Dynamic Patrol: Gel Squad! Episode II

Chapter 64: She's Mad

"Ugh, she's mad! I can barely shake those drone ships." Kai strained as he maneuvered through asteroid fields, nebulae, and other stellar phenomena. Still, those things did nothing to stop the drone ships from pursuing them. Their angular pearl-white hulls were seen in the aft camera as Kai struggled to pull ahead. They were almost as fast as the Eclectus. "Well, our weapons are offline, and our shields are down to about 15 percent. So if we don't make it to the ship, our problems will be solved when we get blown to smithereens." Cal observed, not as panicked as the rest of them, that military training certainly kept him calm in situations where death was literally knocking at the door.

"Why would she want to destroy us if she wants you?" Cal asked, turning toward Maxion, who was assisting Kai in plotting a course to the dockyard. "If she can't have me, she'll destroy me... motherly love, am I right..?" They'd used all their torpedoes, and the phaser banks were burned out; their fuel was exhausted after all power had been diverted to shields. "No... we can't give up. We're almost there. The dockyard is less than half a light year away!" Gauge enthusiastically piped up, looking at the sensors on a wall panel, "Let me go out there. I can stall them." He asked Cam, "What do you mean 'go out there?' You mean into space?" Cam inquired, turning his chair to face the canine.

"Yeah, we have two E.V. suits. I brought mine from home, remember? I can do it! I have training." Cam looked at Cal for tactical advice; all he did was shrug as usual. Kipp was clearly more versed in how Gauge's powers worked, having spent more time with him than anyone else because they were busy fixing the machine to get him home, "He could probably do it... but don't your powers work off of emotions? You usually need Polly around to be at your strongest." Gauge smiled in response, forming his hand into a fist. "Well, that's true. But after being with you guys for the past two months... I feel so much closer to the team and care about what happens to your people. I've forged connections with all of you. So that should be enough."

"Dammed if we do, dammed if we don't, whatever you're about to do, just do it before we get killed!" Kai shouted; they took another volley, "I'm going." Gauge declared, heading to the airlock.

"Fine. But you be careful." Cam warned, but the door closed before Gauge could forge a response; Cam wasn't even sure if he'd made it all the way through to Gauge because he was gone so quickly... hopefully, that wouldn't be the last time they saw each other. When Gauge entered the area, he forced himself into the suit he brought from his journey through the universe. It was designed for transport through time, but in a pinch, it could traverse space; if it could make it through dimensions, it could certainly handle a little zero-G... but perhaps Gauge might've been exaggerating a little when he said he had training for this... but if he hadn't said that, then Cam never would've let him go. It was for the mission; it was dangerous, but people were counting on their success. The airlock depressurization process started. Gauge quickly adjusted to the change in pressure and gravity as the atmosphere was ejected. He then felt the ship slow down a little. Presumably, Kai compensating for the EVA mission. The airlock opened, and Gauge freely floated into space. From there, he pushed himself off the deck of the ship.

He rapidly sped through space and was quite unprepared for how much his flight power would be amplified in the absence of gravity; he balanced his equilibrium before he took off. The ships, pearl white with silver accents, flew by Gauge rapidly, firing barrages of teal bolts out of their noses. Gauge caught up to them and started to fire his own flurries of red energy out of his hands. They danced across space and struck the drones head-on. Gauge was something of a sharpshooter despite this ability being one of his newest. He struck the neck of one drone, and it spooled out of control and hit an asteroid, exploding immediately on impact.

The other two remaining drones stopped chasing the Eclectus, came about, and started shooting at Gauge. Gauge yelped and turned to draw their fire. Cam's voice crackled over the comm embedded in his helmet, "Hey... how's it going?"

"Uh... not good. Why don't you call back in 15 minutes." Gauge sounded, and the drones shot at him relentlessly and chased him just the same. "We're coming back to get you." Kai chimed, joining the channel. Gauge shook his head, "No, whatever you do, just go for the hangar and don't look back!" Gauge ordered as he turned on his back and shot more bolts from his hands. "But Gauge—" Kai warned. "Kai, I'll join you in a minute. Don't unnecessarily come back for me. Just trust me." The silence suggested that Kai granted him the trust that he asked for. The Eclectus limped toward the dockyard without hesitation.

"Okay... okay. How do I blow up two drones chasing me around like there's no tomorrow." Gauge pondered, "I could get one, but if I do, the other one will flank me! Damn it!"

"Are you talking to yourself?" Kipp invaded Gauge's personal thinking time, the voice filtered by a static haze, which was the result of the ship moving farther away from him as it gunned for the dockyard. "Kipp! Just the person I wanted to talk to. Let's say that I've got two drone ships with a level five intelligent factor—"

"Level three." Kipp insisted, interrupting. "Level three, I stand corrected. Let's say I have a pair of drones with a level three intelligence factor chasing me, and I can't fire a barrage of energy bolts without the other one flanking me. What would I do?" Gauge asked. Kipp paused, allowing the static to crackle before he came back on. "Well. Level three A.I. is quick and smart, properly reprogrammed, it can be used for anything from operating a colony to planetary weather control. Very fascinating."

"Kipp..! This is not the time to get infatuated about the tech trying to kill us! Now, will you please tell me how to stop it?" Gauge croaked impatiently, hardly interested in Kipp's analysis of the drones in question. "Well, if you'd let me finish. I was going to say that class 3 intelligence cores can be confused by certain planets because they can't compensate for the elements found in their atmospheres. I believe we surveyed a class six gas giant this morning?" Gauge's mind exploded like a Christmas tree as the idea came to him. "Thanks Kipp." Gauge said as he steered toward the same gas giant. He grazed right up against the atmosphere, and the drones followed eagerly. Gauge's helmet and suit were shrouded in a layer of methane and hydrogen—common properties in class six gas giants. Gauge flew at a high velocity, and the drones followed him.