by Ryk Brown
“NO!”
“Negative on the jump!” Commander Ellison reported.
“Hull breaches! Aft of bulkhead four, top side!” Lieutenant Oliver declared. “Reactors three and four are offline! Reactor two is at half power!”
“Port jump field generator is down!” the commander added.
“Son of a bitch!” Captain Roselle exclaimed as he struggled to control the ship. “I’ve got no lateral controls!”
“Accelerators on the port drive are fluctuating! I’ve got to shut her down or the whole damn thing will fry!” Lieutenant Oliver continued.
“They’re closing in on us!” Ensign Marka warned. “They’re firing!”
The ship lurched to one side, shaking with the impact of the rail gun rounds slamming into their hull.
“They’re coming at us from both sides!” Ensign Marka exclaimed. “They’re targeting our forward section!”
“I’ve lost all weapons!” Sergeant Shugart reported.
“Mine are dead too!” Sergeant Garza added in frustration.
More rail gun rounds smashed into them, reverberating through the hull.
“Breaches, topside!” Lieutenant Oliver reported. “Right above us! Christ! They’ve taken out our boarding hatch! All pressure in the topside airlock is gone! I’m losing number two reactor!”
“Everyone in ops, head for your tubes and punch out!” Captain Roselle ordered.
“We can still hold her…”
“They’re not trying to take us out,” Roselle interrupted, “they’re trying to take us. That’s why they’re only targeting the forward section now. Kill us and take the prize.” Roselle fired his last remaining operational thrusters. “Well, fuck that!”
“What are you doing?” the commander wondered.
“Putting us into a tumbling spin,” Roselle replied. “Mas! Send a mayday and then get aft and punch out. That goes for everyone. We’re abandoning ship.”
“I’ll set up the self-destruct on the jump field generators on a one minute delay!” Lieutenant Oliver exclaimed. “Just punch the button on your way aft, Captain!”
“Got it!” Roselle looked over at Commander Ellison and said in an urgent voice. “Go Marty, make sure they get out.”
The commander looked back at his captain with worry. “You are coming, right Gil?”
“Hell yes!” Roselle replied emphatically. “Don’t worry, I’m not the go down with the ship type.”
“Mayday is broadcasting,” Ensign Jullen reported. “All channels, omni-directional. I’m headed aft!”
“Garza, ejecting!” the sergeant announced over the comms from his pod.
“Shugart, ejecting!”
“Tucker, punching out!”
“Self-destruct is set!” Lieutenant Oliver reported. “Head aft!”
Captain Roselle continued adding thrust in an attempt to make his ship’s tumbling rotation as wild as possible. More rail gun rounds slammed into them, zigzagging their way across the forward section and midship. They’re targeting midship, he realized. He added more thrust to make them tumble more end-over-end, making the middle of the ship more difficult to target.
“Marka, ejecting!”
More rounds blasted against the ship, nearly knocking Roselle out of his seat. A shrill tearing sound filled his ears, followed by a rush of escaping air. He felt a terrible sucking force, pulling him deeper into his seat. There was an explosion, followed by more shredding noises. He looked down at the self-destruct interface on the center pedestal. He punched the override, canceling the delay timer. “Sorry, guys,” he muttered as he pressed the detonation button.
Another explosion. The captain felt himself tossed to one side, his restraints tearing away from the seat. He felt an excruciating pain in his left shoulder. The air continued to be sucked out of the cockpit. There was a loud clang of metal striking metal as the hatch at the back of the cockpit automatically closed and the whoosh of escaping air suddenly stopped. Another explosion caused the cockpit to spin wildly. The artificial gravity ceased to function, and Roselle found himself free-floating, bouncing off the consoles and bulkheads within the wildly spinning cabin. More explosions…rail gun rounds slamming into the hull…his head striking something hard as one last thought echoed in his mind…
At least they won’t get my jump drive.
* * *
“I’m barely getting anything from teams Two, Four, and Six,” Ensign Souza told the captain. “What little I am getting sounds like a slaughter.”
“Us or them?” Nathan wondered.
“Us, sir.”
“Play back what you’ve got.”
The overhead speakers crackled with broken, garbled transmissions, filled with bursts of static and the sound of energy weapons fire in the background. “Four…check…heavy fire…I’m down to…and Lankin! We’re…Six! We can’t hold…back! Fall…copy? Fu… no way to get back to…hold at…over! … too many of them! … Six! Say ag… Six! … read me? Six! … Four…contact with Six! … fall back to…”
The playback ceased. Nathan looked at Ensign Souza. “Is that it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Sounds to me like they were being overrun,” Jessica said.
“How long ago was that transmission?” Nathan asked.
“Two minutes, sir,” the ensign replied. “Nothing else since.”
Nathan sighed. “Let Telles know that we’ve lost all contact with the aft teams.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Captain, if they don’t capture engineering and main power…” Jessica began to say.
“…It won’t do any good to capture command and control,” Nathan finished for her. “I know.”
“Multiple contacts!” Mister Navashee reported. “They’re launching more attack shuttles, Captain. Four of them, accelerating smartly.”
