by Ryk Brown
The four Super Eagles streaked past the palace, climbing upward and disappearing behind jump flashes. General Telles looked at the time display in the upper right corner of his tactical visor. “Five seconds,” he announced over comms.
Corporal Vasya readied himself, tightening his muscles. He and his cohorts were about to perform the most daring and skillful attack in Ghatazhak history. Even better was the fact that they were doing it on their home soil, in front of the very citizens who had demanded they be stored in stasis until needed, for fear that they would turn on their own people.
Seconds later, General Telles stepped out into the open without a word, breaking into an all-out run toward the palace walls. Both arms raised, with narrow bolts of red-orange energy lashing out from his forearms, the general and his men raked the tops of the palace walls as they charged, same as the other three teams of twenty who were charging toward the palace from all four cardinal directions. Within seconds, they had closed the gap between them and the walls by half.
Still running, General Telles ceased fire and jumped up in the air as if leaping over an invisible obstacle. As his back foot left the ground, his combat armor began to glow, flashing a split second later in a pale blue-white, and the general disappeared.
Corporal Vasya was half a step behind, jumping up into the air and disappearing behind his own flash as eighteen more Ghatazhak soldiers followed, each of them running and jumping up into the air and disappearing.
Zen-Anor troops standing on catwalks peered over the tops of the palace walls toward the approaching wave of enemy troops, their curiosity raised by the dozens of blue-white flashes lighting up the faces of the surrounding buildings. Staring in disbelief, the Dusahn warriors were stunned again by another series of flashes, this time directly above them. Ghatazhak soldiers, clad in flat black combat armor sailed over them, reaching the top of the jump arc they had begun more than twenty-five meters away, from outside the walls.
General Telles sailed overhead, a good fifty meters over the heads of the Zen-Anor below. His body straight, he slowly pitched over, both arms pointed downward, firing at the shocked Dusahn soldiers from his forearm cannons as he flew over them. His arc reached its apex, and he began to fall back toward the surface again. He stopped firing, tucked forward to continue his somersault, then disappeared behind another blue-white flash.
Corporal Vasya’s flight path was slightly different, choosing instead to spin around his lateral axis, all while facing the surface. His own forearm cannons blazing, he and his fellow Ghatazhak strafed the Zen-Anor on the wall catwalks and in the compound below. Once their descents began, they too disappeared behind flashes of light, leaving nothing but dead bodies in their wake.
More flashes of light appeared, this time inside the palace walls only a few meters above the ground. Black-clad Ghatazhak soldiers appeared from behind the flashes, their forearm cannons opening fire again as they landed.
Corporal Vasya landed in a semi-crouch, both shoulder turrets deploying and launching miniature guided antipersonnel rockets in all directions. The corporal’s comrades followed suit, creating equal levels of death and devastation as each of them landed.
Within seconds of their charge, the interior of the Dusahn palace grounds was quiet.
“All units, sit-rep,” Telles requested calmly over his helmet comms.
“Two; inside; full strength,” the first group leader reported.
“Three; inside; full strength.”
“Four; inside; full strength.”
General Telles looked over at Corporal Vasya, who had landed only two meters from him. As expected, the corporal’s grin had not left his face. “All units, advance,” the general ordered.
“Jump complete!” Lieutenant Meers reported from the Orochi’s helm.
“Two destroyers and one battleship, dead ahead!” the sensor officer reported. “They’re all over the Aurora! They’ve got her boxed in!”
“We’re too close for missiles,” Robert stated as he tapped the comm-panel on the arm of his command chair. “All gun crews, weapons free!” he ordered. “Sasha, be ready on our forward cannons. Helm, jump us in beside those destroyers, about one click away. We’ll blast the hell out of them to take their mind off the Aurora so that she can slip away.”
“Forward cannons are hot and ready!” his XO assured him.
“Adjusting course,” the helmsman acknowledged. “Jumping in three…”
“That battleship is passing over our dorsal side!” Jessica warned, clutching her console as the ship shook violently. “They’ll have a clean shot at our port side in thirty seconds!”
Nathan tapped his comm-console again. “Any time, Vlad.”
“Taking heavy fire on our dorsal shields!” Jessica reported as the ship rocked violently. “They’re down to fifty percent and falling fast!”
“You want me to roll with the battleship?” Josh asked from the helm.
“Negative,” Nathan replied. “Vlad, it’s now or never!”
“Fifteen seconds until the battleship has a shot at our port side!” Jessica warned.
“Now!” Vlad hollered over the intercom.
“Helm!” Nathan called. “Full power to dorsal translation thrusters! Prepare to jump!”
“Dorsal translation thrusters at full!” Josh acknowledged as he fired the thrusters.
Nathan watched the main view screen as the upside-down destroyers blocking their jump line began to move up the main view screen. “Main engines to full power!” he ordered.
The movement of the two Dusahn destroyers up the main view screen began to slow.
“Targets are translating upward, trying to block our escape!” Kaylah reported from the sensor station.
“Five seconds!” Jessica warned.
“Kill the thrusters!” Nathan ordered. “Roll hard one-eighty to port and bring the mains to full!”
