{"data":{"id":14021,"title":"Orbital Supermax: Episode Three","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/14021-Orbital-Supermax-Episode-Three","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/14021","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/14021","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Orbital Supermax","images":[{"id":1947,"name":"OSM_FI2v4a.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/hqo978t1u2njxr\/source\/OSM_FI2v4a.jpg","alt":"","size":1895039,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2014-07-03T22:49:29+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1947","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1947\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"Being in command of an army of escaped prisoners isn\u2019t half as glorious as I\u2019d pictured \u2014 not that I\u2019d pictured it. But when you\u2019re assigned to guard said prisoners, your imagination can get a little carried away. Now, thanks to a pirate attack that had killed every senior officer on the station, the computer had put the prison shrink in charge, and as her ranking patient I had found myself in a position of pseudo-authority.\n\nMy blue officer\u2019s uniform stood in stark contrast to the prison orange worn by everyone else in our group, except Cayla Wyrick, the therapist in question. I was already attracting the occasional curious glare and I knew that as soon as these guys got bored of the new weapons she\u2019d procured for them out of the armory, things were going to get rough. The trick to staying alive was to keep them occupied, and Wes Morgan, the mercenary we\u2019d rescued from Maximum Security, was attempting to do just that.\n\nMorgan, Wyrick, and Cronock were huddled around Wyrick\u2019s notepad, just outside the cargo elevator. The mercenary had proven to be something of an expert hacker and used what was really an office toy to access the prison broadband. Images of the flight deck, newly patched, flashed across its screen.\n\n\u201cIt was vented in the initial attack,\u201d I said. \u201cLooks like the pirates who attacked the station patched it up, restored the gravity.\u201d\n\nWe could see a few pirates milling around in clumps, while landing lights had lit up a section of the flight deck and a large freighter was maneuvering through the bluish airshield. It looked like it had been cobbled together from parts of other ships. A large fixed-mount particle cannon extended above the bow, painted to look like the horn of some savage beast. Unfortunately, the illusion of ferocity was shattered by two disproportionately small wings, which made the ship look less like a predator and more like a turkey with a horn.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the Dogs,\u201d Morgan said grimly. His finger highlighted some graffiti on the side of the freighter.\n\n\u201cThe Dogs?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cThe Nova Dogs. They\u2019re bad news. Heavy on weapons and light on morals. Got deep pockets too, for pirates.\u201d\n\n\u201cCannibals,\u201d grunted Cronock. \u201cAin\u2019t gonna let us join them.\u201d\n\nWhen he saw the look Wyrick and I gave him, he shrugged. \u201cIf you expected loyalty, you\u2019re bigger idiots than I thought.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can try a flanking maneuver,\u201d said Morgan, ignoring the remark. He\u2019d probably taken it for granted that Cronock would turn on us at his first opportunity. He shifted the camera angle on the notepad\u2019s screen. \u201cSneak in behind these fighters and hit them before they know we\u2019re there.\u201d\n\nCronock burped loudly. \u201c \u2018Flanking maneuver\u2019? These boys ain\u2019t soldiers. You gotta use short words and speak slowly with this lot.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan we reason with the pirates?\u201d suggested Wyrick.\n\nMorgan continued on as if Wyrick hadn\u2019t spoken. \u201cYour men won\u2019t last five minutes against the Nova Dogs in a direct attack.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnly one way to find out.\u201d Cronock ham-fisted the elevator button and barked for his men to get in. I stood with Wyrick in the back, trying to figure out how I\u2019d gotten into this situation. If I\u2019d wanted to fight pirates I could have flown a fighter for the UEE. I\u2019d had my choice of assignments when I\u2019d graduated. Of course, David\u2019s death had convinced me to work anywhere but in a cockpit.\n\nSecurity on OSP-4 was tight, and the flight deck was designed to be confining and claustrophobic. The elevator opened into an airlock that was effectively a killing field. Guards on the flight deck could fire into it through a vertical slot on the wall, and I knew that there was a subsonic device near the ceiling that could be used to stun anyone inside. Fortunately though, we had Wyrick, and her codes allowed us to disable both the airlock defenses and the elevator alarm.