by Ryk Brown
Loki nodded agreement. “I should get to the bridge.”
“I’ll go with you,” Abby said.
“But, shouldn’t you…”
“I’m staying, as well,” she told him, smiling.
* * *
“Flight ops reports that all the Nighthawks are away, and the last of the Gunyoki will be on deck within five minutes,” Naralena reported.
“Very well,” Nathan replied from the Aurora’s command chair. “Mister Canlis, how long until we have a full charge in the auxiliary energy banks?”
“Approximately forty minutes,” the navigator replied. “However, we already have enough power to make the jump to Orswella and back.”
“Thank you,” Nathan replied. “Any update from the Falcon?”
“Last report was twenty minutes ago,” Jessica replied from the tactical station. “The Dusahn battle group is maintaining the rate of deceleration. They should reach maximum orbital velocity in just over an hour.”
“Very well,” Nathan replied. “Set the ship to readiness condition one.”
“Condition one, aye,” Naralena replied.
The trim lighting around the Aurora’s bridge changed from blue to orange.
“Attention, all hands, set condition one,” Naralena announced over the ship’s all-call.
“Helm?” Nathan queried.
“Propulsion and maneuvering are green,” Josh replied. “Jump drive shows ready.”
Nathan glanced at the clock.
“Excuse me, Captain,” Abby called from the entrance.
Nathan turned in his chair, spotting Abby and Loki standing at the entrance.
“Request permission to assume our stations?” she asked.
Nathan smiled. “Permission granted.” He watched as Loki made his way down to the navigator’s station. “Nice to see you back, Mister Sheehan,” Nathan added as Loki passed.
“I hope you don’t mind, Jerry,” Loki said to Mister Canlis.
“Not at all, Loki. Glad to have you back where you belong,” the navigator said as he vacated his seat.
Josh watched Loki sit, beaming from ear to ear.
“What?” Loki asked.
“I knew you’d be back,” Josh replied as he monitored his displays.
“Oh, did you?”
“Abby?” Nathan queried as she took a seat at the starboard auxiliary station.
“I was sitting right here the first time the Aurora jumped,” she explained, “just in case something went wrong.”
“Yeah, and look what happened,” Jessica joked.
“Actually, that was the second jump,” Abby corrected. “And imagine how things might have gone had I not been there?”
“Good to have you,” Nathan agreed.
“Captain, all decks report condition one,” Naralena announced. “Flight ops reports that all departing vessels are away, and all Gunyoki are on deck.”
“Flight deck is red,” Jessica confirmed.
“Mister Sheehan,” Nathan called. “Plot a course to the Orswellan system, and prepare to jump.”
“Aye, sir,” Loki replied. “The entire distance in one jump?”
“Doctor Sorenson?” Nathan queried.
“I’m sure the system is good up to at least that far,” Abby assured him, “however, it wouldn’t hurt to conduct a few incrementally longer jumps along the way, just to be sure,” she added. “After all, we don’t want to accidentally end up a thousand light years away, now, do we?”
“We most certainly do not,” Nathan agreed. “Mister Sheehan, let’s try one hundred light years to start, shall we?”
“One hundred light years it is,” Loki acknowledged. “Course plotted.”
“Take us out of orbit, Mister Hayes,” Nathan instructed.
“Breaking orbit and heading for Orswella,” Josh confirmed.
“Jump plot loaded and ready,” Loki reported.
Nathan turned to look over his shoulder at Abby again.
“Everything looks good, Captain,” Abby replied.
“On course and speed for Orswella,” Josh reported.
“Mister Sheehan, execute our first jump,” Nathan ordered.
“Jumping one hundred light years,” Loki acknowledged, “in three……two……one……”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Jump three, complete,” Loki announced as the Aurora completed its longest jump yet.
“Threat board is clear,” Jessica reported.
“Conducting long-range scans,” Kaylah added from the sensor station.
“Any variance that time?” Nathan asked Abby.
“Negative, sir,” she replied. “The adjustments Commander Kamenetskiy made seem to have done the trick.”
“Then we can safely return to the Rogen system in a single jump?”
“If necessary, yes,” she agreed. “However…”
“I know, better to keep them shorter for now,” Nathan finished for her. “How long until we’re fully recharged?”
“Approximately one hour and forty-seven minutes,” Loki responded.
“How long until we can single-jump back?” Nathan wondered. “If needed,” he added for Abby’s benefit.
“We only used about twenty percent of an eighty percent charge,” Loki replied, “so, technically, we have enough to jump back, now.”
“So, on a full charge, we could jump nine hundred light years?” Nathan wondered in disbelief.
“Theoretically, yes,” Abby answered proudly.
“Well done, Doctor.”
“Thank you.”
“Long-range sensors detect no ships within five light minutes,” Kaylah reported.
“Launch the recon drone,” Nathan ordered.
“Recon drone away,” Jessica replied.
“Flight Ops, Captain, green deck,” he added over his comm-set.
“Green deck, aye.”