“Oh, boy,” Josh replied, exchanging an uncertain glance with Loki as he reached for the throttles.
The destroyers on the view screen began to rotate to the right as the Aurora rolled hard to port, growing larger in size at a rapidly increasing rate as the ship accelerated quickly toward the blockade.
“Collision in twenty seconds!” Kaylah warned.
“Dorsal shields are down to thirty percent!” Jessica warned.
“We’re not going to get a clear jump line in time,” Loki added.
“Twenty degrees up relative; maintain your roll!” Nathan ordered as the ship lurched downward sharply with several heavy impacts.
“Twenty percent!” Jessica barked.
“Twenty up relative, in the roll!” Josh replied as he adjusted the ship’s pitch while not interfering with its rolling motion.
“Aurora!” Nathan called. “On my call, drop all shields except for ventral and transfer all available power to the ventral shields!”
“Understood,” Aurora replied.
“If you drop our shields…” Jessica began to object.
Nathan wasn’t paying any attention, barking orders over her as he watched the still-rotating destroyers begin to slowly slide down the main view screen. “Stand by to cut mains! Stand by to snap jump!”
“Ten seconds!” Kaylah warned, placing her hands firmly on her console to brace herself.
“Comms! Collision warning!” Nathan instructed, noting that the rotating destroyers were nearly level again. “Kill the mains! Aurora, now!” he added.
“Roll complete in five seconds!” Josh reported, realizing what his captain was planning.
“Mains at zero!” Josh acknowledge as Naralena instructed the crew to brace for collision over the all-call system.
“Dropping all shields and transferring all available power to ventral shields,” the Aurora’s AI acknowledged, speaking over Josh.
Nathan paused a moment as the view screen filled
with the now right-side-up destroyers. “Snap jump.”
The nose of the Aurora barely missed the topside of the Dusahn destroyer that was attempting to block their escape path, but only her nose. As she continued forward, her underside slammed into the enemy warship, causing the shields of both ships to flash opaque, overload, and fail in a shower of sparks.
But the Aurora’s underside was designed to be a protective shield itself. While the dorsal portions of the Dusahn destroyer collapsed under the force of the collision, crushing the decks underneath and setting off secondary explosions inside, the Aurora’s ventral hull only suffered cosmetic damage.
As the Aurora scraped across the enemy warship, pale blue, semi-opaque light began to spill out across her hull from her jump emitters. In a split second, the entire ship, including a portion of the destroyer’s dorsal side, was completely engulfed in the jump field. The field flashed blue-white a half second later, and the Aurora—as well as one-third of the Dusahn destroyer—disappeared.
“Jump complete!” Loki announced as the bridge continued to shake. “I think.”
“Translate upward!” Nathan quickly instructed.
“Translating upward, aye!” Josh replied, firing the ventral translation thrusters.
The shaking stopped.
“I’ve got an odd contact under us!” Kaylah announced. “Two meters and moving away!” She suddenly turned to face Nathan, her eyes wide. “It’s the top of the Dusahn destroyer. Our jump fields carved away a piece of her…a big piece.”
Josh smiled broadly. “We cut their heads off!”
Nathan also smiled. “I think we can assume they’re out of action.”
* * *
Lieutenant Jexx studied the latest status updates, a look of concern on his face. He glanced over at Lord Dusahn, now fully adorned in proper uniform, still brooding over the loss of his flagship. The lieutenant knew that his duties required him to present the status updates to his leader, but he had seen more than one officer lose his position, and in some cases their very lives, after presenting unpleasant news to their lord.
The lieutenant took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He was a Dusahn officer. Duty and courage were his backbone, his guiding principles. So it had been for countless generations of pure-blooded Dusahn, such as himself.
Either way, his fate was uncertain. Another deep breath, and the lieutenant stepped forward. “My lord.”
Lord Dusahn shifted his eyes toward the lieutenant, moving his head no more than necessary, anger evident on his face.
Lieutenant Jexx swallowed hard before speaking. “The Aurora has escaped our blockade. In the process, she gravely disabled the Nan-Griska. We are down to four destroyers and a single battleship.”
“Yet still a superior force,” Lord Dusahn reminded the young lieutenant.
“The Nan-Horahn reported the presence of eight heavily armed gunships,” the lieutenant continued. “Their sensor scans show that these gunships also carry missile launchers, a total of fourteen launchers per ship. Based on the number of missiles in the first strike, there are undoubtedly more of them, possibly a lot more.”
“They are gunships, Lieutenant,” Lord Dusahn insisted, becoming impatient with the young officer’s lack of confidence in the superiority of his own people.
“Our newest, most powerful ships have been defeated, my lord,” the lieutenant pressed. “Corinair command is about to be overrun, and General Dontekay is requesting a missile strike on targets a mere kilometer from his position.”
“You see our situation as dire?” Lord Dusahn wondered, challenging the young officer.
Lieutenant Jexx paused a moment, fearing punishment if he continued. But failing to report accurately carried equal risk. As a compromise, he chose to lower his voice instead. “My lord, we have enemy troops—Ghatazhak—in our very compound…”
“My Zen-Anor will crush them,” Lord Dusahn insisted.
