Excerpt From "Reavers of the Void": Aces Face Off

This is it! This is the final day for the Indiegogo campaign, and so here's the final manuscript excerpt. This is from Part 3, during the Battle of Hell's Heart, which is the climax of the novel's story. If this gets you moving, go here and push the project over the line for the Stretch Goal.

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Ramsey’s escape from Hell’s Heart quickly reached both sides. On MacBeth, Gabriela sighed with relief as she waited in Duke Ireton’s quarters. Sibley and Creton smiled at each other as they prepared to return to battle in Baden-Powell, and Ireton smiled at Captain Denten as he called for a rearrangement of the fleet’s battle line. On Revenge, Gori took a deep breath at this big change in the battle. Jack recognized the severity of the situation while fending off the four New Roman aces still out to get him, and Zuzu felt a sense of dread at the news.

“Gori!” Zuzu said, “I’m almost dry. I need to come in!”

“Get in if you can and make it fast.” Jack said, “You’re no good out here with just a sword.”

More missiles flew in from far away now, coming straight for the fortress. “They’re reorganizing their battle line.” Gori said, “Battleships, carriers, and heavy cruisers are standing off while their escorts are coming in to assist the mecha. They’re going for a partial englobement.”

“How many more carriers to go?” Jack said, slipping past the ace flight once more and dodging around a rock. Gori looked on the viewscreen. “Three sunk. Three away. That leaves four. We’re going to be pressed hard to hold this fleet back until everyone else is away.”

“We’ve got our ace in the hole.” Zuzu said, now approaching the ventral aft of Revenge as its hangar ramp extended, “He’s come out if it gets that bad.”

As Zuzu approached the battleship, Ramsey in Durendal marked the location of Anakim, Revenge, and Jack’s Black Knight in addition to the massive Goblin horde as well as Revenge’s Hobgoblin squadron. The remaining pirate escorts and carriers then got marked. Ramsey forwarded that data to Baden-Powell, which spread it to the rest of the allied fleet.

“Where’s that Solar Guardsman?” Jack said, finally getting one of those aces with a beam sword through the chest—and cockpit, and powerplant—and destroying it.

Zuzu, taking in some drinks while the technicians on Revenge’s flight deck hurry through rearming, “Gori?”

Gori looked at the viewscreen for a moment. “Oh no!”

Ramsey locked on to Jack’s Black Knight. “Coming to assist, New Romans.” He closed into range for his beam rifle, and quickly fell in for the fallen comrade, needing no time to adjust to the aces’ teamwork. Yet, having superior power, it became apparent to the three aces that Ramsey should take the lead and wordlessly let him assume the front position in their flight. “Skip the launchers!” Gori said, calling down to the bay, “Rockets and the long rifle. GO!”

Zuzu tossed her empties out and closed up the cockpit as the technicians strapped the rocket pods to Anakim’s legs. A few more attached spare magazines to Anakim’s hips, and Zuzu took the long rifle in hand as she again departed Revenge’s hangar.

“I’m on my way!”

“Good!” Jack said, dodging rifle fire from one direction while in hand-to-hand with another and Ramsey circling for another opening, “I’m also running low and need to fall back.”

Anakim’s thrusters went to full burn and rocketed Zuzu to Jack’s location. As she approached, she took aim with the long rifle and fired. One of the other Cataphracts flew behind a rock, but it wasn’t enough. The rifle’s slug penetrated the rock and lodged into the doomed pilot’s powerplant, causing to explode in a brilliant fireball.

“Stay on Black Knight!” Ramsey said, “I’ll take care of this one.”

Ramsey peeled off, beam rifle ready. Zuzu took aim with the rifle and fired, but Ramsey rolled away from the line of fire with aplomb. Zuzu countered by launching her pods at him, forcing Ramsey to shoot them down and giving Zuzu concealment for her next shot. Ramsey rolled away from that one also, and the next, until he got within range for his rifle. Zuzu swapped to Anakim’s beam rifle and the two began darting between rocks and wrecks, attempting to catch the other out of positions for a fatal shot.

Several rocks got blasted to pebbles, and several wrecks got blasted to pieces, as each scored near-hits that would have proven fatal had they come just a moment earlier or later than when they got under cover. Then Zuzu got an opening on Ramsey, but Ramsey rolled off the line and threw power into the thrusters to rush Zuzu; he swapped the rifle for the beam sword, and Zuzu had to toss her rifle away to get Anakim’s out to block in time.

“Not this time!” Ramsey said, grabbing Anakim’s main hand arm with his off-hand and shoving Anakim into a nearby rock. With his sword arm he reversed the blade and brought it down to thrust into Anakim’s neck. Zuzu saw the stroke coming and tried to block the stroke with her off-hand arm, but even with the beam sword’s blade going through that arm it was not enough. The beam burned through the off-hand forearm, through-and-through its armor and structure, and then pierced Anakim at the neck. Zuzu knew Anakim was now doomed and punched out.

“Damn you, Roland!” she yelled as she recovered her bearings. “I’m going in for our trump card. I’m tired of this.”

Ramsey didn’t hesitate to change targets once he saw Zuzu punch out. He grabbed the long rifle off Anakim’s back and took aim at Black Knight. “One shot left, but it’s all I need.”

Ramsey took aim, waited for the other two Cataphracts to get out of the line of fire, and then fired. Jack felt his mecha lurch with the impact, ripping through the back thrusters. That was enough. Unable to maneuver, Jack soon got overwhelmed and had his mecha’s limbs severed one-two, one-two. He took punched out, getting clear just before the New Roman aces finished Black Knight off.

“Withdraw to MacBeth.” Ramsey said to the New Roman aces, “You’ve gotten your revenge.”

“Almost. The battleship remains.”