"Acknowledged, starting my final run," Dame told Ronin. For an instant Dame found herself thinking; why me? This wasn't the time for such a question. The Athens loomed. Out of the few cruisers at the rear of the Order lines, it was the one they decided to destroy. The mission counter told her it was time to activate her antimatter torpedoes, but she didn't need its advice, her thumb flicked the switch cover on her flight stick up and she pressed the button that would activate all of the antimatter generation systems inside her Hammerheads at once. In eight seconds there would be one gram of liquid anti-hydrogen inside each of them, in six more they would be launched.
There were steps to take before then. The Athens filled her cockpit view: a metal sky decorated with big double-barrelled cannons and several launch doors. The one in front of her was her prime target. If none of those bays opened in the next few seconds, that's where she'd send her Hammerheads. There was still a thin layer of shielding between her and her target, though. The rumble of her thrusters stopped as her ship hit the right approach speed and Dame let her tiny vessel drift on course.
The quiet lasted two seconds, then she launched four Burster missiles rapidly. The instant they were away she sent her ship sideways, blasting her thrusters at the highest setting possible for a cloaked fighter. The Bursters reached their target and started flaring, going off fifteen times before point defence guns took them out. There were scanners and people searching for her Uriel, alerted to the fact that there was something out there shooting at the soft side of the great ship Athens. They wouldn't have time to stop her.
A rift, a long opening was torn along the port side of the Athens weak shields. A launch door started to open. It wasn't the one she was targeting, but one further up the length of the vessel. With the help of the neural assist interface, she changed the target of her torpedoes to that spot, that crack in the door and launched them on time. In her peripheral vision she tracked their progress as they accelerated at incredible speed. Her focus switched to surviving the promised blast. Dame was confident that her aim and her timing was dead-on. The launch bay doors were half open, her torpedoes would skip right inside, travel for half a second then detonate inside the Athens' main hull. The only safe place was on the other side of the ship, and she pushed her fighter's thrusters so she was well on her way. Getting closer to something like that, an antimatter explosion, the ultimate expression of destruction, was counter-intuitive.
Many things that are mathematically perfect seemed to be against people's instincts, but she believed in what the computer told her. If she didn't, there would have been hesitation on her part, and even a second's worth could mean disaster. Ronin and Easy would launch their Hammerheads against their targets once the Athens was damaged or destroyed.
As her Uriel fighter streaked like a mad comet across the underside of the Athens, a hard flash of scanning energy blinded her scanners. The entire Order Fleet in the Haven System just pulsed their scanning systems in all directions. They were looking for cloaked ships. That kind of scan wave would reveal anything within a few hundred metres, maybe a couple kilometres if they were lucky, so it made sense for the Athens to do it, but every ship? It was a waste of energy.
All her pondering was interrupted as a blast of white fire went off inside the Athens, lighting large upper windows, cracking a field of armoured hull behind her, and utterly annihilating thousands of square metres of the vessel's internals. The port side of the ship was open to space, and its stronger shields, the sections of hull furthest from the explosion saved her from the blast. It wasn't her plan. It was Ronin's, and she would thank him for it, then ask him why the honour of carrying it out was hers.
A spray of white anti-fighter weapons' fire crossed in front of her, a few shots impacted on her shields. While she took a second to check the status of her cloaking system, Dame turned her fighter end-over-end. The Athens once again filled her view, only this time it was a ruined hell-scape of cracked ship armour and broken hatches. Another ship, not this broken thing, was firing at her with more than one anti-fighter turret, but her cloaking systems were working perfectly.
"They've cracked it," Ronin said. "They can see through our cloaking systems somehow. Get cover, Dame. Easy: finish your run on the Zero-Nineteen fast then find cover."
"My Hammerhead's away, heading to what's left of the Athens," Easy announced. "I hope the flash blinds their sensors long enough."