\n\nIt was a simple matter for Cronock\u2019s men to overwhelm the few pirates stationed at the elevator doors. This small success was taken to be a sign that his plan was the best one and he strode across the flight deck like the crest of an orange wave that fired lead in every direction. Those few pirates who were scattered around the flight deck quickly took cover behind stacks of crates and returned fire.\n\n\u201cStay here,\u201d said Morgan quietly, putting a hand on my chest. He glanced around quickly, taking in the positions of the pirates. \u201cSomething doesn\u2019t feel right.\u201d\n\nThe small file of pirates that had just begun to disembark from the armored freighter were more heavily armed and better trained than the rest. They quickly shielded a huge man in a black suit from the gunfire and urged him back up the gangplank. He was having none of it, and shoved his lieutenants aside.\n\n\u201cThrow down your weapons!\u201d he roared at his subordinates, and I could see a flash of chrome where his jaw had been. The rest of him was hugely muscular, so much so that his head looked comically small atop his massive shoulders. He had long black hair that matched the black flight suit that he wore. The decal on his chest displayed a skull in the jaws of a larger skull, which made a grim kind of sense for the leader of a cannibal pack.\n\nHe strode right into the thick of the gunfire, batting down the weapons of his pirates.\n\nCronock, surprised and confused by the sudden surrender, must have felt that he had no choice but to stop firing himself, and ordered his men to stand down.\n\n\u201cWho is that?\u201d asked Wyrick quietly.\n\nMorgan\u2019s jaw had tightened. \u201cMartin Kilkenny. You\u2019d probably diagnose him with a god complex. He became infamous for an attack he led on a slave ship, except instead of freeing the slaves, he and his crew ate them, and then sold the ship. We\u2019re in trouble.\u201d\nCronock did not appear to recognize Kilkenny, or if he did, he was unintimidated. \u201cWe\u2019re here for your ships. Give over the codes if you want to live.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t hear you. Come closer!\u201d yelled Kilkenny, cupping a hand behind his ear.\n\n\u201cDid you see that?\u201d said Morgan quietly to Wyrick and I while Kilkenny was speaking. He nodded at the fighters.\n\nI followed his gaze. The two vehicles were the OSP-4\u2019s advanced Hornet fighters. After a few moments I saw a change in light. Someone was inside the fighter! My eyes shifted to the second Hornet. The angle was too oblique for me to see inside the cockpit, but I was sure that it too was occupied. Worse, Cronock\u2019s group had moved right into the arc of the ship\u2019s weapons.\n\n\u201cWe have to warn them,\u201d said Wyrick in alarm.\n\nMorgan looked at the psychiatrist like she\u2019d sprouted another head. \u201cWhat do you think those prisoners were going to do to us once they no longer needed your codes to escape the station? We wait here. No matter which group loses, we win.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t just let them be slaughtered,\u201d said Wyrick desperately. I almost pitied her. I had forgotten that she knew each of these men with the intimacy only a psychologist possessed. She knew their backstories, their hopes, their dreams \u2026 it was her job to bring out the best in them in the hopes of helping them to be rehabilitated. Morgan and I had the luxury of seeing a crowd of heavily armed lunatics in orange jumpers. We could watch them get slaughtered without a second thought. She couldn\u2019t.\n\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t help us if Kilkenny kills Cronock without a fight,\u201d I pointed out.\n\n\u201cFine,\u201d he shook his head. \u201cFine. Keep quiet and follow me.\u201d\n\nWe kept low to the ground and sprinted behind the nearest fighter. Morgan ducked beneath the fuselage and beckoned us to follow. On the other side was a stack of crates that had been scored by blaster fire. Two dead pirates lay sprawled out on the deck nearby.\n\n\u201cPay attention,\u201d said Morgan, pressing a knife into my hand. He pointed at a thin rubber hose that dangled from the fighter\u2019s front landing gear. \u201cThis carries hydraulic fluid for the landing gear. When I say so, you cut it. Don\u2019t get any on your hands. It\u2019s poisonous as hell.\u201d\n\nHe ducked his head around the fighter\u2019s nose and checked out Cronock\u2019s group. They were completely oblivious to the fighters\u2019 front-mounted weaponry. With a sigh, he lifted his rifle to his shoulder and sighted down the barrel at the other fighter\u2019s landing gear.