Homestar Saga

Chapter 103: Infection

The Ballbreaker powered through the void, engines firing at maximum thrust. It was still moving backwards towards the second farthest group of Queenships. Yvian's fleet had been accelerating for over five hours. They'd been moving at the best speed a YEET Artillery Barge could manage, and while the Ballbreaker was faster, it would still take almost four hours to counteract their momentum and make forward progress.

"Captain Evans," Mims stood as he talked into his wrist console. "I'm coming to relieve you."

"This unit does not require relief," the Peacekeeper responded. "This unit is a more efficient pilot than any meatbag."

"It's not about your abilities, Evans," Mims sounded annoyed. "If we have to use our ace in the hole, it'll fry your operating system. You'll die." When City 43 had sent out its' anti-tech pulse, it had destroyed every power system and battery within its range. It had also fragged every computer system that had power running through it. The Peacekeepers had repaired the units the Pulse had taken out, but they'd had to completely replace their computer systems. The bodies had been the same, but the minds behind them were gone forever. Their experiences, their memories, everything that made them individuals had been lost.

"This unit is expendable."

Mims tipped his helmed head towards the ceiling. Yvian realized he was rolling his eyes. "There's a difference between being expendable and throwing yourself away. I'm coming up. Get your ass down to the hangar bay and meet Yvian at the Skygem."

"Confirmed," Captain Evans grudgingly accepted the order. "Try not to get us destroyed with your inferior meatbag piloting."

Yvian and Lissa shared a look. She'd never seen anyone insult the human's flying skills before. Mims just grunted. "I'll be sufficient." He turned to Lissa. "Walkers talkers?"

"We're not calling them that," Lissa reminded him. She opened a compartment under the holodisplay console. She pulled out four clunky looking handheld radios. They were as low tech as she could make them, with no computerized components and primitive chemical batteries for power. The range was limited to a few hundred kilometers, but they should still work if Skygem had to activate its anti-tech field.

Everyone grabbed a radio. Mims opened a compartment in the floor of the bridge and started pulling out supplies. "If we have to Pulse, the suits'll stay sealed, but they won't recycle air anymore." He passed two tanks of compressed air to Yvian. "Should be six hours of air per tank."

"I'm not gonna need it if I'm on Skygem," Yvian pointed out.

"Don't care." Mims took out a bag of small cylinders. "Take them. And take these." Yvian opened the bag and found that the cylinders were chem-lights. The human handed more air tanks and lights to Lissa, then took some for himself. "Kilroy, you're with Yvian on Skygem. We'll need you and Captain Evans to coordinate with the other Peacekeeper units. Lissa, grab anything you think Yvian's gonna need and bring it, then power down the Encounter. I don't want to have to replace our computers again."

"You're not the one that had to do that," Yvian reminded him.

"I don't want to have to make Yvian replace our computers again," Mims corrected himself. "Join me when your done. I could use a co-pilot."

Twenty minutes later, Yvian sat on a crystal chair in the crystal ship. Skygem had, as always, been happy to see her. Kilroy and Captain Evans stood behind her in identical suits with identical fedoras. She thought Kilroy was the one on the left, but she had no way to be sure. The ship was indifferent to their presence.

Lissa had set her up with a small holodisplay that was patched in to Ballbreaker's sensor network. The Ballbreaker was still on course. The Klaath weren't bothering to try to intercept it. As she watched, a dozen Frigates chivvied a fleet of Corvettes, Fighters, and Raiders on a nearly identical heading, a mere four hundred kilometers away. In the face of the Vore, the Klaath weren't going to spare resources to attack a single ship that wasn't threatening one of the Queens.