The carriers flanking the Athens were both struck by antimatter explosions, their shields already decimated by the blast of her Hammerhead strike. As Dame guided her fighter under the ripped edge of the Athens armour, finding safe haven from the anti-starfighter turret fire, her eyes widened at the sight of the broken decks and ruined internals of that ship. At a glimpse she could see the shadows of crewmen and women who were vaporized near the hardest internal supports. How that happened was a mystery to her, there should have been layers of metal between them and the direct blast, but the ghostly evidence of the crew was there, clear enough for her to see at a glance.
It took a moment for her to refocus, to start looking at her situation and get back to the work of devising a way to survive. The Order of Eden would send drones, fighters and gunships after her no matter how deeply she dug herself in. This wouldn't be a safe place for long. Ronin would probably have a plan, or at least an idea, but that didn't mean she shouldn't work on the problem herself before she heard his.
Twenty-Eight
Giant Hunters
* * *
The tactical map in front of Rear Admiral West Kenly flashed one more time than it should have. There was the expected flash as their network of scanning systems pulsed so they could detect anything trying to hide using cloaking technology. There was another, though. A big antimatter blast that followed it that came from the inside of one of their newest Cruisers, the Athens One. There was an instant when the ship could detect two cloaked torpedoes containing a gram of liquid antihydrogen before they went off deep inside the great ship's launch bay.
It was useless data, only confirming facts they already knew: Haven Fleet had powerful weaponry, and you couldn't let it get anywhere near your most prized assets. The knowledge didn't take the edge off the shock that had Kenly speechless as he watched the wrecked husk of the Athens One start drifting, inert. Two smaller flashes followed the first, and both the carriers accompanying the Athens were rendered useless. One was reduced to a roughly burned out shell as whoever launched their torpedoes at it got them into a hangar near the middle of the ship. The other carrier was simply blasted. The torpedoes went off metres away from the heavy armour protecting the port side of the bridge. The result? There was no longer a bridge. It, along with hundreds of square metres around it were annihilated by the point blank range antimatter blasts. They would be able to rescue some of the crew since hundreds survived, but far fewer survived on the other ships.
The suddenness of the attacks reminded him of a sparring match he'd had while he was training with the Aucharian Guard. His opponent, Nervil, wasn't spectacularly talented, so Kenly thought he had the bout under control. His blocks were timely and neat keeping his mediocre opponent at bay, then Nervil surprised him with a quick, wild jab that split his lip. The punch came so hard that he felt a couple bottom teeth loosen and he saw stars. It was a good lesson, one that he'd forgotten. Underestimating your opponent often resulted in an embarrassing, bloody failure.
Haven obviously guessed that the highest-ranking Order of Eden officers were aboard Athens One. It was in the middle of their formation, heavily armoured, and one of the newest large ships in their fleet. He was lucky they were wrong. He almost chose the Athens as his flagship after the destruction of The Shard on Tamber. The only reason why he didn't was because he wanted a ship with better faster than light systems.
The fighters that destroyed the Athens One and two of their carriers had been detected. Three Uriels did the dirty work, and they were coming together in the remains of their kill. Hiding in the corpse. It was di
fficult not to take it personally.
"Sir, there's a gap in the middle of our formation," Senior Commander Valerie Fetra said, approaching the wide command seat. "The fleet awaits your orders."
She didn't mention the cause of the gap, or the perpetrators. That was wise, there shouldn't be a need, it was the most obvious occurrence in the last ten minutes. Any commander who missed it wouldn't be worth the air they breathed. "Send Athens Two and Four into that gap and launch all our remaining fighters fleet wide. I don't care if you have to put janitorial staff in the cockpits, get them out there and get them shooting. It's time to clear the space between us and that circle of ships. I'm ordering our sacrificial destroyers in to ram the Sunspire now." His attention drifted to the group of Citadel ships that appeared on their tactical displays after the scan pulse. The new protocols revealed them as well as Haven ships. One of their vessels was as large as a major station, a bulbous circle shaped like a jellyfish with a closed bottom side that was over twenty-one kilometres across. He'd never seen such a ship unless it was owned by Regent Galactic or the Order. What do I do about that? They have a fleet that nearly equals mine. They could have brought this battle to an end but they've sent so little support. "Send a message to our Citadel friends: Assist with all your might or withdraw from the Haven System immediately."