\n\n\u201cStop there,\u201d said Kilkenny to Cronock. I could barely see either of them around the fighter\u2019s landing gear.\n\nWyrick knelt beside me. She was unarmed, having refused the weapon Morgan had offered her back at the armory. Philosophical grounds, I guessed. I respected her decision but that didn\u2019t mean I couldn\u2019t wish we had a third gun. Even crouched underneath the fighter, I felt exposed. She didn\u2019t seem to notice my discomfort. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with his jaw?\u201d\n\n\u201cShut up,\u201d hissed Morgan. He pointed with the rifle at a spot above my head. \u201cThe cockpit is right there.\u201d\n\nWyrick and I looked up and then back at him. We nodded in unison.\n\n\u201cI said,\u201d said Cronock repeated, louder than he had before. \u201cWe\u2019re here for your \u2014,\u201d\n\n\u201cI heard you,\u201d said Kilkenny. \u201cI just needed you to be exactly where you are now.\u201d Cronock\u2019s crew had walked right into his trap.\n\n\u201cNow!\u201d said Morgan sharply. He opened fire on the other fighter\u2019s landing gear, the rifle chugging in his hands. I slashed with the knife, but to my horror the rubber hose flexed with my cut. Bright flashes seared my vision as the Hornet\u2019s guns began firing into the crowd of prisoners.\n\n\u201cNylund!\u201d shouted Wyrick. Her nails dug into my arm.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m trying,\u201d I shouted back. I grabbed the hose in my other hand and began to saw at it. Morgan had turned to fire at Kilkenny\u2019s men, who\u2019d retreated into the freighter. All at once I cut through the hose and hydraulic fluid sprayed everywhere. The nose of the Hornet dropped abruptly, and it would have hit me in the head had I not fallen backwards to avoid the spraying fluid. Laser fire hit the deck nearby and hot air washed over us.\n\n\u201cThis way,\u201d shouted Morgan to what remained of Cronock\u2019s men. We heard a hiss above us and he swivelled and fired. The body of a pirate fell out of the cockpit to the deck beside us, a bloody hole where his eye had been. Morgan grabbed Wyrick\u2019s arm, yanked her out from under the fighter, and then practically threw her at the loading platform. I followed, sliding to a stop in front of the platform\u2019s control panel. One of the coaxial guns on the armored freighter had powered up and was spitting lasers at us. I slammed my hand on what I guessed was the down button and a fighter-sized square of floor shuddered into motion beneath our feet.\n\nI heard Wyrick shout for Morgan, who was firing at the freighter to little effect as a half-dozen prisoners made a break for us. The platform moved depressingly slowly, but thankfully we sank out of the coaxial gun\u2019s arc in a few seconds. Just before the platform\u2019s doors shut above us, Morgan slid over the edge and dropped down beside us.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d he said, looking back the way we\u2019d come. \u201cWe need to find another way off the station.\u201d\n\nto be continued \u2026","de_DE":"Das Kommando \u00fcber eine Armee entflohener Gefangener zu haben, ist nicht halb so herrlich, wie ich es mir vorgestellt hatte - nicht, dass ich es mir vorgestellt h\u00e4tte. Aber wenn du dazu bestimmt bist, die besagten Gefangenen zu bewachen, kann deine Fantasie ein wenig mitgerissen werden. Nun, dank eines Piratenangriffs, bei dem jeder leitende Offizier auf der Station get\u00f6tet worden war, hatte der Computer den Gef\u00e4ngnispsychologen beauftragt, und als ihr rangh\u00f6chster Patient hatte ich mich in einer Position der Pseudo-Autorit\u00e4t befunden.\n\nDie Uniform meines blauen Offiziers stand in starkem Kontrast zu der Gef\u00e4ngnisorange, die von allen anderen in unserer Gruppe getragen wurde, mit Ausnahme von Cayla Wyrick, der betreffenden Therapeutin. Ich zog bereits den gelegentlichen neugierigen Blick auf mich und wusste, dass, sobald diese Kerle sich von den neuen Waffen, die sie f\u00fcr sie aus der Waffenkammer beschafft hatte, langweilten, die Dinge hart werden w\u00fcrden. Der Trick, um am Leben zu bleiben, war, sie zu besch\u00e4ftigen, und Wes Morgan, der S\u00f6ldner, den wir vor der Hochsicherheit gerettet hatten, versuchte, genau das zu tun.\n\nMorgan, Wyrick und Cronock kuschelten sich um Wyricks Notizblock, direkt vor dem Lastenaufzug. Der S\u00f6ldner hatte sich als so etwas wie ein erfahrener Hacker erwiesen und nutzte das, was wirklich ein B\u00fcrospielzeug war, um Zugang zum Gef\u00e4ngnis-Breitband zu erhalten. Bilder des neu geflickten Flugdecks blitzten \u00fcber seinen Bildschirm.\n\n\"Es wurde beim ersten Angriff bel\u00fcftet\", sagte ich. \"Sieht so aus, als h\u00e4tten die Piraten, die die Station angegriffen haben, es repariert und die Schwerkraft wiederhergestellt.