Orbit's Edge

The mother star is on its last breath. You can feel it in the way the rim of the orbit trembles every time the warrior swings through, in the way the swarm keeps coming back even after you push it out. You are the only thing standing between a dying system and the dark, and you do not have a gun. You have momentum. Drag your finger around the rim and the warrior starts to swing. One full revolution is one charge. Two is a hard shot. Three is a shot you cannot quite aim straight — and that is the point. When you release, the probe leaves your hand and flies straight along the tangent of your orbit. From there, the only thing between the probe and the enemy is the gravity field you have laid down. Three attractors. Anywhere on the field. Each one lives for four seconds and bends the probe in real time as it flies past. The same attractor that nudges your probe onto a target will also drag…