The Hoplite cut through the vacuum of space, speeding up at a steady one gravity of acceleration. Already it was approaching three times the speed of sounds, though there was nothing stopping it from going faster.
The vessel suddenly spun, doing a barrel roll.
Rebecca squealed as she tried to keep her focus upon the monitor in front of her. There was a blip in the distance, about a continent away from their current location. It was moving at a lazy speed, showing no signs that it knew that they were approaching.
“This is Omega-Three,” Ashley said into her headset. “We’re approaching the hostile craft at an approach of negative forty-five degrees x, positive twenty degrees y, and positive thirteen degrees z.”
Directions were a weird concept in space, relying on three dimensions to properly articulate. Still, their path was approved as Rebecca and Ashley’s screen pulsed green with confirmation.
“This is Omega-Two,” a voice crackled through the radio. It was a familiar voice, that of Jasmine. “Looks like we have the element of surprise. Shall we proceed, Omega-One?”
The radio crackled as a new feed popped it. This voice was calm, seasoned, their tutor for this little exercise.
“Your flight paths are fine, Omega-Two and Omega-Three.” The woman snorted. “Just be careful about being this open on your radios during a proper mission, alright? We have no idea if they understand our language but if they hear us over their feeds that kind of blows the element of surprise regardless.”
Ashley nodded. “Of course, Omega-One.”
She pressed down upon the ship’s throttle, pushing both herself and Rebecca back into their chairs. It was surprising how much Rebecca had learned to appreciate the thrill of speed as she let out another excitable yelp.
“Cannons ready?” Ashley asked.
“Cannons are primed and ready to fire,” Rebecca replied. “Planning to use controlled five round bursts once we’re within a hundred kilometers of our target.”
From the view of her radar, she saw that the distance was rapidly closing between them and the hostile craft. When you were going close to four-times the speed of sound, it wasn’t very difficult to span the length of an entire continent in a matter of moments.
When they were within five-hundred kilometers, a target display came online for Rebecca, and with it, a program kicked in. It aimed for a vacant stretch of space in front of the hostile craft, targeting where it would be when the slugs had travelled the distance between the Hoplite and their target.
Still, that program wasn’t entirely perfect. This was where Rebecca came in, judging when to use a manual override.
“Big motherfucker,” Ashley whispered into the comms.
Omega-One chuckled. “Well, we got to make sure you can hit the broadside of a barn before we worry about you hitting something smaller.”
“Plus, that thing is about the same size as whatever the Anatolians sent flying into Athens,” Jasmine chided over the radio.
Rebecca couldn’t help but glance towards the planet. The last few months had not been particularly kind to it. It turned out that when something the size of a large skyscraper hits your planet, there is an awful lot of dust that it kicks up.
Even now, the planet was far cloudier than it should’ve been. Though thankfully, the clouds obscured Athens and the wound that lingered on its periphery.
“Rebecca,” Ashley barked. “Focus.”
Rebecca turned back to the monitor, seeing that the distance between them had faded to a little under three hundred kilometers.
“Sorry,” Rebecca whispered.
Three hundred kilometers bled away to two hundred in shocking fashion, and within a matter of moments, they were in that sweet zone. The computer calculated swiftly, constantly adjusting the angle of the cannon.
Then one hundred kilometers flashed at the top of the screen.
Rebecca hammered the trigger and launched a five-round burst. She then released it for a moment and shot off another five. By the time their intercept had faded away, she had managed to get off twenty rounds of tungsten in total.
They were nasty little projectiles, each of them having the mass of a lounging chair and flying at about two percent the speed of light. When they collided, in a matter of seconds, there was a bright flash as the ship exploded, reduced to a molten goop.
Ashley whistled. “We got him!”
“Good job, Omega-Three,” Omega-One called. “You can effectively hit the broadside of the barn.”