\"\n\nWir konnten ein paar Piraten sehen, die in Gruppen herumlaufen, w\u00e4hrend Landelichter einen Teil des Flugdecks beleuchtet hatten und ein gro\u00dfer Frachter durch das bl\u00e4uliche Luftschild man\u00f6vrierte. Es sah aus, als w\u00e4re es von Teilen anderer Schiffe zusammengeschustert worden. Eine gro\u00dfe, fest montierte Partikelkanone, die sich \u00fcber dem Bug erstreckt und so bemalt ist, dass sie wie das Horn eines wilden Tieres aussieht. Leider wurde die Illusion der Wildheit durch zwei unverh\u00e4ltnism\u00e4\u00dfig kleine Fl\u00fcgel zerschlagen, wodurch das Schiff weniger wie ein Raubtier als vielmehr wie ein Truthahn mit Horn aussah.\n\n\"Es sind die Hunde\", sagte Morgan grimmig. Sein Finger zeigte einige Graffitis auf der Seite des Frachters.\n\n\" Die Hunde\"? fragte ich.\n\n\"Die Nova Dogs. Das sind schlechte Nachrichten. Stark bei Waffen und wenig bei Moral. Er hat auch tiefe Taschen, f\u00fcr Piraten.\"\n\n\"Kannibalen\", grunzte Cronock. \"Wir werden uns ihnen nicht anschlie\u00dfen.\"\n\nAls er den Blick sah, den Wyrick und ich ihm gaben, zuckte er mit den Achseln. \"Wenn du Loyalit\u00e4t erwartet hast, bist du ein gr\u00f6\u00dferer Idiot, als ich dachte.\"\n\n\"Wir k\u00f6nnen ein Flankenman\u00f6ver versuchen\", sagte Morgan und ignorierte die Bemerkung. Er hatte es wahrscheinlich als selbstverst\u00e4ndlich angesehen, dass Cronock sich bei seiner ersten Gelegenheit gegen uns wenden w\u00fcrde. Er hat den Kamerawinkel auf dem Bildschirm des Notizblocks verschoben. \"Schleichen Sie sich hinter diese K\u00e4mpfer und schlagen Sie sie, bevor sie wissen, dass wir da sind.\"\n\nCronock r\u00fclpste laut. \"\"Flankenman\u00f6ver\"? Das sind keine Soldaten. Du musst kurze Worte benutzen und langsam mit diesem Typen sprechen.\"\n\n\"K\u00f6nnen wir mit den Piraten reden?\" schlug Wyrick vor.\n\nMorgan fuhr fort, als h\u00e4tte Wyrick nicht gesprochen. \"Deine M\u00e4nner werden keine f\u00fcnf Minuten gegen die Nova Dogs bei einem direkten Angriff durchhalten.\"\n\n\"Es gibt nur einen Weg, es herauszufinden.\" Der Cronock-Schinken faustete den Fahrstuhlknopf und bellte, damit seine M\u00e4nner einsteigen konnten. Ich stand mit Wyrick im Hintergrund und versuchte herauszufinden, wie ich in diese Situation geraten war. Wenn ich Piraten bek\u00e4mpfen wollte, h\u00e4tte ich einen K\u00e4mpfer f\u00fcr die UEE fliegen k\u00f6nnen. Ich hatte meine Wahl der Aufgaben gehabt, als ich meinen Abschluss gemacht hatte. Nat\u00fcrlich hatte mich Davids Tod davon \u00fcberzeugt, \u00fcberall zu arbeiten, au\u00dfer in einem Cockpit.\n\nDie Sicherheitsvorkehrungen f\u00fcr den OSP-4 waren streng, und das Flugdeck war so konzipiert, dass es eng und klaustrophobisch war. Der Aufzug \u00f6ffnete sich in eine Luftschleuse, die praktisch ein T\u00f6tungsfeld war. Wachen auf dem Flugdeck konnten durch einen vertikalen Schlitz an der Wand hineinschie\u00dfen, und ich wusste, dass es ein Unterschallger\u00e4t in der N\u00e4he der Decke gab, mit dem man jeden im Inneren bet\u00e4uben konnte. Gl\u00fccklicherweise hatten wir Wyrick, und ihre Codes erlaubten es uns, sowohl die Luftschleusenabwehr als auch den Aufzugsalarm zu deaktivieren.\n\nEs war f\u00fcr Cronocks M\u00e4nner eine einfache Sache, die wenigen Piraten, die an den Aufzugst\u00fcren stationiert waren, zu \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigen. Dieser kleine Erfolg wurde als Zeichen daf\u00fcr gewertet, dass sein Plan der beste war, und er ging \u00fcber das Flugdeck wie der Kamm einer orangen Welle, die Blei in alle Richtungen abfeuerte. Die wenigen Piraten, die \u00fcber das Flugdeck verstreut waren, suchten schnell hinter Kistenstapeln Schutz und feuerten zur\u00fcck.\n\n\"Bleib hier\", sagte Morgan leise und legte eine Hand auf meine Brust. Er blickte sich schnell um und nahm die Positionen der Piraten ein. \"Etwas f\u00fchlt sich nicht richtig an.\"\n\nDie kleine Gruppe von Piraten, die gerade erst begonnen hatte, vom gepanzerten Frachter zu landen, war st\u00e4rker bewaffnet und besser ausgebildet als die anderen. Sie sch\u00fctzten schnell einen riesigen Mann in einem schwarzen Anzug vor dem Schusswechsel und dr\u00e4ngten ihn, den Steg wieder hinaufzusteigen. Er hatte nichts davon und schob seine Leutnants zur Seite.\n\n\"Werft eure Waffen runter!\" br\u00fcllte er seine Untergebenen an, und ich konnte einen verchromten Blitz sehen, wo sein Kiefer gewesen war. Der Rest von ihm war enorm muskul\u00f6s, so sehr, dass sein Kopf auf seinen massiven Schultern komisch klein aussah. Er hatte lange schwarze Haare, die zu dem schwarzen Fluganzug passten, den er trug. Der Aufkleber auf seiner Brust zeigte einen Sch\u00e4del in den Kiefern eines gr\u00f6\u00dferen Sch\u00e4dels, was f\u00fcr den Anf\u00fchrer eines Kannibalenpakets eine grimmige Art von Sinn ergab.\n\nEr ging direkt in das Innere des Gesch\u00fctzfeuers und schlug die Waffen seiner Piraten nieder.