As we raced back towards the Radiolaria and Telesthesia, I poured the available data into simulations and ran the numbers. The Sarcophage cruisers had a head start, so even with the higher rate of acceleration of our Gravity Frames, they would still reach visual range of our mother ships 200 seconds before we intercepted them.

In battle, 200 seconds was an eternity. Our ships would be torn to shreds before we even arrived.

Miette had reached the same conclusion. “Oy, Sveta.” she said. “Can you bypass the acceleration safeties on our units?”

“I can, but…” I started.

“Do it then.” she said firmly. Her face wore an expression of grim determination.

You can’t be serious! I thought in a panic.

It was an extreme request. Clad in their protective Inertia Suits, which were far more advanced than the fighter pilot gear of my old world, your average Gravity Frame pilot could survive acceleration forces of up to 15 Gs for up to two minutes at a time. Beyond that, it was well-established that even unprotected human bodies could survive front-to-back acceleration perpendicular to the spine of up to 45 Gs for a second or two. Gravity Frames had hard-coded limits that kept the pilots from experiencing fatal levels of G-force, even if the Frames themselves were technically capable of surpassing them. It was a bit like the speed limiters put on superbikes.

Those limits were purely a matter of programming. I had bypassed them when remote-piloting the Voidtress units, as they had been unmanned. If pilots had been inside the G-forces would have crushed them into deliquesce. Miette had picked up on this and was asking me to accelerate our squadron’s units past pilot safety limits in order to cut down our interception time.

I shook my head vigorously. “I can’t do that, Miette. Anything that would harm you or the other pilots is out of the question.”

I am absolutely not letting you sacrifice yourself! Nobody dies on my watch! I thought with firm conviction.

“Do it in short bursts.” Miette responded. “Keep a close eye on our vitals, and when we start to grey out cut it back.”

Th-That actually might work… WAIT, NO! IT’S STILL TOO RISKY!

“E-Even if you say that, I can’t…” I began.

“Sveta, it’s alright.” Maurice jumped in. “We’ve all pulled more Gs than we’re supposed to before, and the risk is worth it if we’re going to save our ships.” The other pilots nodded in agreement.

“I… I…” I stuttered.

God dammit! Why are you all looking at me which such resolute eyes! Don’t make me out to be the bad guy here!

He smiled roguishly. “I’ll make it an order if I have to.”

AGH! DAMN IT! FINEEEEE!

“Alright.” I said. “But I’m cutting it out the instant any one of you so much as has the tiniest heart murmur!” I finally gave in, but with firm limits.

Miette nodded. “Let’s do it.”

Taking direct control of the entire squadron’s Gravity Frames and paying extraordinarily close attention to their vitals and in-helmet cameras, I began with short acceleration bursts of 25 Gs for 1.5 seconds at a time. I noticed quickened heart rates and decreased bloodflow into the pupils from all the pilots, but nothing dangerous just yet. I ramped it up to 30Gs, then 35, then 40 in 1.5 second bursts at 45 seconds intervals. When I noticed Sabina’s pupil dilation indicated she was greying out, I announced I had completed the unsafe acceleration maneuvers.

“That’s it, everyone! Anything more would be deadly!” I was exaggerating ever so slightly, but I didn’t feel guilty about it. They all stared at me suspiciously but didn’t say anything.

Sorry, everyone! That’s as far as I’m willing to go!

With the extra velocity, we gained some extra time. Now we would intercept the cruisers 30 seconds after they entered visual range of our mother ships. That was the best I could do without putting any of the pilot’s lives in danger.

As we closed in, Miette gripped my controls so tightly I worried she might snap them off.

*****

At some point, our ships had noticed the incoming Sarcophage cruisers and began firing their positron artillery blindly. With only the jammed sensors to guide them, the shots all flew too wide of the targets.

Gah! C’mon Laria and Teles, concentrate! I know you can skewer those clowns!