Their little craft pulled away from the slag and began the slow process of orienting themselves so that they were aligned with the Themiskyra. The thing about mass and thrust is that it takes quite a while to slow down from Mach Five without breaking every organ in your body.
“A little on the fast side,” Jasmine teased. “Going to take you a week to slow your Hoplite down.”
“Eh nothing wrong with being too fast,” Omega-One said.
There was an audible snort over the comms from her engineer.
“Oh, don’t you start,” Omega-One replied.
There was a crackle over the comm system.
“If you’re done with your bantering,” Captain Constantine boomed. “I need you back on the ship.”
“Is something the matter, Captain?” Omega-One asked.
There was a brief bout of silence before the Captain spoke.
“I need to see the Agincourt-Reeds promptly,” Constantine said.
Rebecca’s blood cooled and she felt a lump form in her throat. That wasn’t the tone of a woman who had good news to share.
She tried to speak but any sentence died on the tip of her tongue.
Thankfully, Ashley didn’t seem to be affected by a similar paralysis. “Sure thing, Captain.”
Rebecca could see the slight tremor in Ashley’s face, however. The concern that ebbed into it as seen through her reflection in the cockpit’s glass.
Ashley’s knuckles tensed against the pilot stick.
She continued to slow the craft and ever so carefully orientate it back towards the ship. Though her actions had grown a smidge clumsier. There was a tremor in the Hoplite, a slight jostle that would hopefully go unnoticed.
“Thank you,” Constantine said.
The communication shut off and just like that she was gone. A stunned silence seemed to fill the void between the attack craft.
“Someone’s in trouble,” Jasmine finally chided over the comms, breaking the silence.
Ashley snorted. “I hope to fuck I’m not.”
“The Captain has a way of making people think they’ve fucked up worse than they have,” Omega-One said. She tried to sound reassuring but the tone of her voice made that rather hard to trust. “Probably just skimped on some routine maintenance or something.”
Rebecca knew for a fact that this wasn’t the case. After all, she made sure their ship was in tiptop shape at all times. And not to brag but she knew that she did her job well.
“Anyways we best not keep the good captain waiting,” Omega-One said, chuckling. “Congrats Omega-Three this exercise will also contain a component on high-gravity maneuvers.”
There was a clattering of keys over the comms system and suddenly an orange light flashed on Ashley’s system. Rebecca could see her wife’s smile grow at whatever permissions she’d just been given.
“The training wheels are now off,” Omega-One said. “And you’ve been cleared to go up to three gravities of acceleration. Highest you’re allowed before the life support starts dumping all sorts of fun things into your blood.”
“Hell yeah,” Ashley whispered. She then looked at Rebecca through her reflection in the glass. “Hold on tight, babe.”
Rebecca did so, just in time for Ashley to really kick things into overdrive.
She was pressed back into her seat, feeling every single part of her body suddenly weighing three times as much. Her teeth clattered together and she wheezed out a breath.
Ashley whooped loudly and there was a half crazed look in her eye.
“See you back at the Themiskyra,” she barked.
Jasmine snorted. “Omega-One, permission to have the training wheels taken off as well?”
“Why’s that Omega-Two?” Omega One asked.
“I take it as a grave personal insult that Omega-Three is making me eat her dust,” Jasmine joked. “And I’d prefer if it was the other way around.”
There was a tick of silence.
“Hell yeah,” Jasmine whispered.
“Go wild Omega-Two,” Omega-One said.
And with that, they were off, both craft banking and decelerating swiftly. Though due to Omega-Two traveling slower initially, they were making the breaking maneuver far quicker than Ashley possibly could.
Ashley seemed to notice this as she gritted her teeth together.
“Oh, come on!” she growled.
Rebecca chuckled though the noise sounded far harsher than she intended. The unintentional side effect of careening through space at three times her regular weight.
“I wonder what Constantine wants us for?” Ashley asked.
Rebecca grunted. “No idea. Probably just wants to touch base or something. We have been onboard for close to half a year at this point. Maybe it’s some kind of performance review?”