\n\nCronock, \u00fcberrascht und verwirrt von der pl\u00f6tzlichen Kapitulation, muss gesp\u00fcrt haben, dass er keine andere Wahl hatte, als aufzuh\u00f6ren, sich selbst zu feuern, und befahl seinen M\u00e4nnern, sich zur\u00fcckzuziehen.\n\n\"Wer ist das?\" fragte Wyrick leise.\n\nMorgans Kiefer hatte sich gestrafft. \"Martin Kilkenny. Du w\u00fcrdest ihn wahrscheinlich mit einem Gottkomplex diagnostizieren. Er wurde ber\u00fcchtigt f\u00fcr einen Angriff, den er auf ein Sklavenschiff f\u00fchrte, au\u00dfer dass er und seine Crew, anstatt die Sklaven zu befreien, sie a\u00dfen und dann das Schiff verkauften. Wir sind in Schwierigkeiten.\"\nCronock schien Kilkenny nicht zu erkennen, oder wenn doch, war er nicht eingesch\u00fcchtert. \"Wir sind wegen eurer Schiffe hier. Gib die Codes weiter, wenn du leben willst.\"\n\n\"Ich kann dich nicht h\u00f6ren. Komm n\u00e4her\", schrie Kilkenny und schr\u00f6pfte eine Hand hinter seinem Ohr.\n\n\"Hast du das gesehen?\" sagte Morgan leise zu Wyrick und mir, w\u00e4hrend Kilkenny sprach. Er nickte den K\u00e4mpfern zu.\n\nIch folgte seinem Blick. Die beiden Fahrzeuge waren die fortgeschrittenen Hornet-K\u00e4mpfer des OSP-4. Nach ein paar Augenblicken sah ich eine Ver\u00e4nderung des Lichts. Jemand war in dem K\u00e4mpfer! Meine Augen wanderten zur zweiten Hornisse. Der Winkel war zu schr\u00e4g, um in das Cockpit zu sehen, aber ich war sicher, dass er auch besetzt war. Schlimmer noch, Cronocks Gruppe war direkt in den Bogen der Schiffswaffen vorgedrungen.\n\n\"Wir m\u00fcssen sie warnen\", sagte Wyrick in Panik.\n\nMorgan sah die Psychiaterin an, als h\u00e4tte sie einen weiteren Kopf gekeimt. \"Was glaubst du, was diese Gefangenen mit uns machen w\u00fcrden, wenn sie deine Codes nicht mehr brauchten, um aus der Station zu entkommen? Wir warten hier. Egal, welche Gruppe verliert, wir gewinnen.\"\n\n\"Wir k\u00f6nnen nicht einfach zulassen, dass sie abgeschlachtet werden\", sagte Wyrick verzweifelt. Ich h\u00e4tte sie fast bemitleidet. Ich hatte vergessen, dass sie jeden dieser M\u00e4nner mit der Intimit\u00e4t kannte, die nur ein Psychologe besa\u00df. Sie kannte ihre Hintergr\u00fcnde, ihre Hoffnungen, ihre Tr\u00e4ume.... es war ihre Aufgabe, das Beste in ihnen hervorzubringen, in der Hoffnung, ihnen bei der Rehabilitierung zu helfen. Morgan und ich hatten den Luxus, eine Menge schwer bewaffneter Wahnsinniger in orangefarbenen Pullovern zu sehen. Wir k\u00f6nnten zusehen, wie sie ohne weiteres abgeschlachtet werden. Das konnte sie nicht.\n\n\"Es hilft uns nicht, wenn Kilkenny Cronock ohne Kampf t\u00f6tet\", betonte ich.\n\n\"Sch\u00f6n\", sch\u00fcttelte er den Kopf. \"Gut. Sei still und folge mir.\"\n\nWir hielten uns tief im Boden und sprinteten hinter dem n\u00e4chsten J\u00e4ger her. Morgan duckte sich unter dem Rumpf und winkte uns zu folgen. Auf der anderen Seite befand sich ein Stapel von Kisten, die von einem Sprengfeuer getroffen worden waren. Zwei tote Piraten lagen ausgestreckt auf dem Deck in der N\u00e4he.\n\n\"Pass auf\", sagte Morgan und dr\u00fcckte mir ein Messer in die Hand. Er zeigte auf einen d\u00fcnnen Gummischlauch, der vom vorderen Fahrwerk des K\u00e4mpfers baumelte. \"Hier wird Hydraulikfl\u00fcssigkeit f\u00fcr das Fahrwerk mitgef\u00fchrt. Wenn ich es sage, schneidest du es. Mach dir keine Sorgen. Es ist verdammt giftig.\"\n\nEr schob seinen Kopf um die Nase des K\u00e4mpfers und \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte Cronocks Gruppe. Sie wussten nichts von den frontseitig angebrachten Waffen der J\u00e4ger. Mit einem Seufzer hob er sein Gewehr an die Schulter und sah den Lauf am Fahrwerk des anderen J\u00e4gers hinunter.\n\n\"Bleib stehen\", sagte Kilkenny zu Cronock. Ich konnte kaum einen von ihnen um das Fahrwerk des J\u00e4gers herum sehen.\n\nWyrick kniete neben mir nieder. Sie war unbewaffnet, nachdem sie die Waffe abgelehnt hatte, die Morgan ihr im Waffenlager angeboten hatte. Philosophische Gr\u00fcnde, sch\u00e4tzte ich. Ich respektierte ihre Entscheidung, aber das bedeutete nicht, dass ich mir nicht w\u00fcnschen konnte, dass wir eine dritte Waffe h\u00e4tten. Selbst unter dem K\u00e4mpfer geduckt, f\u00fchlte ich mich entbl\u00f6\u00dft. Sie schien mein Unbehagen nicht zu bemerken. \"Was ist mit seinem Kiefer los?\"\n\n\"Halt die Klappe\", zischte Morgan. Er zeigte mit dem Gewehr auf eine Stelle \u00fcber meinem Kopf. \"Das Cockpit ist genau da.\"\n\nWyrick und ich sahen auf und dann zur\u00fcck zu ihm. Wir nickte unisono.\n\n\"Ich sagte\", sagte Cronock wiederholt, lauter als er es vorher getan hatte. \"Wir sind wegen dir hier -,\"\n\n\"Ich habe dich geh\u00f6rt\", sagte Kilkenny. \"Ich wollte nur, dass du genau da bist, wo du jetzt bist.\" Cronocks Crew war direkt in seine Falle gelaufen.\n\n\"Jetzt!