Ep.#13 - Return of the Corinari (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  “And if it is a trap?” Jessica queried.

  “We’ll know soon enough,” Nathan stated. “Not much choice, really. Cam’s right. We need to secure this system so we can jump to Takara and provide cover for the Ghatazhak landing.”

  “On course for Corinair again,” Josh announced.

  “Jump is ready, Captain,” Loki added.

  “Ready all weapons,” Nathan ordered. “You spot her, you fire.”

  “No problem,” Jessica assured him.

  “Take us in, Loki,” Nathan instructed.

  “Jumping in three……two……one…”

  The jump flash washed over the Aurora’s bridge, and the black and crimson Dusahn warship appeared before them, this time passing over Corinair from right to left, so that her unshielded side was toward the planet.

  “Cruiser dead ahead,” Kaylah reported from the sensor station. “Ten kilometers and closing.”

  “Locking forward tubes…”

  “Don’t bother,” Nathan said, cutting Jessica off. “Starboard turrets and broadsides. Josh, pull up alongside her and hold position.”

  “Her starboard shields are still down,” Kaylah reminded, wondering if the captain had forgotten.

  “Cruiser has locked weapons onto us,” Kaylah warned.

  “They’re not hugging the planet close enough,” Jessica stated. “They’re trying to bait us to their starboard side, so their surface guns can pound us.”

  “Which is too obvious of a move,” Nathan countered. “They know we have shield-penetrating missiles. They want us to stay to port, to feel safer here.” Nathan turned to Kaylah at the sensor station to his left. “Keep a close eye to port,” Nathan told her. “An attack will come from there.”

  “Cruiser is firing,” Kaylah reported.

  “Then why stay here?” Jessica questioned as the first salvos of energy weapons fire struck their shields and rocked the ship.

  “To reveal the location of their hidden asset,” Nathan explained.

  “If they have one,” Jessica countered, holding on to her console as the ship rocked. “Forward shields down to eighty percent.”

  “Turning to port alongside the cruiser,” Josh reported.

  “Starboard turrets,” Nathan ordered. “Pound the hell out of them and ready the broadsides.”

  “Starboard turrets engaged,” Jessica reported as the bridge continued to shake violently. “Firing.”

  “Pull slightly ahead of them, so that we can hit them with our broadside plasma cannons as well,” Nathan instructed. “I want to pound the hell out of them; make them think their only hope of survival is to use that hidden asset.”

  “You got it,” Josh replied, firing the Aurora’s orbital maneuvering systems in order to pull slightly ahead of the enemy cruiser.

  The ship rocked again, this time a little more violently.

  “They’ve increased the power levels on their main batteries,” Jessica warned. “Starboard shields are taking the brunt of it. They’re down to ninety-five percent.”

  “That should do it,” Josh reported, ending his acceleration maneuver.

  “I’ve got a firing solution on the broadsides,” Jessica reported.

  “Pound them,” Nathan instructed.

  “Pounding them, aye,” Jessica replied.

  The two ships, nearly equal in size, orbited the planet side by side, the Aurora slightly leading her foe as they traded energy bolts with one another. The only difference was that the Aurora had the advantage of her large-bore, short-barreled, broadside plasma torpedo cannons, twelve of them on each side. Able to adjust their angles just enough for all to hit the same point on a target within a specified range, they concentrated their firepower on the same point in the black and crimson cruiser’s port midship section, causing her shields to flash in a near-steady state with the rapid, successive impacts.

  But the Dusahn heavy cruiser was well armed. What she lacked in broadside cannons, she made up for with plasma cannon turrets. Twice as many cannons directed their energy at points all along the Aurora’s starboard shields, sweeping up and down the invisible energy barriers, searching for a weak spot onto which they could concentrate their firepower.

  “Starboard shields are down to seventy-five percent,” Jessica reported from the tactical station.

  “Target’s port shields are dropping fast,” Kaylah announced. “They’ll fail before ours do.”