* * *
One by one, Gunyoki fighters began to lift off the Aurora’s midship hull, thrusting safely away before engaging their main propulsion.
Once those sitting on the hull were clear, the rest began filing out of all four openings onto the Aurora’s port and starboard flight decks, headed for their own rally points a few kilometers away.
* * *
“GHATAZHAK!” General Telles barked. “MOVE OUT!”
In two lines, all one hundred Ghatazhak soldiers, fully outfitted in level-three combat armor, filed out of the cargo bay they had been waiting in for the last hour. They jogged across the corridor, and into the storage hangar located directly below the Aurora’s main hangar bay, across the bay, and into the two waiting cargo shuttles.
After the last man had exited the cargo bay, General Telles and his second in command, Commander Kellen, nodded at one another, followed their men across the corridor and, eventually, up the ramps into their waiting shuttles.
The aft boarding ramp of General Telles’s shuttle began to rise as he reached the top. The back of the shuttle was packed, with twenty-five armed Ghatazhak lining each side of its cargo bay. The general walked through the center of the group of men as they fastened their restraints, exchanging confident nods with each man as he passed. Once at the front of the cargo bay, the general turned to face his soldiers. After tapping the comms controller on the side of his helmet to broadcast to all his men on both shuttles, the general spoke. “Once again, we are called to defend those who know not of us, but are deserving of our protection, nonetheless. We fight for freedom; we fight for honor; we fight for the Alliance. Most importantly, we fight of our own free will for that which we believe: no human shall be forced to serve an unwanted ruler. Being willing to fight, and die, for such a cause is what honor is all about, and it is my honor to lead you all. LONG LIVE THE GHATAZHAK!”
“LONG LIVE THE GHATAZHAK!�
�� his men proudly echoed.
“Long live the Ghatazhak,” the general seconded, taking his seat.
* * *
The large port transfer airlock doors slid open, revealing a pair of Reapers, which immediately began rolling onto the Aurora’s port flight deck.
Lieutenant Commander Manes steered his Reaper onto the port flight deck, and turned right, toward the gaping forward opening as his copilot completed their pre-launch checks.
“All systems are green,” Ensign Sell reported. “Flight, Reaper One, ready for departure.”
“Reaper One, Flight, cleared for departure, port forward.”
“Flight, Reaper Two, ready for departure.”
“Reaper Two, Flight, cleared for departure, port forward.”
“How you feelin’, Buzz?” the lieutenant commander asked as he pushed their throttles forward ever so slightly, causing them to rise up off the deck.
“Feeling good, baby,” Lieutenant Karimi replied from Reaper Two. “Got my best duds on and some rockets in my pockets.”
“Let’s go have some fun, shall we?” the lieutenant commander added as he accelerated his Reaper out of the front of the port flight deck. As soon as they cleared the opening, he angled his Reaper slightly to port, steering away from the Aurora as its bow slipped past them.
“Reaper One, away,” Ensign Sell announced over comms.
“God, I love this job!” the lieutenant commander exclaimed as he pushed his throttles to their stops.
* * *
“Jump flash,” Kaylah announced. “Recon drone has returned.”
Nathan stopped pacing and stepped over to stand beside Jessica and Commander Andreola at the tactical console. “What are we looking at?”
The images from the recon drone began popping up on the transparent display glass lining the front of the tactical console.
“The Jar-Razza is here,” Jessica said, pointing to the icon representing the old, Dusahn battleship. “High orbit over Orswella. Agosti One Four Seven is here, about one hundred million kilometers from Orswella. All three Orswellan cruisers are in orbit above the Agosti shipyard ring.”
“How big a threat are these ships?” Nathan wondered.
“None of our ships are a threat to you, Captain,” Commander Andreola assured him. “Our shields are not powerful enough, and our rail guns and plasma weapons are no match for your shields. These three ships are the oldest ships left. Just like the Jar-Razza, they were never fitted with jump drives, as they were deemed unworthy. In fact, the Dusahn planned to retire them just as soon as they built replacements. The only reason they fitted any of our cruisers with jump drives was that they needed a few more ships to fill out their own fleet, in order to invade the Pentaurus cluster. However, they kept these in reserve.”
“So, the Jar-Razza doesn’t have a jump drive, either,” Nathan confirmed.
“No, it does not. In fact, I’m not even sure how well it’s linear FTL system is working. It has been in the same orbit above Orswella since their arrival.”
“How do you know its weapons still work?” Jessica wondered.
“A few times per year, the Jar-Razza demonstrates their power by targeting unpopulated areas on Orswella.”
“If that ship hasn’t left orbit in twenty years…” Jessica began.
“They may not even be able to,” Nathan said, finishing her sentence.
“That rumor has been going around The Guard for years, but has never been confirmed,” Commander Andreola said. “The Dusahn do not let any Orswellans aboard the Jar-Razza.”
“Well, she still has full power,” Kaylah told them. “Scans show three active antimatter reactors and active shields.”
“Their shields are up?” Nathan wondered, suddenly concerned.