“Possibly,” Ashley grumbled.
Though there was an edge to her voice, something that said that she didn’t quite believe that narrative.
“Do you think…” Ashley started.
Rebecca cocked a brow. “Generally, I do.”
Ashley snorted. “No, no. Do you think that…” She shook her head. An action that wasn’t easy in this environment. “Never mind. No point speculating. We’ll find out when we’re back at the Themiskyra.”
The Hoplite came to a stop at the end of the runway. It was ushered into a docking birth by a pair of deck crew waving brightly coloured sticks.
Ashley gently taxied the craft into its slot before pressing a series of buttons that killed the fusion reactor nestled within its belly. Once it was off, the cockpit hatch cracked open and Ashley started to unstrap herself.
Rebecca was just behind her, relieved that she finally weighed a reasonable amount. Something that she, and her countless organs, were very thankful for.
“Shall we see what the fine Captain wants?” Ashley asked.
She pulled herself out and offered a hand to Rebecca which she took, coming up alongside her.
They stood on a small deck that bordered their ship and when Rebecca looked over, she saw that Jasmine and Leslie were sitting on the edge of theirs. The crew of Omega-Two were grinning at them, waving in a manner that said ‘took you long enough’
“We’ll get you next time,” Ashley teased.
Leslie snorted. “Sure thing, Ash.”
“See you two tonight?” Jasmine asked.
“As long as Captain Constantine keeps us in one piece,” Rebecca said, flashing a nervous smile.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Jasmine said. “Probably just an error on some paperwork. Can’t imagine that you two are actually doing anything wrong.”
“Or maybe it’s even good news,” Ashley replied, shrugging.
Leslie chuckled. “Stranger things have happened.” She then winked at them. “Regardless, she better leave you in one piece for what I have planned.”
“And what would that be,” a voice boomed.
All four members of the Bands tensed and looked down at the deck.
Captain Constantine stood there with her arms folded behind her back. She looked tired, though that seemed to be par for the course at this point. Her expression was cold and extremely hard to read. The slight upturn in her lips said that she was amused but the fire in her eyes said that there was something deeply troubling that was eating at her.
Or maybe Rebecca was just reading too much into things.
…
Hopefully, she was just reading too much into things.
“Captain Constantine,” Ashley barked, saluting. “Sorry we were just on our way to the bridge, ma’am.”
“I’m sure you were,” Constantine said, her smile faltering. “Sadly, I’m an incredibly impatient woman.” Her gaze flicked towards Jasmine and Leslie who both tensed and saluted. “You two are dismissed, good work with your run. Happy to see that the new recruits are shaping up nicely.”
Jasmine and Leslie didn’t need to be told twice as they stepped down from their craft and made their way towards one of the carts that stood idle. It was seemingly waiting just for them.
Once they were gone, Constantine drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Follow me.”
Rebecca and Ashley obeyed, stepping down from the deck and following after the grizzled warrior. Each step was marked by the clanging of her metallic foot against the flight deck. Even with the cacophony of noise that surrounded them, that sound stood triumphant over them all.
“How are you enjoying the Bands?” Constantine asked.
“It’s…” Rebecca drew in a breath. “It’s a lot friendlier than I would’ve imagined.”
Constantine nodded. “Cram enough lesbians into tight quarters and things are destined to end up being friendly.” She smirked, though her eyes still made that gesture feel cold. “Been like that even when I was back in the Bands.”
“You were in the Bands?” Ashley asked before flinching. “I mean of course you were.”
Constantine glanced back at her. “Was. But then I lost my pilot.” She then snorted. “And soon after that, my leg.”
Rebecca drew in a breath, feeling the temperature drop by a considerable amount.
Thankfully, their silent journey wasn’t long as they approached the office of one of the deck officers.
Constantine placed her hand against a scanner next to the door.
It opened without complaint and she stepped inside, motioning for Rebecca and Ashley to follow her.