\" sagte Morgan scharf. Er er\u00f6ffnete das Feuer auf das Fahrwerk des anderen K\u00e4mpfers, das Gewehr tuckerte in seinen H\u00e4nden. Ich habe mit dem Messer geschlagen, aber zu meinem Entsetzen hat sich der Gummischlauch mit meinem Schnitt gebeugt. Helle Blitze verbrannten meine Vision, als die Gesch\u00fctze der Hornisse anfingen, auf die Menge der Gefangenen zu schie\u00dfen.\n\n\"Nylund!\" rief Wyrick. Ihre N\u00e4gel haben sich in meinen Arm gegraben.\n\n\"Ich versuche es\", rief ich zur\u00fcck. Ich packte den Schlauch in meiner anderen Hand und fing an, ihn anzusehen. Morgan hatte sich zum Feuern auf Kilkenny's M\u00e4nner gewandt, die sich in den Frachter zur\u00fcckgezogen hatten. Auf einmal schnitt ich den Schlauch durch und das Hydraulik\u00f6l spritzte \u00fcberall hin. Die Nase der Hornisse fiel abrupt, und sie h\u00e4tte mich am Kopf getroffen, wenn ich nicht r\u00fcckw\u00e4rts gefallen w\u00e4re, um die Spr\u00fchfl\u00fcssigkeit zu vermeiden. Laserfeuer traf das Deck in der N\u00e4he und hei\u00dfe Luft str\u00f6mte \u00fcber uns.\n\n\"Hier entlang\", rief Morgan zu dem, was von Cronocks M\u00e4nnern \u00fcbrig blieb. Wir h\u00f6rten ein Rauschen \u00fcber uns und er drehte und feuerte. Der K\u00f6rper eines Piraten fiel aus dem Cockpit auf das Deck neben uns, ein blutiges Loch, wo sein Auge gewesen war. Morgan packte Wyricks Arm, zog sie unter dem J\u00e4ger heraus und warf sie dann praktisch auf die Ladefl\u00e4che. Ich folgte und rutschte bis zu einem Anschlag vor dem Bedienpult der Plattform. Eine der Koaxialkanonen auf dem gepanzerten Frachter hatte sich eingeschaltet und spuckte Laser auf uns. Ich schlug meine Hand auf das, was ich vermutete, war der Abw\u00e4rtsknopf und ein k\u00e4mpfergro\u00dfes Quadrat des Bodens zitterte in Bewegung unter unseren F\u00fc\u00dfen.\n\nIch h\u00f6rte Wyrick nach Morgan schreien, der mit geringer Wirkung auf den Frachter schoss, als ein halbes Dutzend Gefangene f\u00fcr uns einen Durchbruch machten. Die Plattform bewegte sich deprimierend langsam, aber zum Gl\u00fcck sanken wir in wenigen Sekunden aus dem Bogen der Koaxialkanone. Kurz bevor sich die T\u00fcren des Bahnsteigs \u00fcber uns schlossen, rutschte Morgan \u00fcber die Kante und fiel neben uns herunter.\n\n\"Nun,\" sagte er und blickte zur\u00fcck, wie wir kommen w\u00fcrden. \"Wir m\u00fcssen einen anderen Weg vom Bahnhof finden.\"\n\nwird fortgesetzt.....","zh_CN":"Being in command of an army of escaped prisoners isn\u2019t half as glorious as I\u2019d pictured \u2014 not that I\u2019d pictured it. But when you\u2019re assigned to guard said prisoners, your imagination can get a little carried away. Now, thanks to a pirate attack that had killed every senior officer on the station, the computer had put the prison shrink in charge, and as her ranking patient I had found myself in a position of pseudo-authority.\n\nMy blue officer\u2019s uniform stood in stark contrast to the prison orange worn by everyone else in our group, except Cayla Wyrick, the therapist in question. I was already attracting the occasional curious glare and I knew that as soon as these guys got bored of the new weapons she\u2019d procured for them out of the armory, things were going to get rough. The trick to staying alive was to keep them occupied, and Wes Morgan, the mercenary we\u2019d rescued from Maximum Security, was attempting to do just that.\n\nMorgan, Wyrick, and Cronock were huddled around Wyrick\u2019s notepad, just outside the cargo elevator. The mercenary had proven to be something of an expert hacker and used what was really an office toy to access the prison broadband. Images of the flight deck, newly patched, flashed across its screen.\n\n\u201cIt was vented in the initial attack,\u201d I said. \u201cLooks like the pirates who attacked the station patched it up, restored the gravity.\u201d\n\nWe could see a few pirates milling around in clumps, while landing lights had lit up a section of the flight deck and a large freighter was maneuvering through the bluish airshield. It looked like it had been cobbled together from parts of other ships. A large fixed-mount particle cannon extended above the bow, painted to look like the horn of some savage beast. Unfortunately, the illusion of ferocity was shattered by two disproportionately small wings, which made the ship look less like a predator and more like a turkey with a horn.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the Dogs,\u201d Morgan said grimly. His finger highlighted some graffiti on the side of the freighter.\n\n\u201cThe Dogs?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cThe Nova Dogs. They\u2019re bad news. Heavy on weapons and light on morals. Got deep pockets too, for pirates.\u201d\n\n\u201cCannibals,\u201d grunted Cronock. \u201cAin\u2019t gonna let us join them.\u201d\n\nWhen he saw the look Wyrick and I gave him, he shrugged. \u201cIf you expected loyalty, you\u2019re bigger idiots than I thought.