“Comms, order Falcon Four to pursue and engage!”
“Aurora, Falcon Four copies,” Loki replied as he punched in a jump.
“Coming to two four seven, three down,” Josh announced as he brought the interceptor into a hard left turn and pitched their nose down slightly.
“You read my mind.” Loki finished entering the jump coordinates, and then locked in the jump. “Jumping in three……”
“On course and speed,” Josh announced.
“Jumping.”
The Falcon’s canopy became opaque for a moment, protecting them from the brilliant flash of the jump, then cleared a moment later.
“Jump complete,” Loki reported. “Four targets, dead ahead, five hundred meters. Locking missiles on the closest two. Firing two!”
Josh peeked up over his forward console at the two glowing white nozzles on the tails of the missiles as they sped away and quickly disappeared.
“Their mass is changing,” Loki added. “They’re going to FTL. Remotely detonating lead missile.”
“What? Why the hell would…”
A yellow flash of light appeared ahead of them.
“Yes! Impact in three……two……one……”
Another flash of yellow appeared in the distance directly ahead of their flight path, followed by an even bigger flash of yellow, orange, and then red, all of which disappeared a second later.
“What the hell just happened?” Josh asked.
“The EM pulse from the missile detonation fucked up the closest ship’s FTL fields!” Loki explained with excitement. “That bought the second missile just enough time to catch him before he could rebuild his fields and slip away.”
“Damn,” Josh exclaimed. “That’s some serious tactical warfare shit right there!”
“Falcon Four, Aurora. Track and pursue remaining shuttles if possible. Captain wants to know where they’re going,” Ensign
Souza ordered over the comms.
“Aurora, Falcon Four, Track and pursue the bad guys. We’ll keep you updated,” Loki replied. “Parallel their last course and speed, while I dial up a jump.”
“Got it.”
“At the speed they were going when they went to FTL, if we jump ahead in fifteen light-second increments, we should be able to tail them without them ever detecting us.”
“Like I said, some serious thinking going on back there.”
Loki smiled. “Jumping in three…”
“Sir, Commander Telles indicates he cannot hold his current position for more than a few minutes without reinforcements,” Ensign Souza reported. “They’ve lost team five, and team one is down to four men. He’s suggesting we target the section forward of midship and breach the hull to reduce their numbers.”
“That’s crazy!” Jessica exclaimed.
“Mister Delaveaga, can you pinpoint the commander’s location?” Nathan asked.
“I can narrow it down to a particular section,” Luis answered, “but that’s as accurate as I can get.”
“Do so, and then target the section just forward of it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Captain,” Jessica began to object.
“I’m not going to open up the section he’s in,” Nathan said, cutting her off, “that would be crazy. But if we can open up the next section forward, at least that might prevent more Jung combatants from joining the fight, or at least slow them down.”
“Quads are locked on target, Captain,” Luis announced.
“Comms, warn the commander we’re going to fire on the section forward of them,” Nathan ordered.
“Aye, sir.”
“Lieutenant, wait thirty seconds, then…”
“Jump flashes! Three… Wait!” Mister Navashee paused a moment. “Make that nine jump flashes. Four troop jumpers, two Falcons, and three combat jumpers, sir.”
“Hold your fire!” Nathan ordered.
“Holding fire,” Luis acknowledged.
“Troop jumpers are carrying breach boxes on their backsides,” Mister Navashee added.
“That must be what took them so long,” Jessica commented.
“Ensign Souza, inform Commander Telles that his reinforcements are moving into position now.”
“Yes, sir!”
Nathan smiled at Jessica and breathed a sigh of relief. “I was getting a bit worried.”
“More contacts!” Mister Navashee warned. “Christ, there’s dozens of them! They’re launching fighters, Captain! A lot of them!”
“Lieutenant! Point-defenses! Target those fighters!”
“Aye, sir!” Luis replied.
“Comms! Order all friendlies to remain inside our defense perimeter, or jump clear and hold!”
“Captain!” Mister Navashee called, “half the fighters are leaving at top speed! They’re departing on the same course as the attack shuttles!”
“Those fighters can’t go to FTL, can they?”
“No, sir, not that we’ve ever seen, at least.”
“Firing point defenses,” Luis announced.
“Captain! Incoming mayday from Scout Two!” Ensign Souza reported. “They found Scout Three’s wreckage, including two intact jump field generators. So did the Jung. They’re trying to recover them. Scout Two engaged and destroyed one, possibly two fast attack shuttles, but they took heavy damage and had to abandon ship.”
“Were there any survivors?” Jessica asked, urgency and desperation in her voice.
“Did they self-destruct?” Nathan asked in an equally worried tone.
“They didn’t say.”
“Falcon Four is headed for a hornet’s nest,” Jessica realized.
“Did Scout Two give a location?” Nathan demanded.
“Yes, sir,” Ensign Souza replied.
“Feed it to those Falcons and tell them to backup Falcon Four,” Nathan ordered. “Hell, send the combat jumpers as well. Tell them to make sure the Jung do not get away with any wreckage!”