“Thankfully First Lieutenant Grey was kind enough to let us use her office for this little meeting,” Constantine said. “She really is such a dear.”
She sat down upon a battered office chair, the only one in the room. Rebecca and Ashley took the hint and stood tall, waiting for whatever axe was about to come down for their heads.
“You two look like I’m an executioner,” Constantine joked.
Ashley frowned. “You have a very grave energy to you, ma’am.”
“A very grave energy,” Constantine repeated at a whisper, shaking her head. “You are very diplomatic when you want to be, Pilot Agincourt-Reed.” She sighed. “But yes, I have a very grave energy about me. I learned some very frightening news today.”
She reached for a remote at Grey’s workstation and used it to turn on a monitor situated on the wall.
It clicked into view.
Rebecca’s stomach instantly dropped.
The footage was pristine and showed the interior of a convenience store. Most of the stock was gone though a few unpopular products remained. The last bits that hadn’t been picked over by a traumatized people.
Rebecca opened her mouth to speak but no sound came forth.
Thankfully, Ashley was quicker. “Fuck me.”
“I’m honestly surprised,” Constantine said. “I guess it speaks volumes about how fucked things are on the ground that it took six months for this case to be investigated. But this was forwarded to me this morning by the Chief of Police himself.” She snorted. “I don’t know if that makes you feel important or not.” She looked at them with a dark smile. “Personally, it’d make me feel pretty fucking important.”
The footage played out as a different version of Ashley and Rebecca entered the store. Both looked exhausted and more than a little shellshocked. They went to grab snacks and drinks before reluctantly heading towards the till.
The camera switched, now showing them from the back where they were talking with the clerk. Though their conversation soon got heated as Ashley grabbed him and tossed him over the counter. She then leapt upon him and started to savagely battering him, hammering her fists into him again and again.
Each blow made Rebecca flinch as if she was reliving the experience. It was hard to watch but she forced her gaze upon the screen. She knew that flinching away would only make her look guiltier. At least, that’s what the crime shows led her to believe.
And only after about thirty second, did Constantine have the confidence to finally pause their little misadventure.
“I am really hoping that there’s a good reason for why this happened?” Constantine asked, cocking a brow. “Why two members of the Sacred Bands brutalized a shopkeeper. Because right now the police are trying to pin some pretty serious charges on you.”
Ashley drew in a breath. “Only I battered him, ma’am.”
As Rebecca looked over, she saw that Ashley’s gaze was focused upon her lap. Had she looked away from the footage?
Constantine snorted. “My apologies, one case of aggravated assault and another which…” She hummed. “Gods it’s been eons since I last took law. I believe the term is an accessory to a crime but I’d recommend that you talk to a lawyer about that. Anyways, it’s that plus theft for both of you, right now.”
“He was… extorting people for their money,” Ashley said, huffing through her nose.
Rebecca glanced at her, watching the way her hackles rose. She was getting defensive and that was bad, really bad.
“He probably was,” Constantine agreed. “Witnesses said he was charging out the ass prior to the incident but I believe there is a saying about two wrongs?”
“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Rebecca whispered.
Constantine smiled and motioned to her. “Exactly. You are not the police, nor do you get to dole out punishments. Especially when your punishments leave a man in the hospital for close to a month-and-a-half.”
Rebecca felt bile start to crawl up her throat and she forced herself to swallow. Whatever she did she couldn’t get sick, not now, not ever, not in front of Constantine of all people. Still, it was her worst fear coming to life, actually getting caught for what happened back on Thebes.
“We were under a lot of stress,” she tried, knowing how weak it sounded. “We had just gotten back from working in a field hospital.”
“I could imagine,” Constantine said as she worked her jaw. “At least all I had to do up here was listen to a parade of snot nosed representatives tell me how badly I had dropped the ball. Couldn’t imagine being around that much death.”
Ashley frowned. “So, what now?”