"Yes, Sir," Senior Commander Fetra replied, dropping onto the command seat beside him and putting his orders through the system with practiced alacrity.
The trio of abandoned destroyers started accelerating towards the Sunspire from well behind the Order of Eden line. Order fighters had been trying to get heavy munitions through to that circle for long enough. Haven Fleet's pilots and point defence measures were too good, so no antimatter or nuclear bomb could get within effective range. The destroyers had a better chance, it was a good plan, and one that he didn't have to be financially accountable for if it went wrong. No one was aboard the ships either, the evacuation was complete and they were being guided by autopilot. The order to send the destroyers in came from above, so there was no restraint to his enjoyment as he watched them begin their short trip. The point of no return was eighty-four seconds away for the destroyers' ramming charge. He decided it was the perfect time to offer terms. "Haven Fleet aggressors," he said as he opened a broad channel from his seat. "You have one minute to cease fire and signal your unconditional surrender. We have lost enough today. I promise not to employ inhumane methods of torture and will treat your officers with respect if you surrender now. If you do not, then I can't promise you anything. I await your response."
"More than fair, Sir," Senior Commander Fetra said as she worked on her command panel.
"Would you surrender if you were on their side?" he asked, hoping for honesty.
She only looked up for a moment before shaking her head once, a brief jerk to the negative. "No, I don't think I would, Sir."
* * *
Dame watched her tactical display as clouds of vessels launched from every Order of Eden bay facing away from Tamber. Small ships burst from their bays like angry bees. A few were drones, but the majority consisted of a mass of small one-man fighters, heavier gunships, and armed boarding shuttles. A couple dozen were headed towards the remains of the Athens One. The sight of them on her tactical scanner, red dots swarming, threatening to overwhelm not only her, but the Haven pilots who were fighting so hard to defend their capitol ships, gave her pause, made her mind stop for a moment. If she left the cover of the massive cruiser, quick, deadly Order anti-starfighter guns would be able to take shots at her. If she stayed, remained under cover, she could kill several fighters before they outnumbered her then killed her. Surrender? There were terms, it was technically an option, but if they got her into a cell there wouldn't be much she could do to fight the Order. Bad conversation, misinformation and insults didn't make for the most effective arsenal, especially if they put a pain collar on her or something. No, the idea of surrender was nonsense at best, besides: she would never forgive herself.
Indecision and hesitation irritated Dame to the core, especially when she suffered from such afflictions. Ronin and Easy were on their way to the Athens, dodging as much anti-starfighter fire as they could, zig-zagging and sending enough energy to power a small city to their shields using their backup reactors and quad drives. She prepared to do the same and checked her guns, making sure they were ready to fire and running a diagnostic that would find potential jams. Everything was clear, and as she finished a thruster check, turning her fighter towards the opening that would take her out of the corpse of the Athens One, she asked; "We're fighting them here?"
Ronin replied after a moment, the sounds of a dozen other pilots talking in the background on another channel at lower volume under his voice. "Get ready to leave your hiding spot, Dame. Leave a Hammerhead behind. Set it to generate antimatter for sixty seconds before it blows. We can't sneak out, so we'll make some noise, try to scare the crap outta everything on this side of the field," Ronin said. "Oh, and leave the Hammerhead's cloaking systems off."