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can try a flanking maneuver,\u201d said Morgan, ignoring the remark. He\u2019d probably taken it for granted that Cronock would turn on us at his first opportunity. He shifted the camera angle on the notepad\u2019s screen. \u201cSneak in behind these fighters and hit them before they know we\u2019re there.\u201d\n\nCronock burped loudly. \u201c \u2018Flanking maneuver\u2019? These boys ain\u2019t soldiers. You gotta use short words and speak slowly with this lot.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan we reason with the pirates?\u201d suggested Wyrick.\n\nMorgan continued on as if Wyrick hadn\u2019t spoken. \u201cYour men won\u2019t last five minutes against the Nova Dogs in a direct attack.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnly one way to find out.\u201d Cronock ham-fisted the elevator button and barked for his men to get in. I stood with Wyrick in the back, trying to figure out how I\u2019d gotten into this situation. If I\u2019d wanted to fight pirates I could have flown a fighter for the UEE. I\u2019d had my choice of assignments when I\u2019d graduated. Of course, David\u2019s death had convinced me to work anywhere but in a cockpit.\n\nSecurity on OSP-4 was tight, and the flight deck was designed to be confining and claustrophobic. The elevator opened into an airlock that was effectively a killing field. Guards on the flight deck could fire into it through a vertical slot on the wall, and I knew that there was a subsonic device near the ceiling that could be used to stun anyone inside. Fortunately though, we had Wyrick, and her codes allowed us to disable both the airlock defenses and the elevator alarm.\n\nIt was a simple matter for Cronock\u2019s men to overwhelm the few pirates stationed at the elevator doors. This small success was taken to be a sign that his plan was the best one and he strode across the flight deck like the crest of an orange wave that fired lead in every direction. Those few pirates who were scattered around the flight deck quickly took cover behind stacks of crates and returned fire.\n\n\u201cStay here,\u201d said Morgan quietly, putting a hand on my chest. He glanced around quickly, taking in the positions of the pirates. \u201cSomething doesn\u2019t feel right.\u201d\n\nThe small file of pirates that had just begun to disembark from the armored freighter were more heavily armed and better trained than the rest. They quickly shielded a huge man in a black suit from the gunfire and urged him back up the gangplank. He was having none of it, and shoved his lieutenants aside.\n\n\u201cThrow down your weapons!\u201d he roared at his subordinates, and I could see a flash of chrome where his jaw had been. The rest of him was hugely muscular, so much so that his head looked comically small atop his massive shoulders. He had long black hair that matched the black flight suit that he wore. The decal on his chest displayed a skull in the jaws of a larger skull, which made a grim kind of sense for the leader of a cannibal pack.\n\nHe strode right into the thick of the gunfire, batting down the weapons of his pirates.\n\nCronock, surprised and confused by the sudden surrender, must have felt that he had no choice but to stop firing himself, and ordered his men to stand down.\n\n\u201cWho is that?\u201d asked Wyrick quietly.\n\nMorgan\u2019s jaw had tightened. \u201cMartin Kilkenny. You\u2019d probably diagnose him with a god complex. He became infamous for an attack he led on a slave ship, except instead of freeing the slaves, he and his crew ate them, and then sold the ship. We\u2019re in trouble.\u201d\nCronock did not appear to recognize Kilkenny, or if he did, he was unintimidated. \u201cWe\u2019re here for your ships. Give over the codes if you want to live.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t hear you. Come closer!\u201d yelled Kilkenny, cupping a hand behind his ear.\n\n\u201cDid you see that?\u201d said Morgan quietly to Wyrick and I while Kilkenny was speaking. He nodded at the fighters.\n\nI followed his gaze. The two vehicles were the OSP-4\u2019s advanced Hornet fighters. After a few moments I saw a change in light. Someone was inside the fighter! My eyes shifted to the second Hornet. The angle was too oblique for me to see inside the cockpit, but I was sure that it too was occupied. Worse, Cronock\u2019s group had moved right into the arc of the ship\u2019s weapons.\n\n\u201cWe have to warn them,\u201d said Wyrick in alarm.\n\nMorgan looked at the psychiatrist like she\u2019d sprouted another head. \u201cWhat do you think those prisoners were going to do to us once they no longer needed your codes to escape the station? We wait here. No matter which group loses, we win.