sveta happily. “One down, two to go!”

*****

As we regrouped and prepared to attack the second cruiser, Sveta let out an alarmed cry. “Oh no!”

“What is it?” Maurice asked. Concern showed on all our faces.

“The two remaining cruisers have joined up! They’re making a beeline right for our ships!”

Sveta pulled up the LIDAR image and showed it to all of us. Indeed, the two Sarcophage cruisers were now flying in a tight formation and accelerating towards the Radiolaria and Telesthesia.

“Shit.” Miette growled. “They don’t want us to pull that little trick again so they’re covering each other. Suppressing spine artillery from one cruiser is hard enough, but two at once is gonna be damn near impossible.”

“And now that we’ve established ourselves as a real threat,” Maurice added, “they’re going right for the throat. If they take out our mother ships, we’re as good as finished.”

This isn’t good. I thought grimly. If the cruisers got close enough to our ships to fire off their spine artillery, the two vessels would be heavily outgunned and relying on their close-in weapons systems to intercept. A carrier ship couldn’t maneuver and dodge like a Gravity Frame, so they would be easy targets. The Sarchophage were attempting to shift the battle to place themselves at an overwhelming advantage.

The seven of us, plus four unmanned Gravity Frames, accelerated back towards our ships and prepared for the worst.