"Yes, Sir," she replied. It was opposite to her thinking. Fighters were small, even without cloaking devices you could trick big scanners into ignoring you if you drifted for long periods near inanimate objects. It was one of their advantages, especially when you could carry powerful bombs. Making a spectacle of yourself was often a huge mistake. Her rising fear started turning into excitement as she dropped a Hammerhead. It drifted down lazily, the long-armoured body slowly rotating as it floated away from the torpedo launcher with no power behind it. The plan was daring, exciting, and Dame found herself fighting giddiness, a sensation she'd almost never experienced in the cockpit of, well, anything. Is this something that happens to all of Ronin's wingmates eventually? A mad plan becomes the only option and your raw skill is tested while you are forced to follow one of his counter-intuitive plans? Perhaps I have much, much more to learn about strategy and being a pilot than I thought. Then again, this might be disastrous and I won't have to worry about learning anything. With a chuckle to herself, she started her fighter down the course that would lead her out of the husk of the Athens One.
The Hammerhead torpedo stayed in place, counting down, generating antimatter, and setting alarms off for hundreds of kilometres as sensors picked up the volatile, deadly substance. The effective radius of the bomb grew at an alarming rate, the line marking it on her tactical display chasing her fighter as she gained speed, flying around and between bent, burned and twisted parts of the ship. It would have been a thrilling challenge to have a dogfight in the wreck of the Athens. It was the largest cruiser she'd ever seen in battle, bigger in volume than any one ship in Haven Fleet other than the War Forge. The labyrinth would have been a great obstacle for any pilot who dared attack her while she used it for cover, and a thrilling challenge to her.
The wisdom of Ronin's plan became clear as she emerged from the wreck. Almost all the fighters moving towards her had turned away. It was obvious that they wanted to be as far away from that antimatter torpedo as possible. They moved on to the main dogfight instead, taking the long way around their own fleet. "How'd you know they'd chicken out?" Easy asked.
"It was a lot of things," Ronin replied hurriedly. "Fall in, we're taking a new problem on. Our capitol ship hunting trip isn't over, it's just getting harder. As soon as you start taking anti-starfighter hits, turn your shield regeneration cycle up manually."
"We could burn our emitters out," Easy retorted.
"Unless we're constantly taking fire. Just keep your thumb on the control. Keep adjusting it up and down depending on how badly you're getting hit. Welcome to advanced shield systems management," Ronin replied.
It would be difficult, Dame had never controlled how fast power was being fed to her shields manually before. Most pilots never did it because they didn't have a great excess of power to play with and for the reason mentioned by Easy. If you did have an extra reactor or two aboard, you could burn your emitters out, start a fire inside your sh
ip, and then your problems only multiplied. Missile lock warning alarms began to sound as she moved at speed towards Ronin who had turned his ship to chase three destroyers that were accelerating some distance away. Anti-starfighter rounds started streaking in angry white dots past her view, and as her shields took several hits, Dame planted the thumb of her left hand on a slider built into the throttle control. With a mental command, it became the manual control for her shield power system, and she turned it up, watching her shields recharge faster as they took dozens of hits from anti-fighter guns.
It was incredible, she felt indestructible as she launched countermeasures against the missiles flying after her. If the enemy stopped striking her shields, she'd have less than a second to turn the recharge rate of her shields down to fifteen percent, the rational level for a Uriel fighter loaded with so much power. One of the missiles struck her shields, turning her craft a few degrees, and it took her a few seconds to get back on course. By the time she looked at her shields, they were almost completely recharged. She moved the slider under her thumb up a few millimetres, heard the power systems around her moan ominously as more power was sent to her emitters, and then lowered the charge rate when the shields were back to one hundred percent.
A fighter almost surprised her, coming straight in, firing all four of its guns. Two of the enemy's weapons lashed at her shields with pulses of pure energy while the others fired slugs. It took her an instant to ensure her aim was true then she tried her new cannons for the first time. The standard weapons aboard Uriels were powerful, but the special weapons she carried fired larger shells made to pierce the shields and hulls of destroyer class ships. The feeling of the ammo feed running under her feet - a rapid rattling rumble - and the sound of her guns propelling their shells - a low, quick, rapid bark sound that repeated fifteen times a second - was thrilling, a feeling that must have been similar to sword and axe wielding ancestors as they took a heavy swing. It was almost overwhelming.
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 14 Page 23