H.O.M.E. 4
by
Fin
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"We've got company Dad!"
"How many, boy?
No answer.
"James?"
When his son still didn't respond, Franklin was forced to turn away from the Icarus II's cockpit viewport to check what was wrong. James was frozen, staring at the sensor readouts in shock.
"James!?"
Lt. Blade turned to face his father, his handsome face ashen.
"Remember that mob at your meet and greet on Zalyx III?"
The ret. admiral snarled. Everyone always wanted a piece of him!
Time to show the crew of Home Shield exactly what had made Franklin Blade a living legend!
Pulling hard on the throttle, the elder Blade kicked The Icarus II's engines into overdrive!
The roar was deafening.
The vehicle was a beast!
Designed to reach the relativistic speeds necessary to breach The Rift, the experimental craft could easily outrun the fighters of Home Shield.
The only problem... it would take several laps around the nearby binary star to come to maximum velocity. And the swarm would be on them before they completed the necessary loops.
Franklin was going to have to earn his reputation once more.
Diving toward the smaller of the two gravity wells, the ret. admiral expertly skimmed the star's corona, banking around the burning sphere at such close proximity to certain death that the heat shielding of The Icarus II blistered and buckled from the intense radiation.
And then the pass was over, and the craft was already zooming towards the star's twin, ready for another go around.
"Dad! They're closing in!" yelled out James from behind the cockpit. The Blades were not going to get another free circuit.
Again Franklin veered the science vehicle toward the outer edge of a star, both men starting to feel the weight of the increased acceleration as the gravity dampeners of The Icarus II began to be overwhelmed.
But still the two pressed onward. Still they flew toward the fire.
And then the Blades were free of it once more!
Right into the heart of death!
The fighters of Home Shield were on them!
"Hold on James!" yelled Franklin as he forced The Icarus II into a dizzying spin directly through the center of the cloud of fighters.
Laser fire rained down upon them from all sides! Blue streaks of highly condensed energy that would vaporize the hull of The Icarus II, if even one found its mark.
Not built to withstand the solar radiation of the binary stars however, the fighters of Home Shield had positioned themselves between the two balls of fire, waiting for the experimental vehicle to emerge once more in their midst. And when it had, hundreds of twitchy fingers had pulled their triggers all at once.
Unknown to these youngins however, was that Franklin Blade had balls of fire of his own!
Unflinching in his resolve, the ret. admiral zoomed the craft through the web of former comrades, slicing through their blockade as The Icarus II spiraled itself into a blur!
And then they were diving down toward the flames of a star once more.
"Dad, there's no way we can get through that!"
"Two more passes to go, Son!"
Slingshotting around the smaller orb again, faster than ever, the Blades found themselves staring down the siege line once more in a matter of seconds!
"DAAAAAAD!" cried out James Blade as he helplessly watched them rocket directly at the incoming wave of blue laser death!
Then they were through,
The Icarus II was nothing but a streak of light itself!
"One more to go, Son!"
Franklin held the controls of the vehicle as if wielding a knife in the middle of combat. And in many ways it was exactly same.
Once more into the fire.
Once more out again.
Once more through the blockade!
And then The Icarus II was free of it all, zooming away from the binary stars with enough velocity to escape this universe entirely!
Nothing stood now between The Blades and The Rift!
Or so they thought.
But glowing dots appearing on James' readouts made ice shoot down his spine!
"Dad, pull up! Pull up now!"
"Boy, we are almost there!"
"Dad, do it now!
"Damn it!" swore Franklin as he veered The Icarus II away from The Rift just in time to avoid the mine field that had been hidden in its radius.
Almost.
Activated by the proximity of the starcraft, the metal orbs had careened toward their streaking target, several colliding with the hull, gluing themselves to its surface.
Not willing to risk an explosion next to The Rift, lest debris find itself entering the anomaly by accident, these mines were designed to weigh down any craft trying to reach the velocity required to exit Home Universe.
Alarms blared throughout the experimental vehicle as The Icarus II lurched slower!
"What's the damage, boy?"
"We've taken on mass!"
"Too much?"
James stared at his father.
"Yes," the lieutenant answered slowly in disbelief. "If we had a full crew of three."
"Good enough for me!" said Franklin with a tinge of madness in his eyes. They weren't out of it yet!
"Dad! If we find Sam, we won't be able to get back across!"
"We continue on James!" ordered the ret. admiral. Nothing would stop the man from reaching his lost son.
"We have enough fuel for one more circuit! What's the mine field like now?" questioned Franklin.
The younger Blade returned to his console.
"Our pass disturbed it," answered James. "There may be a path through."
With grim determination Franklin grabbed the controls once more and flew The Icarus II back toward the binary stars, one last time.
They had to make it!
They had to reach Sam!
The injured Icarus II circled the first star with the ease that only the legendary Franklin Blade could manage.
But as the father and son pair orbited toward the second, the seasoned veteran sensed something was wrong.
Where were the fighters from Home Shield?
Why had they abandoned their chase?
A third star blossomed into existence in front of The Icarus II.
Then a fourth.
Home Shield was now launching its fusion missiles.
The Galactic Fleet would do anything to prevent them from reaching their destination!
"Bastards!" yelled the ret. admiral as he juked the speeding craft around the orbs of kinetic energy.
More alarms.
Circuits were frying.
Smoke filled the cabin!
"I've lost power to the sensors!" called out James.
Franklin would have to fly by hand alone!
Down toward the last star.
Down toward the flares of fire!
Then back into the black!
And toward The Rift!
James stood behind his father now, as the man guided the damaged Icarus II toward their goal.
The glowing spatial anomaly grew before them as the pair held their collective breath.
One last fusion bomb detonated.
Too close.
Blinding light.
The men were thrown to the floor of the cabin as The Icarus II entered The Rift corkscrewing wildly.
Blackness!
Alarms!
Fire!
James saw his father stumble toward the cockpit.
There was an asteroid ahead of them!
Franklin tried to regain control.
But the Icarus II was dead.
The two could only watch as they plummeted toward the surface of the alien world in a fiery crash.