“What about sending Scout One?” Jessica suggested. “She’s got plasma cannons big enough to take those shuttles out with a single shot, right?”
“No good,” Nathan shook his head. “Besides us, Scout One is the only other ship that can launch that last KKV, and if that battleship manages to restore main power and raise her shields, we’re going to need it.”
“Four more contacts!” Mister Navashee announced. “They’re launching more attack shuttles!”
“God damn!” Nathan cursed. “For a ship without power, they sure are launching a lot of spacecraft!” Nathan turned aft. “Luis! Target their starboard launch tubes and close them up! Comms, tell the troop jumpers to jump to a safe distance and hold.”
“Quads locked on their starboard launch tubes,” Luis reported. “Firing!”
“What are you doing?” Jessica wondered.
“They’re going to sacrifice their ship in order to keep us occupied so they can get a jump drive,” Nathan explained as he turned forward. “Helm, move us under them and over to their port side, nice and smooth. Lieutenant, take out their shuttle bays next, then their port launch tubes.”
“Moving under and to port,” Mister Chiles acknowledged as he pushed the Aurora’s flight control stick forward and began to nose the ship down.
“Starboard launch tubes destroyed,” Luis said. “Preparing to target her ventral shuttle bays.”
“Troop shuttles have jumped away,” Mister Navashee reported.
“Moving under the target now,” Mister Chiles announced.
“Firing quads,” Luis reported.
“Keep our topside toward the target as we come around,” Nathan instructed. “Don’t stop until we’re directly over her topside, and standoff inverted about fifty meters away.”
Mister Chiles looked to his left, exchanging concerned glances with the navigator, Mister Riley. “Aye, sir.”
“After you take out the port launch tubes, we’ll move into position above them and create a shield for the troop jumpers. With us acting like an umbrella, those fighters will have no choice but to try and attack from the sides.”
“And we’ll nail them with our point defenses,” Luis realized, a grin forming on his face. “Nice.”
“Comms, let those troop jumpers know what we’re up to and tell them to be ready. They’re going to have to jump into a very narrow space, very quickly.”
“Port launch tubes destroyed,” Luis announced.
“Captain, Commander Telles reports he is down to six men total!” Ensign Souza warned.
“Tell him to fall back to a safe position,” Nathan replied. “In a few minutes, he’ll have eighty men on his side.”
“I’ll have to coordinate defensive fire with their jumps,” Luis explained, “so they don’t jump through a field of fire.”
“Comms, tie the lieutenant into the troop jumpers directly,” Nathan ordered.
“Aye, sir.”
“Two each, fore and aft of the breach,” Nathan added.
“Yes, sir,” Luis replied.
“We’re in position directly over their midship, Captain,” Mister Chiles called back over his shoulder. “Fifty meters above, topside to topside.”
“Point defenses are ready,” Luis announced.
“Troop jumpers report ready,” Ensign Souza added. “Patching you into their channel now,” he informed Lieutenant Delaveaga. “Call signs are Packers One through Four.”
“Laying down defensive fire now,” the lieutenant announced as his fingers danced across his console. He paused and keyed his comm-set. “Aurora Tactical to all troop jumpers. You’ll jump in pairs on my mark. Odds will jump forward of the breach, evens will jump aft. First group jump in as fa
r fore and aft as possible while still staying between us and the target. Second group jump in close to the breach.” Luis turned to call over his shoulder to Ensign Souza. “Souza, update the commander on the plan, tell him we execute in thirty seconds,” he instructed as he waited for the four troop jumpers to acknowledge his message.
“You got it.”
“Defensive fields of fire established,” Luis announced.
“Comms, dispatch a comm jumper and tell Scout One to set the last KKV for snap launch and then join us here, but at a safe range,” Nathan ordered. He looked at Jessica, trying to interpret her facial expression, or lack thereof. He had never before seen her look this upset… Angry, yes, but never despondent and defeated like this. “Jess,” he said under his breath, “he may have gotten out in time. There were still a couple pods left.”
Jessica cast him a disapproving look. “Don’t blow smoke up my ass, Nathan,” she snapped quietly at him. “If he’s dead, he’s dead. Just make sure he didn’t die in vain.”
“It’s working,” Mister Navashee reported. “The fighters are attacking our ventral side to avoid our guns.”
“Packers One and Two, Aurora Tactical,” Luis called over the comms. “Jump in five……four……three…” he pressed a button on his tactical console to cease firing on all point defenses. “…Ceasing fire…one……jump.”
Nathan and Jessica watched the main view screen as a blue-white flash of light appeared between the Aurora and the upside-down battleship fifty meters above her.
“Resuming fire,” Luis announced as he reactivated the Aurora’s point-defense turrets. “Packers Three and Four, be ready to jump on my call.”
Nathan continued to watch as the troop jumper quickly rolled over and maneuvered upward toward the hull of the enemy ship, expertly placing the breach box attached to his stern over a clear section of the ship’s hull.
“Packer One, contact. Breaching now.”