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t just let them be slaughtered,\u201d said Wyrick desperately. I almost pitied her. I had forgotten that she knew each of these men with the intimacy only a psychologist possessed. She knew their backstories, their hopes, their dreams \u2026 it was her job to bring out the best in them in the hopes of helping them to be rehabilitated. Morgan and I had the luxury of seeing a crowd of heavily armed lunatics in orange jumpers. We could watch them get slaughtered without a second thought. She couldn\u2019t.\n\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t help us if Kilkenny kills Cronock without a fight,\u201d I pointed out.\n\n\u201cFine,\u201d he shook his head. \u201cFine. Keep quiet and follow me.\u201d\n\nWe kept low to the ground and sprinted behind the nearest fighter. Morgan ducked beneath the fuselage and beckoned us to follow. On the other side was a stack of crates that had been scored by blaster fire. Two dead pirates lay sprawled out on the deck nearby.\n\n\u201cPay attention,\u201d said Morgan, pressing a knife into my hand. He pointed at a thin rubber hose that dangled from the fighter\u2019s front landing gear. \u201cThis carries hydraulic fluid for the landing gear. When I say so, you cut it. Don\u2019t get any on your hands. It\u2019s poisonous as hell.\u201d\n\nHe ducked his head around the fighter\u2019s nose and checked out Cronock\u2019s group. They were completely oblivious to the fighters\u2019 front-mounted weaponry. With a sigh, he lifted his rifle to his shoulder and sighted down the barrel at the other fighter\u2019s landing gear.\n\n\u201cStop there,\u201d said Kilkenny to Cronock. I could barely see either of them around the fighter\u2019s landing gear.\n\nWyrick knelt beside me. She was unarmed, having refused the weapon Morgan had offered her back at the armory. Philosophical grounds, I guessed. I respected her decision but that didn\u2019t mean I couldn\u2019t wish we had a third gun. Even crouched underneath the fighter, I felt exposed. She didn\u2019t seem to notice my discomfort. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with his jaw?\u201d\n\n\u201cShut up,\u201d hissed Morgan. He pointed with the rifle at a spot above my head. \u201cThe cockpit is right there.\u201d\n\nWyrick and I looked up and then back at him. We nodded in unison.\n\n\u201cI said,\u201d said Cronock repeated, louder than he had before. \u201cWe\u2019re here for your \u2014,\u201d\n\n\u201cI heard you,\u201d said Kilkenny. \u201cI just needed you to be exactly where you are now.\u201d Cronock\u2019s crew had walked right into his trap.\n\n\u201cNow!\u201d said Morgan sharply. He opened fire on the other fighter\u2019s landing gear, the rifle chugging in his hands. I slashed with the knife, but to my horror the rubber hose flexed with my cut. Bright flashes seared my vision as the Hornet\u2019s guns began firing into the crowd of prisoners.\n\n\u201cNylund!\u201d shouted Wyrick. Her nails dug into my arm.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m trying,\u201d I shouted back. I grabbed the hose in my other hand and began to saw at it. Morgan had turned to fire at Kilkenny\u2019s men, who\u2019d retreated into the freighter. All at once I cut through the hose and hydraulic fluid sprayed everywhere. The nose of the Hornet dropped abruptly, and it would have hit me in the head had I not fallen backwards to avoid the spraying fluid. Laser fire hit the deck nearby and hot air washed over us.\n\n\u201cThis way,\u201d shouted Morgan to what remained of Cronock\u2019s men. We heard a hiss above us and he swivelled and fired. The body of a pirate fell out of the cockpit to the deck beside us, a bloody hole where his eye had been. Morgan grabbed Wyrick\u2019s arm, yanked her out from under the fighter, and then practically threw her at the loading platform. I followed, sliding to a stop in front of the platform\u2019s control panel. One of the coaxial guns on the armored freighter had powered up and was spitting lasers at us. I slammed my hand on what I guessed was the down button and a fighter-sized square of floor shuddered into motion beneath our feet.\n\nI heard Wyrick shout for Morgan, who was firing at the freighter to little effect as a half-dozen prisoners made a break for us. The platform moved depressingly slowly, but thankfully we sank out of the coaxial gun\u2019s arc in a few seconds. Just before the platform\u2019s doors shut above us, Morgan slid over the edge and dropped down beside us.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d he said, looking back the way we\u2019d come. \u201cWe need to find another way off the station.\u201d\n\nto be continued \u2026"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":43,"created_at":"2014-07-18T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"11 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-13 14:29:11","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":14020,"next_id":14022}}