<Suit!>
Decker called on his suit, hiding deep in hyperspace, only the smallest protrusion anchoring it in the lower dimensions. Undetectable until called upon.
The black-and-silver suit began to spread across Decker's body as it warped in piece-by-piece. At the same time Aranarth's body was becoming covered by an identical suit. Ophelia was doing likewise, but each tiny component of her suit was a different color. Shapes of violet dominated, followed by muted green, but the entire rainbow was represented.
In a matter of moments their earth-toned disguises had been replaced by the most advanced power armor known to humanity.
"Squire Decker's Suit: you have my permission to warp in weapons for the time being," said Aranarth.
<Finally!> thought Decker. <Give me a Perjurer!>
<Coming up,> replied the Suit.
The sleek railgun slid into his hands sideways.
"What are you doing with that?" asked Aranarth. "What do you think we're fighting here? Squire Decker's Suit: swap that for a Falsifier-class Ion Pulse Rifle."
The railgun began to vibrate for a moment before suddenly being replaced by an ion rifle. The excess energy was burned off as a burst of light.
Ophelia laughed. No, Decker decided, she pantomimed laughing just so he would know she knew he was embarrassed.
"Wait for my signal," said Aranarth, holding out his hand.
<How far away are you?> Aranarth signaled Helios. <The second we step out of the ship it's going to give it away as your destination.>
<Close. I'm going full speed. But it doesn't matter. I'm 80% sure they're tracing these messages anyway. They'll already know- Sprell!>
There was silence for a moment.
<They'll already know where you are by now. Get out here ASAP!>
"Let's go," said Aranarth. "I'm going to try and free the ship, you two provide cover fire for Ranger Helios. Only fire at the sky. Avoid buildings. Do not take a shot if there's a chance you're going to hit a civilian. The majority of the people out here aren't even affiliated with Saturn Starlifting."
"It's not going to be great cover fire under those conditions," said Ophelia.
"It'll be what it is," said Aranarth, already activating the airlock.
It actually required him to press a physical button. Decker and Ophelia stepped in the airlock, but Aranarth didn't join them. Instead he marched over to the other airlock on the opposite side of the ship. The one that led right out into the void of space.
By the time the door to the first airlock slammed shut it was obvious what the old fool was going to do.
Decker and Ophelia emerged from the airlock and already they could hear the distant sound of gunfire; the sustained high-volume crackle and pop characteristic of ion beams. Once the fight got a little closer this would be joined by the sizzling noise the beams made as they slipped through defence fields.
A surprisingly low volume of stray ion beams fired this way and that as Ranger Helios, accompanied by four makeshift sub-sapient drones that looked like they were warped in using spare parts from her suit, turned a corner around one of the ceiling-scrapers and came roaring into view.
She was pursued by two distinct swarms of combat drones that moved like schools of fish. They dodged and weaved between buildings and straight through holographic advertisements. They were firing on her, although conservatively.
Helios' suit was battle worn but functional. While an ion-beam could cut straight through a shield they had tough times with heavy armor than other equivtech weapons. Still, not even a Suit could withstand sustained bombardment.
She took another hit through her shield. and several rainbow-colored pieces of ablative armor were blown off. The attack knocked her sideways and spun her around a few times but was able to recover almost immediately. Decker figured if Helios ever took up Deathracing she'd be the Three Rings Champion.
Helios' own drones crowded around her. One anticipated a follow-up shot and was able to interject itself in the way. It was blown to pieces but Helios' suit was spared further damage.
Fighting on a space station was tricky. Neither side could utilize their full firepower. Both sides were worried about potential civilian causalities so both had to be even more careful with their shots. This was probably the only reason Ranger Helios was still alive.
Both of the squire's HUDs zeroed in on the fight immediately, highlighting and then magnifying the action to improve on their already heightened senses. Ranger Helios and her entourage of enemies was virtually within firing distance.
Decker immediately took to the sky in a burst of AG, and Ophelia was right behind him.
They opened fire, Decker targeting one swarm of drones, Ophelia the other. This wasn't intended to hit any of them, just distract them while Helios escaped. The intended effect was achieved: both swarms dispersed like oil hit with soap. Several drones were hit right through their shields and dropped from the sky. The rest scrambled to get back in formation.