  “Then why aren’t they jumping?” Josh wondered aloud.

  “Jump flashes! Incoming missiles!” Kaylah reported urgently. “Thirty of them! Five seconds!”

  “Snap jump!” Nathan ordered with equal urgency.

  “Jumping,” Loki replied as the jump flash washed over them.

  “That’s why,” Nathan stated, turning toward his sensor officer. “Did you get a reciprocal course reading?”

  “They came from the area of Corinair’s third moon, Sonner,” Kaylah reported. “There’s either a missile base on that moon, or there’s another ship hiding behind it.”

  “Comms, order the Gunyoki to Sonner with orders to locate and eliminate the source of those missiles,” Nathan instructed.

  “Aye, sir,” Naralena acknowledged.

  “Josh, flip us over for a missile launch,” Nathan continued. “Jess, prepare four missiles. Lead with shield busters and follow with nukes…manual jump delay.”

  “Two shield busters followed by two nukes, manual jump, aye,” Jessica replied.

  “Be ready to come about, Josh,” Nathan added. “Jess, launch when ready.”

  “Launching four missiles on manual jump delay,” Jessica reported. “Missiles away.”

  “Helm, hard about,” Nathan ordered.

  “Coming about hard.”

  “Loki, prepare to jump us back to the target’s starboard side, between it and the planet,” Nathan continued.

  “That’ll put us in the sights of those surface batteries,” Jessica reminded him. “They’ll drill through our shields in half a minute.”

  “I don’t intend to be there that long,” Nathan assured her.

  “Course reversal complete,” Josh reported.

  “Return jump ready,” Loki added.

  “Jump the missiles,” Nathan ordered.

  “Jumping all four,” Jessica replied.

  Nathan watched the main view screen as the first two missiles jumped, followed a second later by the other two.

  “Missiles away,” Jessica reported.

  “Helm, yaw ninety to starboard,” Nathan instructed. “I want our forward tubes already to bear when we arrive.”

  “Yawing ninety to starboard,” Josh replied.

  “Jump us back in,” Nathan ordered.

  “Jumping in three……two……one…”

  Nathan’s eyes were locked on the main view screen as the jump flash washed over them. As the flash faded, the image of the Dusahn cruiser slid across it from right to left. “Fire all forward tubes as we pass!” Nathan ordered. “Full power triplets!”

  “Firing all forward tubes,” Jessica reported.

  “Target has lost all shields!” Kaylah reported. “She’s lost main power as well! All her weapons are down.”

  “Say goodbye,” Nathan muttered to himself as the Aurora’s plasma torpedoes tore into the Dusahn warship, setting off secondary explosions deep within the cruiser and tearing it apart.

  “Frigate has lost main power and all propulsion and maneuvering,” Bonnie reported from the Weatherly’s sensor station. “She’s got multiple hull ruptures, and half her decks are open to space. Life support is functioning but running on battery power.”

  “What about her weapons?” Captain Hunt asked.

  “She might be able to get a few missiles off, but without power for her targeting arrays, it would be blind luck if those missiles
hit anything.”

  “Picking up a distress call,” Cassandra reported from the comms station. “It’s coming from the frigate.”

  “Any chance they can get their main power and propulsion back online?” the captain asked his sensor officer.

  “Not without spending a few months in a shipyard,” Bonnie assured him.

  “How many people still alive?”

  “I’m picking up forty-eight life signs.”

  “You’re not going to finish them off?” the XO wondered.

  “If they can’t hurt anyone, I see no reason to kill them,” Captain Hunt stated.

  “They are the enemy,” the XO insisted. “That’s reason enough as far as I’m concerned.”

  “For all we know, they’re conscripts from Corinair,” the captain replied.

  “Or die-hard Dusahn,” Denny argued.

  “Cassie, send word to the Aurora that the frigate is no longer a combatant, and that there are forty-eight survivors who will require rescue once the system is secured.”

  “Chris!” the XO began to object.