As we pulled in visual range of the cruisers we saw them unleashing intense spine barrages towards our motherships, who were intercepting with the full force of their artillery and CIWS guns. Even with the barrage of interception fire, I noticed with consternation that each of our ships had sustained a few hits.

No time to play around! Let’s go right for the jugular!

Instantly I sent all four remaining Voidtress units towards the enemy, blasting them at accelerations that nearly burned out their gravity fins. The frame-class escorts swarmed to intercept the incoming unmanned units, and the cruisers also let loose with some of their spinefire, lessening the pressure on our mother ships.

The spinefire’s too thick for me to go in for a suicide run, but at least I can keep the heat off our ships!

“Light ‘em up!” Maurice ordered. All six pilots began blasting away at escorts which were swarming around the unmanned frames. I jerked them around madly like ragdolls, doing my absolute best to dodge the barrage of spines and teeth which targeted them. Even so, the density of enemies and spinefire was simply too much. Two of my units were torn apart by spines, and a third gnashed to pieces by a flailing clawtooth.

Shit! Only one left!

Just then, the Telesthesia managed to score a glancing hit on one of the cruisers. Several tentacles on its ventral hull were scorched away, and the spinefire coming from that side slowed.

There it is! An opening!

I jerked the remaining Voidtress unit towards the cruiser and pushed the gravity drive way past the redline.

C’mon, baby! Just a little more! I silently urged the Voidtress on.

It took one spine impact, then two, then three. Its systems went entirely offline, and I lost connection with it. Its inertia, however, still carried it towards the cruiser and it impacted the ventral hull with a brilliant flash, punching a huge crater in the surface and causing the cruiser to fall silent.

BOOM, BITCH! That’s what you GET! I thought with jubilation.

Not even stopping for a moment to celebrate, the pilots all concentrated their fire on the remaining cruiser. Just then, that cruiser stopped firing and surrounded itself with an ominous red glow. Taking advantage of the lull in combat, I beamed a laser-light message with a firing solution back towards the Radiolaria, and a few seconds later our two ships opened up with pinpoint-targeted positron artillery.

The positron shots didn’t hit the cruiser, however. Just short of its hull, they twisted around it and flew off in random directions, as if skittering off an unseen barrier. Miette had to dodge me sideways to avoid one of the stray shots.

“What the?” I cried out.

Miette grit her teeth. “It’s using its gravity field to warp in the incoming shots. That means it’s about to-“

Just then, the cruiser’s tentacles lashed out and wrapped around its damaged companion. As it pulled the battered hulk towards itself, the cruiser’s dorsal hull suddenly split open like a giant toothy maw and masticated the damaged ship.

“What the fuck…” I said in horror. “It’s eating its own ally!”

“Sveta!” Miette shrieked as she twisted me around 180 degrees and opened up the throttle. “We’re getting clear! That thing’s about to evolve!”

Evolve? I remembered reading about this in the combat manuals. Sarcophage cruisers went through multiple life stages, depending on how much food they could get. Which meant that…

Oh shit. OOOOHHH SHIT.

Having finished its meal, the cruiser swelled up like a veiny, fleshy balloon. It pulsed and squirmed like a beating heart as our squadron retreated to a safe distance. The Radiolaria and Telesthesia abandoned firing at it as well in favor of putting distance between themselves and the grotesque phenomenon.

Just then, the fleshy bubble burst open, revealing the cruiser’s second form. It resembled a massive spacefaring insect, a chaotic cross between a housefly and a tarantula. Its four wings glowed with a reddish light and were surrounded by gravity distortions, and its compound eyes pulsated as if made of jelly. Its eight legs terminated in sharpened scythes that were lined with throbbing veins. Instead of mandibles, the front of its head sprouted a mass of twenty tentacles which waved about madly as if searching for something to grab and feast upon.

“The second form of a Sarcophage cruiser…” Miette whispered while shivering, “Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies.”