“Well, I’m confronted by a problem,” Constantine explained. “On one hand the Bands are just starting to rehabilitate themselves after close to a million people died on Thebes.” She motioned towards them. “Which protecting you would jeopardize. On the other hand, I really don’t want to lose good troops.”
She rolled her wrist and looked at them. “Which take that as my single olive branch. You two are good, some of the best of your group.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Rebecca whispered.
There was no way they were getting out of this without going to prison. Right?
“Now I’ll need to hand you over,” Constantine said.
Rebecca’s stomach dropped though she noticed that Constantine kept her cool expression slightly amused.
“Unless…” Constantine continued. “Unless you were sent on a mission of the utmost importance. Something which will keep you out of my hair until the heat dies down.”
Ashley blinked. “What are you…”
Constantine interrupted her, holding up the remote and pressing another button.
Thankfully the image of Ashley assaulting the clerk was removed and instead there was a high-quality photo of a planet. It wasn’t Athens but it looked about as livable with a lot more land and green rather than the endless oceans that Rebecca was used to.
“Looks cold,” Ashley quipped.
It did look cold with a generous white cap on both the top and the bottom of the planet.
“Our probes estimate that the planet has an average temperature of around twelve-degree Celsius. Colder than Earth and sure as shit colder than Thebes,” Constantine explained. “It’s called Victoria and used to house a sizable human population. It’s also the planet that’s on the other side of the Thermopylae warp gate.”
“Used to?” Rebecca asked.
“It might still,” Constantine said, shrugging. “But we haven’t heard from them since the Anatolians swept in and conquered the system.”
Rebecca blinked. “Oh…”
Ashley looked at her. “Oh?”
“She wants us to go to that system,” Rebecca said.
“I do,” Constantine replied as she grinned at them. “I’ve been dying to get some boots on the ground over there. See if they’re terraforming, or enslaving, or exterminating. We have next to no information on that neck of the woods.” She shrugged. “The mission’s dangerous but it’d keep you out of the system. Hell, it might even make you heroes when you get back and I doubt they’ll want to convict heroes.”
“How dangerous?” Rebecca asked.
Constantine sighed. “I’m not going to lie. You’d be the third mission we’ve sent out, and honestly, if you make it back that’d make you the first.”
Ashley winced. “Shit.”
“Would we be going alone?” Rebecca asked.
Constantine shook her head. “We’d be sending in a shuttle of professional saboteurs and at least one more Hoplite for support.” She glanced at them. “Do you think Omega-Two would be interested?”
Rebecca paled. “I don’t think I could really offer them up for a suicide mission.”
“Fair enough,” Constantine said.
She reached for the remote and turned off the monitor.
“So that’s the terms, ladies,” she said. “Either you’ll be sent planetside for a trial or you take a little vacation to another solar system. I know it’s a shit choice but at least it’s a choice.”
Ashley looked at Rebecca. “We could go to trial. I’m the only one with serious charges against me. You’d probably get off with a pretty light sentence.”
“I…” Rebecca shook her head. “I couldn’t do that to you, babe. Let you take the fall like that?”
“Better than both of us dying,” Ashley replied.
Rebecca let out a heavy sigh. “We don’t know that we’d die. Two prior missions are hardly a large enough sample to go off of.”
Constantine turned away from them, giving them the barest amount of privacy.
“Aren’t you the one who wanted an adventure?” Rebecca asked, offering a hand to her wife. “There’s no bigger adventure than this.”
“I say a lot of things,” Ashley whispered.
She looked at the hand and took it.
“Do you really…” Ashley began, working her jaw. “Do you really think we should do this?”
“I do,” Rebecca said.
Ashley sighed. “Fine, fine…” She looked at Constantine. “We’ll do it.”
“Never doubted you two for a second,” Constantine said.
A silence settled between them until Constantine looked over her shoulder at them.
“Dismissed,” she said, nodding towards the door. “See you two tomorrow for the mission brief.”
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