  “Objection noted,” Captain Hunt said, raising his hand and cutting him off. “Mister Souza, prepare to jump us back to Corinair. The Glendanon will be arriving soon, and we need to be ready to support her.”

  “Message from Dota One,” Naralena reported from the communications station at the back of the Aurora’s bridge. “They have located a collection of missile launchers on Sonner and are attacking it now. Expected elimination of target in two minutes.”

  “The Weatherly has destroyed the frigate,” Kaylah added. “They’re turning to jump back to Corinair.”

  “The Weatherly is inquiring about the status of the surface-to-orbit weapons on the surface,” Naralena reported.

  “Targeting the last one now,” Jessica announced, pressing the firing button. “Firing.”

  “Last surface-to-orbit battery is destroyed,” Kaylah confirmed.

  “Tell the Weatherly they’re clear to approach Corinair,” Nathan replied as he glanced at the mission clock. “Nothing but a few octos left in the area, and the Gunyoki will have them dealt with shortly.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Mister Sheehan, plot a jump to the Takar system,” Nathan instructed. “The second wave will be launching soon, and we need to ride it in if we’re going to have any hope of destroying that dreadnought.”

  Tariq pressed the firing button on his right flight control stick, spitting a barrage of red-orange bolts of plasma from the plasma cannons built into the front of his engine nacelles. The plasma energy pounded the missile launcher’s already depleted shielding, causing it to collapse in a shower of sparks from its overloaded shield emitters. Now unprotected, the bolts of plasma energy were free to wreak havoc on the launcher itself, tearing it apart with ease. By the time Tariq took his finger off the firing button and pulled out of his attack dive to jump away, the enemy missile launcher had been reduced to a pile of dust and debris, never to target an Alliance ship again.

  “This is fun!” Mila, Tariq’s wingman in Dota Two declared as he attacked a neighboring missile launcher in similar fashion.

  “Why aren’t there any defenses?” Jalees wondered from Dota Three.

  “There are!” Ronny exclaimed from Dota Ten. “We’re getting pounded over here!”

  “The launchers on this side must be new, and have not yet had their defenses installed,” Sten commented from Dota Five.

  Tariq finished pulling out of his dive, clearing the crater ridge on the tiny moon. “I think Ronny just has bad luck,” he chimed in as he dialed up his next jump.

  “I think Ronny just sucks!” another Gunyoki pilot joked.

  “Hey, I got the damned thing, didn’t I!” Ronny defended.

  “As soon as all the launchers are destroyed, return to Corinair,” Tariq instructed. “We still have a few more octos to deal with.”

  Captain Gullen paced the Glendanon’s bridge. For a man who had spent the majority of his life on long, monotonous cargo runs, it was surprising how little patience he had in times like these.

  “We should have received clearance by now,” Justan commented, watching his captain traverse the deck.

  “I am well aware of the time,” Captain Gullen assured his second in command. He paused a moment, turning to his second officer, looking for another way to distract himself from his concerns. “Status of our ships?”

  “Ghatazhak are loaded into the extended troop pods installed on Diggers One and Two,” Justan replied. “Boxcars are loaded, fueled, and ready for departure.” He looked at his captain and added, “Just as they were a minute ago when you last inquired.”

  Captain Gullen sighed, his impatience growing. “This is a bad sign,” he decided. “If the first wave did not succeed, our chances of survival drop dramatically.”

  “We don’t know that,” Justan insisted. “Granted, there is reason for concern…”

  “Message from command,” the Glendanon’s communications officer interrupted.

  Captain Gullen turned to his comms officer, holding his breath.

  “We are cleared to proceed,” the comms officer finished.

  “Finally,” Captain Gullen exclaimed, breathing again. “Pass word to the deck,” he ordered as he took his seat again. “Launch the Diggers and be ready to launch the boxcars as soon as we jump.” The captain took his seat, grasping both arms. “It’s time to liberate our home, gentlemen. May fortune favor the Corinari this day.”

