by Ryk Brown
“Fourteen emitters have been destroyed. Thirty-seven more must be disabled in order to bring down this shield section,” Leta replied. “It is unlikely that…”
“Razor One, Razor Three!” Talisha called as icons representing their flight of Nighthawks dropped off her tactical screen one by one. “This isn’t working! We’re dropping like flies here!”
Another friendly icon disappeared, causing Talisha’s eyes to widen. “JONAS!”
“Razor One has been destroyed,” her AI reported.
Another series of energy bolts found her fighter, knocking her about wildly.
“Starboard shields are down,” Leta announced. “Forward shields are at twenty percent and…”
“ALL RAZORS! ABORT, ABORT!”
“Jump drive is dead,” the chief engineer reported over the intercom. “The fire damaged the power shunts from the main power trunks. If we try to jump now, we’ll crack open like an egg!”
“What about power?” Captain Hunt asked.
“Main power is stable for now, but I can’t guarantee it will stay that way for long. Propulsion and maneuvering are still operating.”
“Any chance we can use our main batteries?”
“A few shots, maybe a dozen,” the engineer replied. “Any more and they’ll overheat and explode. Point-defenses are working, though, as well as our forward torpedo tubes. But again, more than a few shots and the plasma torpedo generators will overheat as well.”
“Nighthawks have aborted,” Bonnie reported from the Weatherly’s sensor station.
“How many of them made it out?” the captain wondered.
Bonnie looked up at him from her station. “Three.”
“Out of ten?” Captain Hunt questioned in disbelief.
“We need to call in more Nighthawks,” the XO suggested from the tactical station.
“We can’t,” Captain Hunt explained. “They’re all that’s keeping those damned octos off the Corinari.” The captain turned back to his sensor officer. “Did they manage to weaken that battleship’s shields at all?”
“Their starboard midship shields are down to forty percent,” Bonnie reported.
“What about the Gunyoki?” the XO asked.
“The battleship’s octos are keeping them away,” the captain replied. He sighed and then made his decision. “Helm, all ahead full.”
“Captain, that’ll…”
“We’re only going to get one chance at this,” the captain continued, cutting his helmsman off. “We’ll be lucky to get more than a half dozen shots off before we have to break off to avoid impact. The closer we are, the more damage we can do.”
“Chris, they’ll pound the hell out of us,” his XO warned.
“Probably,” the captain agreed, “but if that battleship survives, nine hundred Corinari will not.”
General Telles moved quickly across the corridor as energy bolts slammed into his personal shields, fired from Zen-Anor soldiers at the far end of the corridor.
“Those Zen-Anor have much better aim than the Dusahn regulars!” Corporal Vasya hollered as he followed the general across the corridor. Three bolts of energy slammed into his shielded right side, causing him to stumble, nearly toppling over to his left as he ran.
General Telles reached out and grabbed the corporal, pulling him to safety as more energy bolts streaked past, barely missing him. He peered around the corner briefly, drawing several more rounds from his opponents. “There are at least forty of them in the next section. They are attempting to mislead us, hoping we will charge into their fire.”
“Then let’s not disappoint them,” Corporal Vasya suggested.
“A frontal attack will drain our shields too quickly and will result in unacceptable losses. We must find another way past them.”
“I’ve got this,” Corporal Vasya insisted.
General Telles turned toward the corporal, a look of disapproval on his face.
Corporal Vasya pulled an antipersonnel grenade from his belt and began making some adjustments to its settings.
“A single grenade?” the general asked.
“Not just any grenade,” the corporal assured him. “An experimental grenade.”
“They’ve erected an energy shield in front of the doorway,” the general reminded him. “You’ll never get it past the barrier.”
“Watch,” the corporal said as he activated the grenade, “and be amazed.” A small light on top of the grenade began flashing rapidly as the corporal leaned out just enough to gently toss the grenade toward the enemy.
General Telles looked puzzled, noticing that the corporal had not thrown the grenade anywhere near hard enough for it to travel all the way down the corridor. Then, to his surprise, the grenade flashed blue-white as it left the corporal’s grasp. A split second later, there was a second flash, this time in the room full of Zen-Anor troops.
“Nice, huh?” the corporal said, smiling.
“It would have been nicer had you told me about this device prior to this mission,” the general stated, disapproval in his tone.
“Mister Ayseron delivered the prototype to me as we were leaving Orswella. I sort of forgot about it.”
General Telles gestured down the corridor. “Lead the way, Corporal.”
“Yes, sir,” the corporal replied, stepping out and charging down the corridor with both forearm cannons blazing just in case.
“Telles to all Ghatazhak,” the general called over comms as he stepped out into the corridor to follow the corporal. “Team One is inside. Team Two hold the entrance. Three and Four take the perimeter.”
Captain Hunt held tightly onto the arms of his command chair as incoming weapons fire from the warship more than four times their size pounded their forward shields.
“Target’s shields are down to thirty percent!” Bonnie reported from the sensor station.
The ship shook again as more rounds impacted their weakening forward shields.
“Shall I return fire?” his XO asked, grasping the edges of the tactical console.
