Space Unicorn

Chapter 3

JGSS Invisible Pink Unicorn

In orbit around Jupiter

Now merely ten thousand kilometers away, the Asashio loomed large on Janna's screen. While the resolution was suboptimal, the tall, dagger-shaped spacecraft was still clearly recognizable as Japanese. Unlike JOINTGOV, the Japanese Space Defense Force eschewed segmented, modular designs in favor of monolithic designs.

The gleaming white paint job and giant Rising Sun mural (complete with belligerent red rays) were also pretty distinctive.

There is little point in trying to stealth up a spaceship with a fusion torch that glows with the power of a trillion light bulbs.

The tall, steep-sided pyramid of a warship wasted precious mass on support for its upper levels, but the steeply sloped armor provided superior protection in the head-to-head battles for which the Asashio had been optimized – especially given the relatively thin armor the ship otherwise possessed. The tall spire also allowed the Asashio to sport a massive spinal-mount railgun, which could kick guided projectiles to nearly twenty kilometers per second – nearly as fast as a missile.

Janna felt the torch drive cut out, and the gravity momentarily reversed as the Invisible Pink Unicorn spun around to face the Asashio head-to-head. She choked back vomit. It would not do to throw up inside her space helmet. Weightlessness was banished as the drive spun back to life.

"And we are jinking." The torch gently burnt on and off to wiggle and spin the ship to minimize harm from laser shots.

"Depressurize the ship." Alarms blared and faded to nothingness as air was sucked into storage tanks.

"Asashio cut out at 9000 klicks. It's jinking. Boarding pod incoming."

"Warning shot, defocused laser. Warm up that pod."

"Aye, sir." A gigajoule of light hit the (empty) boarding pod, raising temperatures inside significantly.

"Sir, they're painting us with fire control radar and defocused laser shots."

"Return the favor." Marco's voice was firm and measured.

A message popped up on Janna's screen. "Uh... guys, they want us to leave their pod alone."

"Tell them to stop closing, and turn back."

"Zombie, zombie, zombie! Enemy railgun rounds, anterior and posterior! They'll miss by a fifty klicks."

Zombie was the brevity code for enemy shell.

"Four warning shots, port and starboard, ant and post." Four thumps reverberated through the hull.

Janna and Ferguson's screens lit up like Christmas trees. "Holy cow! A Korean destroyer just fired on a Japanese cruiser in high orbit! Oh, hell. JGSS Jabberwock is moving in to assist." Janna wished the Invisible Pink Unicorn's sister ship luck.

"Vampire, Vampire, Vampire! Sixty contacts, closing fast! Music is on!"

"Lasers are trying to get us!"

"Firing back!"

"Jinking hard!" Black streaks – shallow scorch marks – swept across the top hulls of both ships as lasers were ineffectually fired from extreme range, never lingering long enough to burn a hole in the modest armor.

"Vampires just broke into submunitions! Three thousand bogeys, closing fast! Five minutes to impact!"

This was a real fight, then. "Swing around, five gee burn to starboard!"