  “Message from the Aurora,” Cameron’s communications officer reported. “They are at waypoint Kilo Seven and report they are ready for the next dance.”

  Cameron quickly scanned the holographic tactical display before her, then exchanged glances with Lieutenant Commander Shinoda on the opposite side of the holographic plotting table, looking for any sign of concern on her intelligence officer’s face. Seeing none, she replied to her communications officer. “Signal the Aurora they are cleared to crash the next party.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  She looked at her intelligence officer again. “This is where it gets interesting.”

  “We really need better code phrases,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda joked.

  * * *

  Lord Dusahn burst out of the elevator, still clad in only his singed Chankarti pants, having barely escaped death during the initial missile strikes on his empire’s seat of power. Still flanking him, the two surviving Zen-Anor soldiers had fierce expressions, scanning every person in their sight as potential threats.

  Lord Dusahn stormed down the corridor of the underground control bunker, entering the emergency command center without ceremony and making his way to the central command platform at the center of the room. “Report!” he demanded, his eyes burning with rage.

  “My lord,” the duty officer began nervously.

  Lord Dusahn eyed the young officer, not recognizing him. “Where are my advisors?” he demanded. “Where is Colonel Horva? Where is Major Domor?”

  “Apologies, my lord,” the young officer replied. “They have not reported in. I fear the worst.”

  Lord Dusahn looked around the room, unsatisfied with the young lieutenant’s answer. Seeing no senior officers among them, he turned his attention back to the trembling lieutenant. “Then you are the senior officer?”

  “For the moment, yes my lord,” the young officer was barely able to push out.

  “Strength, Lieutenant,” Lord Dusahn instructed. “Your empire is under attack.”

  “Yes, my lord,” the lieutenant replied more confidently.

  “What is the status of our defenses?” Lord Dusahn queried, scanning the various view screens around the room.

  “The attack began five minutes ago. Since then, we have been struck by three waves of missiles. The first wave caught us by surprise, taking out most of our surfac
e-to-orbit batteries. They also took out the Ker-Essto and our assault carrier.”

  “What about the Kor-Dusahn?” Lord Dusahn inquired.

  “They tried, but she had her shields up, as always. There was minor damage and weakening of several shield sections, but Captain Ruba insists our flagship is still battle ready.”

  Lord Dusahn’s eyebrows furrowed. “Only missiles?”

  “My lord?” the lieutenant wondered, confused.

  “Where are their warships?” Lord Dusahn asked. “Where is the Aurora?”

  “No ships have been detected, my lord. They must be launching from outside the cluster.”

  “That’s impossible!” Lord Dusahn exclaimed. “Their targeting systems cannot be that accurate!”

  “Our sensor nets are nearly impenetrable, my lord,” the lieutenant insisted. “You designed them yourself. The only detections we have had are the missiles themselves, just as they were about to strike their targets, and a single, small ship, likely performing damage reconnaissance.”

  “Recall the Var-Koray from the Darvano system,” Lord Dusahn instructed. “And someone get me my uniform.”

  The lieutenant snapped his fingers, signaling a nearby ensign. “I’m afraid our communications network is down as well, my lord. We have lost contact with the Darvano system.”

  “Dispatch a comm-drone manually,” Lord Dusahn instructed, irritated that the young officer had not done so already.

  “I have, my lord, just before you arrived. We have yet to receive a response.”

  “Then send some octos,” Lord Dusahn added, becoming more irritated. “The Aurora will be here soon, and I want her outgunned. This ends here and now.”

  “Yes, my lord,” the lieutenant responded. After passing instructions to another junior officer he turned back to his leader. “Pardon my insolence, my lord, but…”

  Lord Dusahn scowled, noticing the lieutenant’s hesitance. “Speak your mind, Lieutenant,” he growled.

  The lieutenant stepped closer, whispering so the others would not hear his words. “If you wish to ensure the Aurora’s destruction, perhaps we should consider utilizing our reserve forces, in order to guarantee our victory?”