<Behind you!> Decker's suit warned.
Decker spun around in time to see two railgun turrets descend from the ceiling and spin around to target him. They were obviously intended to cover the airlock.
Decker fired at one and missed. Both turrets returned fire. The first blew away Decker's shield in a burst of rainbow colors. The second struck his chest and sent him hurtling towards the ground with such force that he dragged a gash across the metal floor. Vapor rose from the place where he eventually landed.
Without getting up Decker fired wildly three times. One shot hit the second turret, destroying it. The other two slice through the defence fields protecting the window, blowing it away. Now all that was holding the atmosphere in was a naked shield.
Ophelia shot the other turret and it exploded into a cloud of debris.
"How did I end up babysitting you again?" came her voice through Decker's helmet.
<Suit, can you get the shield back online?> asked Decker.
<Eventually,> replied the suit. <Give me a minute. In the meantime don't get hit again I'm barely holding together. That was point blank. If I wasn't such a great person I'd be abandoning you to go repair myself in hyperspace.>
<I'm sorry I said that but this is so not the time.>
Ophelia fired a few more times at the drones tailing Helios to keep them from getting too comfortable. Helios was getting really close now.
"Please tell me you can stand under your own power," said Ophelia.
<Suit, send whatever I say back to her,> thought Decker.
<Right,> replied the Suit.
"I think so," he said.
<We can,> the Suit informed him.
"I can."
"Ranger Helios is almost here. You should head back to the ship."
Smooth Decker, he thought, way to pull your weight.
He could hear the crackle of ion beams intensify as Helios drew closer. He ran over to the Angel Baby and opened the first stage of the airlock.
Helios swooped down and the drones grew more reckless in their attacks. They angled their fire downwards, more concerned than Decker was of hitting exterior walls. Both Helios and Ophelia began firing more liberally into the drones, matching their energy.
<GO! GO! GO!> Helios broadcast to both squires. Ophelia dropped from the sky and ran for the airlock. Helios was not far behind her. The three rangers all piled in the airlock and the exterior door shut.
The lengthy pressure equalization process began.
"No time," said Helios, as she shot through the interior door. Alarms began to blare.
Helios ran to the pilot's chair.
"We need to get out of here before any patrol vessels get in position to attack us without hitting the station. All we have is a basic defence field, we're two shots dead. Where's Dane?" she asked.
"Um..." said Decker and Ophelia, almost in unison.
"He might be outside," said Decker.
"Outside?" demanded Helios.
"In space," added Ophelia.
"He won't be satisfied until he's killed himself and everyone around him," she said.
There was muffled explosion from the direction of the space station, and suddenly the Angel Baby was drifting free.
"What did you do? What did you do?" asked Helios, frantically worrying her controls.
<What did you do you sprell gargling bedswerver?> she demanded.
<You're welcome,> came Aranarth's reply, <Don't go anywhere until I've made my way back to the airlock.>
"That was a nice ship I had once," said Helios.
Her eyes glazed over, typically a sign that she was controlling something with her implant remotely that required a lot of attention.
<Be fast,> she told Aranarth.
A tiny probe, barely larger than a human hand, which the Angel Baby had launched earlier in order to be given access to the station, fired up its tiny AG drive.
Helios flipped a few physical switches at the ship's controls, the tension of the situation preventing her from taking any glee from it, and began to broadcast on every galactic-standard communications channel.
"Attention Synergy Station patrol vessels:" she began, "the probe currently approaching my ship at high speeds contains a decent chunk of antilithium. I know you know this, you scanned it before I came aboard. Fire at your own risk."
The ships that had begun to surround the Angel Baby hesitated, as the probe buzzed around the larger ship in unpredictable patterns. If they hit the probe the resulting explosion would most likely do enough damage to the station that it would be rendered uninhabitable.
The second airlock beeped. It light above the door lit. The pressurization process had begun.
<It's me,> signaled Aranarth.
"Good enough," said Helio, firing up the ship's torch drive.
In a streak of red the Angel Baby shot away from the station and directly into the center of the circular wormhole router where it disappeared.
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