“The Jar-Razza’s shields have been up since the Dusahn left to invade the Pentaurus cluster,” Commander Andreola assured him. “They only bring down small sections at a time to allow for incoming traffic.”
“What kind of traffic?” Jessica asked.
“Shuttles, fighters, that kind of thing.”
“No octos?” Nathan asked.
“I am not familiar with this term,” the commander replied.
Jessica called up the specs on a Dusahn octo fighter on one of her screens.
“Ah, a Teronbah fighter. I can see why you call them octos. No, the Jar-Razza’s flight decks are not designed to accommodate Teronbah fighters. As I said, she is quite old.”
“But still powerful enough to keep all four of your cruisers from even thinking about turning against them,” Jessica pointed out.
“Again, it is not the Jar-Razza that my people fear.”
“Flight ops reports all Reapers are away, Captain,” Naralena reported.
“Very well,” Nathan replied, turning back to Jessica and Commander Andreola. “If most of their soldiers are gone, then your people may have even less to fear than before,” Nathan commented.
“I hope that is true,” Commander Andreola stated. “What happens if your people land and discover that the number of Dusahn troops on the surface is greater than they anticipated?”
“Worst-case scenario, they withdraw, and we attack them from the air,” Nathan explained.
“Will that not cause many civilian casualties?” the commander wondered.
“Yes,” Nathan admitted, “which is why it will be our last resort.”
* * *
Vol Kaguchi checked his flight displays as his Gunyoki fighter came out of the jump.
“Jump complete,” Isa announced from the back seat. “We are at our rally point.”
Vol said nothing, watching the tactical display as the other twenty-three ships in his squadron jumped in around him, still in proper formation. “Tekka Squadron, Tekka Leader,” he called, once his entire squadron had arrived. “Our target is the orbital shipyard ring around an asteroid called Agosti One Four Seven, located one hundred million kilometers from the system’s only inhabited planet, Orswella. According to the latest recon, there are four Orswellan cruisers guarding the ring. Their offensive capabilities are limited, but they do have shields and point-defenses so, make no mistake, they can kill us. Be swift, and do not remain within their engagement area for more than ten seconds.”
“What are the rules of engagement?” Dosne asked from Tekka Two.
“With the cruisers, defend only. Do not destroy them. Their crews are only serving to protect their families against retaliation by the Dusahn soldiers on the surface. Our target is that ring.”
“That’s going to make it interesting,” Damus commented from Tekka Three.
“Indeed,” Vol agreed. “Even more interesting is that, although not shielded, the ring does have its own point-defenses. However, they face outward, so attacking from the asteroid side is your safest bet.”
“How much distance between the surface and the ring?” Rodai asked from Tekka Four.
“Only ten kilometers,” Vol replied.
“Are you kidding?” Jenna wondered from Tekka Five.
“The ring is situated around the asteroid’s equator. We will be jumping in just above its poles and skimming the surface around to the ring. The asteroid is only sixty-two kilometers in diameter, on average, so it will take less than a minute to reach our attack point. Once the ring is destroyed, we turn our attention to disabling the cruisers.”
“What is Dota Squadron doing?” Sten asked from Tekka Six.
“They will be flying cover for the surface attack, in case the Dusahn battleship in orbit over Orswella launches fighters.”
“I’d rather be skimming an asteroid than dealing with octos,” Kiori commented from Tekka Seven.
“Apparently, there are no octos in this system, only the older fighters.”
“Are they jump-equipped?” Andrik asked from Tekka Eight.
&
nbsp; “Nothing currently defending this system has jump drives,” Vol replied.
“Can I request a transfer to Dota?” Dosne joked.
Vol smiled. “One minute to attack jump.”
* * *
“We’re at the jump point,” Lieutenant Latfee reported from the cargo jump shuttle’s cockpit.
“Understood,” General Telles replied as he examined the latest intelligence from the Aurora’s recon drone on the inside of his tactical visor.
“Did you notice the pattern of checkpoints in relation to stations?” Lieutenant Brons asked the general. “Each is positioned to easily reinforce four others within minutes. Very efficient.”
“No doubt necessitated by a lack of manpower,” the general commented. “According to Commander Andreola’s daughter, those checkpoints are not always manned.”
“If she’s wrong, we may have a problem on our hands,” the lieutenant warned.
“I am aware of the possibility,” the general replied. “That is why we are targeting selected checkpoints first, since they are the most likely to be manned.”
“According to the daughter of an officer who serves the Dusahn,” the lieutenant commented.
“It is an imperfect world, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant agreed.
“One minute,” Lieutenant Latfee warned.
“Regardless of what we find down there, it is good to have you back in action, sir,” the lieutenant stated.
“It is where all Ghatazhak belong,” the general replied.
* * *
“Second recon drone confirms original orbital track of the Jar-Razza,” Kaylah reported from the Aurora’s sensor station.
“Thirty seconds to attack jump point,” Loki announced.
“All weapons are fully charged and pre-aimed,” Jessica reported.
“All decks report general quarters,” Naralena added.