“Not yet, Denny,” Captain Hunt replied. “We’ve got to get closer!”
Two more energy bolts slammed into them, causing the ship to lurch to the left.
“Our forward shields are down to ten percent!” Denny reported. “We can’t take much more of this!”
“Range?” the captain asked his helmsman.
“Five kilometers!” the helmsman replied. “One hundred meters per second closure!”
“Stand by to fire,” Captain Hunt ordered.
Two successive blasts rocked the ship, causing it to lurch to port again.
“Forward shields are down!”
“No choice!” Captain Hunt barked. “FIRE!”
“Firing!” the XO replied, pressing the firing button.
Captain Hunt stared out the forward windows as red-orange plasma torpedoes, one pair after another, spat out from under their bow. The glowing torpedoes crossed the ever-decreasing distance between the Weatherly and the Dusahn battleship in a few seconds, slamming into its nearly depleted starboard midship shields.
The battleship’s shields flashed with each pair of torpedoes as they struck. Finally, on the fourth set, the enemy warship’s remaining functional midship shield emitters had reached their limits, exploding in showers of sparks across the battleship’s hull.
“Target’s shields are down!” Bonnie reported.
They were the last words she would speak.
Four bolts of energy lashed out from the midship main turret on the battleship, plowing into the Weatherly’s bow, blowing it apart all the way back to the forward edge of its bridge. But the Weatherly plowed on, its own momentum carrying it toward its fate. Multiple defense turrets fore and aft on the battleship continued to tear the Weatherly apart, causing secondary explosions deep within her hul
l, sending debris in all directions.
Realizing that they could not stop the Karuzari ship in time, the Dusahn battleship’s jump emitters began to pour pale blue light out across its black and red hull, quickly building its jump fields.
Witnessing the impending collision, Talisha turned her Nighthawk toward the Dusahn battleship and quickly pressed her jump button. A split second later, she was five hundred meters from the enemy warship. She jammed her throttle all the way forward, bringing her main propulsion system to full power. “Leta!” she barked. “Override all containment safeties and initiate a reactor overload! Ten seconds to failure!”
“This will result in the destruction…”
“DO IT!” Talisha ordered, dropping her visor and sealing her helmet up.
“Impact and detonation in four…”
“Eject me in two seconds!” Talisha added.
“…Three…”
“Thanks for everything, Leta,” she added.
“…Two…ejecting…”
All of Talisha’s senses were suddenly overwhelmed as the canopy of her fighter was blown clear, her arms and legs were pulled back into her seat and armrests, and her flight seat shot out of the doomed Sugali fighter.
Her senses recovered a second later as she cleared the top of the Dusahn battleship. She glanced downward as her fighter slammed into the warship just as its reactor containment failed. There was a bright flash. At first, Talisha thought it was the battleship jumping away, and her heart sank, closing her eyes. But when she opened them a second later, the battleship was still there, looming below her as she drifted away.
She stared in horror as the Weatherly, its entire forward section blown apart, and its bridge gone, slammed into the enemy warship’s starboard midship section, driving through its hull, driven deeper by its still-blazing main engines.
Talisha took a deep breath, readying herself for her certain fate. She closed her eyes as multiple flashes of light appeared. Red, orange, yellow, white, the explosions quickly became too many to count. She braced herself for the inevitable, but nothing happened.
After several seconds, she dared to open her eyes and look down. The Dusahn battleship had been broken in half by the Weatherly, the latter of which was nowhere to be seen. To her amazement, all of the enemy warship’s debris was traveling not toward her, but laterally, carried away by the Weatherly’s original impact momentum.
Talisha hollered with excitement, almost laughing in the process. She was alive.
She was also floating in space, in orbit above a world at war, surrounded by fighters both friend and foe, all of which were still locked in furious combat.
She was not yet out of danger.
Lord Dusahn slammed his fists on the console beside him, outraged at the series of failures the day had brought him.
“My lord,” Lieutenant Jexx begged, “if we do not enact Chekta now, it will be too late. The Jar-Burah was our last hope of keeping Corinair, and now we are down to two destroyers…ancient ones at that.”
“We are not defeated!” Lord Dusahn barked.
“No, not yet,” the lieutenant agreed. “But we soon will be. This is precisely why you created the Chekta protocol. To save our empire…to give us a chance to rebuild in the advent of great misfortune. That misfortune is upon us. Chekta is our only hope.”
Lord Dusahn closed his eyes, leaning on the console beside him a moment, in disbelief at what was occurring. Finally, he opened his eyes, looking out across the command center. “Activate the Chekta protocol.”
“Both targets are jumping!” Kaylah warned.
“NO!” Nathan exclaimed as the two destroyers on the main view screen glowed blue-white, flashed, and disappeared.
The bridge of the Aurora was suddenly quiet.
“Someone’s looking at a firing squad,” Josh mumbled, finally breaking the silence.
“Find those destroyers,” Nathan instructed Kaylah.
“Incoming message,” Naralena announced. After a pause, in a shocked voice she added, “It’s coming from Dusahn command.”