“And if they do not?” the lieutenant challenged. “I believe it is time.”
Lord Dusahn glared at him a moment, barely resisting the urge to pull out his sidearm and burn a hole in the insolent young lieutenant’s head. Fortunately, pure-blooded Dusahn officers were becoming rare, the result of having to interbreed with other races to maintain their numbers. “The Chekta protocol.”
“It was your wisdom,” the lieutenant pointed out respectfully. “If you had not taken those steps…”
Lord Dusahn put up his hand, silencing the lieutenant. He sighed heavily, then gave his orders. “Send the Jar-Burah to Corinair to save Dontekay’s wrinkled, old ass.”
“My lord,” the lieutenant pleaded, convinced that the Chekta protocol was their only hope.
“Then order the emergency evacuation of our forces on Ancot,” Lord Dusahn continued. “Just in case.”
Lieutenant Jexx swallowed hard, acquiescing to his leader’s wishes, thankful that he had not been executed on the spot.
* * *
“The other destroyer that tried to block our escape has lost her starboard shields,” Kaylah reported from the Aurora’s sensor station. “She appears to be unable to jump as well. She’s turning toward Takara.”
“She’s making a run for home,” Nathan decided. “Can the Gunyoki finish her off?”
“She’s swarming with octo fighters,” Kaylah replied.
“What about the battleship?”
“She’s not there. She must’ve jumped away just after we did.”
“They were probably afraid they’d be struck by another swarm of jump missiles,” Jessica opined.
Nathan sighed, worried about what the battleship was up to. It had already surprised him once, and the damage had been severe. He had no intention of letting it happen again. “What about our shields?”
“Port midship shields are still down. Ventral shields are at forty-seven percent. Forward shields at fifteen percent. Port midship point-defenses, and our port rail guns, both dorsal and ventral, are still down as well. And of course, there’s still a big-ass hole where our port aft flight bay used to be. But other than that, we’re peachy.”
“Does that destroyer still have weapons?” Nathan asked Kaylah.
“Her main batteries are down, but her point-defenses are still operational,” Kaylah replied. “Unknown if she can still launch missiles.”
“Helm, intercept course on that destroyer,” Nathan ordered.
“Turning to intercept course,” Josh acknowledged.
“If they manage to lob a single missile at any shield section that’s below forty percent—which most of them are—it’ll reach our hull,” Jessica warned.
“Noted,” Nathan replied, determined to press the attack. “As soon as we’re on an intercept course, flip us over. We’ll jump in ass-first and hit them with our good stern tube.”
“Stern shields are only at fifty-one percent,” Jessica told him. “Not much of a safety margin, especially if they throw more than one missile at us.”
“I’ll try to be quick,” Nathan promised.
“On intercept course,” Josh reported.
“How are you at flying backwards?” Nathan asked him.
“Backwards, forwards, sideways, it’s all the same to me,” Josh assured him.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Nathan replied. “Go ahead and flip us over. Loki, stand by to jump us in five clicks from the target,” he instructed.
“Five clicks, aye,” Loki replied.
“Full power, triple shots, and don’t stop,” Nathan told Jessica.
“I never do,” Jessica replied.
“Jump is ready,” Loki announced.
“Execute,” Nathan ordered without hesitation.
“Jumping in three…”
“Stern tube is at full power,” Jessica reported.
“…Two…”
“I have rerouted
all available shield power to the stern shields,” the Aurora’s AI reported.
“…One…”
“Thank you, Aurora,” Nathan replied as he switched the main view screen to the stern cameras.
“…Jumping…”
The jump flash washed over the Aurora’s bridge, fading a second later.
“Jump complete,” Loki reported.
“Firing stern tube,” Jessica announced. “Full power triplets.”
“Octos are turning to intercept,” Kaylah warned. “They’re locking weapons on us.”
“Direct hits!” Jessica reported, as the Aurora’s stern tube continued to fire. “That destroyer’s got a damn-thick hull!”
“Keep pounding her,” Nathan urged.
“We’re taking fire on our stern shields,” Jessica reported.
“Octos are maneuvering wide,” Kaylah announced. “I believe they’re trying to get to our unshielded areas.”
“Secondaries!” Jessica reported.
Nathan glanced up at the main view screen, just as a massive internal explosion broke the destroyer in half, just aft of her midship line.
“Pitch up, jump when clear,” Nathan ordered.
“Pitching up,” Josh acknowledged.
“Clear jump line,” Loki reported. “Jumping.”
“Find the other ships,” Nathan told his sensor officer. “Especially that battleship.”
“Working on it,” Kaylah assured him.
“Comms, any update on our ground forces?”
“Last mission update from Corinair showed total control of skies and space, and the Corinari closing on the capital square in Aitkenna,” Naralena reported.
“What about the Ghatazhak?” Nathan wondered.
“I’m receiving regular updates from the Ghatazhak,” Naralena replied. “However, we are a few light minutes from Takara, so there is a delay. Last report, they were approaching the walls of the Dusahn palace.”