Emissary
Chapter 16 - The Will of the Mother

Ryn's voice crackled over the communicator, something was distorting what was usually a clear signal. "Stel? I've got too many to count angling towards us. I'm going to get you as close as I can, and then try to draw some away so you can go kill that world-eater. Think you can manage that?"

Stel nodded but upon realizing Ryn couldn't see her nod, keyed her communicator and answered, "I can and I will. For Mila."

Ryn exhaled softly and hummed, his voice stolen for a moment. "Give 'em hell, kid."

Stel watched the onslaught of Nalesh'ka ships approach, ugly, misshapen things that didn't seem to obey any laws of space flight, but then it's space; who cares about laws. But even still, the launch bay remained stubbornly closed, and caused Stel to get more and more agitated as the Motherwill got nearer.

"Ryn? We're almost in their lines... we-"

"I'm getting you close, close as I can. If I open that door, you might catch a stray shot while unable to move. Just sit tight!" Ryn ordered back, silencing any argument but not helping Stel relax.

She found her leg bouncing without her telling it to, her palms were sweaty, and her breathing was quick. It was when the Motherwill shot into the main of the Nalesh formation and began to dip and weave did she start properly sweating. Unconsciously ducking and tilting her body as she stared at the screen feeding her video from the Motherwill's bow, she yelped as plasma shots skipped off the hull, glancing off the shields or durable plating. Even as they approached, getting closer and closer to the world-eater and Old Earth, Stel couldn't force down her anxiety.

That anxiety quickly broke into panic as the Motherwill suddenly lurched sideways, spinning laterally briefly.

"Ryn?!" Stel yelled into the communicator. The fennec's voice came back tense.

"We're hit. Aft quarter, something big. Slipped through the shields I was holding up in front of you-"

"Balance the shields, you damn fox! There's no way you get out of here if you get fried trying to get me close."

Ryn didn't respond for a long moment but finally came through, "You're right."

Stel didn't quite know what that meant but she noticed a few more shots on the video feed starting to score the hull of the ship; the shields had been balanced, the ship was now more vulnerable on the front, but at least the aft was protected.

"Better. Now, wait- Wait!" Stel's voice turned to a shriek as a Nalesh'ka snub fighter, half the size of the Emissary, broke from its combat group and attempted to ram the Motherwill. It exploded against the hull and Stel was rocked violently in her seat.

"Blast! You alright down there?" Ryn barked, not waiting for a reply he continued, "Bow is hit. Getting damage reports saying the launch bay is shot. No getting out now... unless..."

"Unless what?" Stel asked, hearing a tone of resignation in Ryn's voice, even over the static.

"Just get ready to fight kid. I-"

The communicator cut off entirely after another harsh impact on the ship, the Motherwill taking far more of a beating than it was designed for.

On the bridge, Ryn picked himself off the floor, cursing his tendency not to buckle into his crash harness and looked around. Fires were breaking out of every terminal, sparks were showering onto him. The forward viewscreen was badly cracked.

Ryn sighed and winced in pain from hitting the deck. "I'm coming home, ma..." He whispered.

Ryn grasped the arm of his captain's chair and hauled himself to his feet, leaning on the console in front of it and keying in the sequence to detach the launch bay. He fished his personal communicator from his pocket as he started to jog out of the bridge and through the common area, heading for the escape pod near the entry ramp.

"Kid? Are you clear? I detached the launch bay... or, tried to... I'm heading for the escape pod."

The communicator spewed static back at him before Stel's pained voice came back through, "Ryn? Lost contact... still stuck... can't get out!"

Ryn stopped in his tracks as the hatch to the escape pod opened, another vicious explosion rocked the ship again and he heard the trusty old engine sputter and grind in distress. The hull began to buckle in various spots. Ryn knew the old bucket wasn't gonna last.

Ryn looked back forward, knowing the only way to detach the launch bay was from the bridge or the side hallway, but that was near the bow of the ship regardless, and he was near the aft. Swearing again, he sprinted as fast as his wounded body would let him, slipping into the side hallway before the door had even opened all the way. He stepped over the access elevator, that stubborn human trapped beneath him. Ryn was thrown to the deck again as the ship was hit and he turned in dismay as the door behind him crumpled from an impact, the ceiling of his ship coming down on top of him.

Turning around, Ryn found the operational panel for the launch bay and keyed in the self destruct sequence, a series of explosive bolts would fire off and divide the small hangar bay into eight neat parts, freeing whatever was inside, if it could survive the explosions.

He hit activate and reached for his communicator as he went for the bridge door, planning to go the long way around back to the escape pod as another impact rocked him on his feet.

Ryn hit the activator for the door and heard a pained whine from the motor and watched in dismay as the door slid open a mere inch and died.

"Kid... good luck. See you around."

Stel flinched as the launch bay shook and rocked around her, the mag-locks definitely failing as she bounced around inside the hangar. She shifted power to the Emissary's shield generator to try and absorb the blow when Ryn's voice came through the communicator one last time.

"Kid... good luck. See you around." Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FindNøvᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Before Stel could respond, hundreds of little explosions lit up the launch bay, the heavy metal construction separating into little pieces and effectively freeing her from the metal tomb. Stel gasped in relief and boosted herself backwards with her thrusters, soaring a few dozen meters in seconds while staring at the Motherwill.

"Ryn?" Stel asked over the communicator, only to feel her voice be ripped away as the valiant little ship, beset on all sides by swarming Nalesh'ka craft, exploded in a brilliant fireball.

"RYN!" Stel screamed, nothing but static coming back over her communicator. She turned her mech, a visceral yell coming from her throat as she raced towards the world-eater and supposed mothership of this armada. She let loose with her mech's hand cannons, tearing smaller ships apart and punching holes in bigger ones. Every gun in the galaxy seemed to be on her as she furiously charged the vessel attached to the planet, determined beyond failure to kill it.

Stel got closer and closer to the world-eater and keyed in the sequence for the pulse-wave cannon on her shoulder, diverting power from her shields to warm up a single powerful shot in hopes of cracking the hull.

She knew she would be vulnerable but she didn't care. She weaved the Emissary through the storm of plasma fire and swarms of starfighters, still firing relentlessly with her hand cannons until her righthand one vanished in a puff of smoke; a plasma shot consuming the metal weapon.

Seeing her mech's hand to be largely undamaged, she pressed a key and flicked the arm outwards, a brilliant blue beam of energy emitting from the top of the wrist like a blade, the energy sword extending to half the length of the Emissary's arm.

As Stel continued to dive at the world-eater, the Nalesh seemed to become more desperate to stop her, snub fighters recklessly throwing themselves at her and exploding from her weapon fire and energy sword or, more usefully for Stel, absorbing larger plasma fire from the world-eater itself.

Stel heard a soft tone and looked to see the pulse-wave cannon was ready to fire. Taking the trigger in hand she heard a soft whisper in her head,

"Don't."

Stel shook her head and grunted. "Burn." She answered, hoping the taciturn voice would hear her as she pulled the trigger.

A brilliant, blinding blue beam of light burst forth from the Emissary's right shoulder, shearing through all of the fighters in her way and opening a gaping wound in the hideous world-eater.

A scream of inhuman volume and sound ripped through Stel's head, causing her to clutch her ears in pain, only to realize it wasn't a sound but a thought she was hearing.

Whatever Stel had done, it had opened the way, and from the way the Nalesh'ka fighters were beginning to regroup, she knew she wasn't done.

Pleased to find she still had power after the pulse-wave shot, Stel went into a sharp dive and raced for the opening, knowing she would only get the one chance...

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