Nathan rose from his seat, turning to face Naralena.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Jessica admitted. “You think they’re calling to surrender?”
“Doubtful,” Nathan replied. “Put them through.”
Naralena connected the incoming transmission to her captain’s comm-set, then nodded at him.
“This is Captain Nathan Scott of the Karuzari Alliance ship, Aurora. To whom am I speaking?”
“Griogair Dusahn, son of Pensa, descendent of Issias, leader of the Dusahn Empire. You may address me as ‘my lord’.”
“Fat chance,” Jessica snickered.
“I think I’ll stick with Griogair,” Nathan stated. “What can I do for you?”
“Withdraw now, and I will spare your forces from certain defeat.”
“The Corinari are seizing Aitkenna as we speak, and the Ghatazhak are at your door. Explain to me how this certain defeat is going to happen?”
“If you do not, I will destroy both Takara and Corinair.”
“And kill yourself in the process? I think not,” Nathan replied.
Jessica snapped her fingers at Naralena, who immediately muted Nathan’s comm-set. “The tunnels,” she reminded Nathan.
A look of concern flashed across Nathan’s face. He nodded to Naralena to un-mute his comm-set.
“Have you checked the status of the Savoy system lately?” Lord Dusahn wondered. “I’ll wait while you do, but for no more than two minutes.”
“They disconnected,” Naralena reported.
“Where’s the Falcon?” Nathan asked.
“Jump complete,” Ensign Lassen announced.
“Any idea what we’re looking for?” the pilot asked.
“All they said was to check on the Savoy system and get back to them by zero plus thirty-eight,” Sergeant Nama replied as he studied his sensor displays from his station behind the pilot’s seat.
“That’s eighty seconds from now,” Ensign Lassen said, checking the mission time clock.
“Any contacts?” the lieutenant wondered.
“Nothing,” the sergeant replied. “Six planets, forty-eight moons, and a few stray asteroids. No shipping traffic; definitely no Dusahn warship.”
The lieutenant looked out the forward window at the planet Ancot. It was no bigger than his fist at the moment, but it was growing larger as they coasted toward it. “I’m turning around,” he decided, glancing at the mission clock. “There’s nothing to see here.”
“Plotting return jump,” his copilot announced.
The lieutenant initiated a one hundred and eighty degree turn, coming about as quickly as possible in order to return to the Takara system and report their findings, or lack thereof, to the Aurora.
“What the…” Sergeant Nama stopped in mid-sentence.
“What is it, Riko?” the lieutenant asked as he rolled out of his turn on a heading back toward the Takara system.
“I’m not…” The sergeant’s eyes suddenly widened, a look of panic coming across his face. “JUMP! NOW!”
“What?” Nathan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you certain?” he asked over his comm-set.
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Teison assured him. “The entire planet was destroyed by an antimatter event. It nearly took us out as well.”
“What was the population of Ancot?” Jessica wondered.
“A few million, at least,” Nathan stated, still in shock. He glanced at the mission clock, realizing he only had twenty seconds left. “Hail the Dusahn,” he instructed.
“They must have drilled down into a fissure or something,” Kaylah commented. “Ancot didn’t have an active core, at least not one under pressure.”
“Lord Dusahn is on the line, Captain,” Naralena reported.
Nathan was silent, his anger threatening to overcome his senses.
“Are you there, Captain Scott?” Lord Dusahn finally asked.
“I’m here.”
“He’s sending video as well,” Naralena said under her breath.
Nathan pointed over his shoulder at the main view screen, turning around to face it.
A window appeared in the main view screen, revealing Griogair Dusahn in full uniform, his chest brimming with medals and a smug, superior look on his face. “I take it you have completed your recon of the Savoy system.”
“You could have just told me what you would do,” Nathan replied, holding back his anger. “There was no need to murder millions of…”
“And miss the opportunity to make a proper impression upon you?”
Nathan couldn’t take it anymore. “You sick fuck…”
“Captain, I expected more self-restraint,” Lord Dusahn scolded. “I mean, a man of your power and influence.” Lord Dusahn sighed before continuing. “Oh well, I suppose if flinging derogatives in my direction makes you feel better, I can indulge you for a short time. However, I should remind you that our forces are still fighting, and dying, while you vent your frustrations.”
Nathan paused, regaining control of himself. “What are your terms?” he finally asked.
“Simple,” Lord Dusahn replied. “Agree to withdraw all forces from Dusahn territory, and I will allow them to retreat, without further conflict.”
“No deal.”
“Captain, be reasonable. Surely you do not wish to see more innocent people die today?”
Jessica snapped again, and Naralena muted Nathan’s comm-set once more. “Only Ancot and Takara looked like they were completed. As best we could tell, Corinair was still under construction.”
Nathan looked at Kaylah, pretending to be thinking for the benefit of his opponent on the main view screen. “How volatile is Corinair’s core?”
“More so than Ancot, that’s for sure,” Kaylah replied.
“Un-mute,” he instructed Naralena. After a pause, he looked back at Lord Dusahn on the view screen and said, “We keep Corinair.”