by Ryk Brown
“Shields at thirty percent!” Cameron warned.
“Incoming from starboard has ceased!” Jessica announced. “Channeling all power from starboard shields to port shields!”
Nathan’s eyes were locked on the starboard battleship they were about to overtake as the incoming fire from the port battleship continued.
“Dreadnought is translating upward,” Kaylah warned.
“Josh!” Nathan called. “Translate down to keep us out of that dreadnought’s line of fire, and roll to maintain firing angle with the port broadside cannons!”
“Translating down, and rolling to starboard, aye!” Josh responded as the Aurora continued to rock.
“Dreadnought has stopped her deceleration,” Kaylah continued. “She’s very to starboard, as well!”
“They’re trying to block our jump path!” Jessica warned.
“Port broadsides coming in range,” Cameron announce. “Give me four more degrees of roll, Josh!”
“You got it!”
“Don’t let them box us in,” Nathan urged.
“Not gonna happen, Cap’n!” Josh insisted.
“Firing port broadsides!” Cameron reported.
“Aft port cameras,” Nathan ordered.
The main view screen suddenly changed its view from facing forward to facing the port side, from the aft end of the Aurora, looking slightly upward at the massive warship. Flashes of red-orange lit up the screen as the Aurora’s broadside cannons walked a line of destruction up the starboard ventral aspect of the Dusahn battleship to port.
“Target one will have us blocked in fifteen seconds!” Kaylah warned.
“Jump point in eighteen!” Loki warned.
“Josh!”
“Recommend immediate two degrees of yaw,” the Aurora’s AI suggested.
“DO IT!” Nathan ordered.
Josh twisted his flight control stick a touch, released it, waited a second, and then twisted it back in the opposite direction to stop the yaw.
“Adjusting port broadside angles to same intersect point and range,” Aurora announced.
“What?” Cameron exclaimed. “I didn’t authorize that!”
“KEEP FIRING!” Nathan demanded.
Cameron pressed the firing button, opening up with the port broadside cannons again.
“Direct hit on their reactor bay!” Kaylah yelled. “They’re losing containment!”
“JUMP!” Nathan ordered.
A split second after the Aurora disappeared, in a blue-white flash of light, the Dreadnought did, as well. A moment later, the second battleship’s antimatter reactor lost containment and the entire ship became a brilliant flash of blinding white light. When the light cleared, the ship was gone, and the battleship three kilometers to port was at an odd angle to its course of travel, and large portions of its starboard side were missing.
“Damn that was close!” Kaylah exclaimed.
“What the hell happened?” Jessica wondered.
“Aurora’s suggestion of two degrees yaw, and aiming all four cannons on the same point and range, is what happened,” Nathan declared. “Hard to port, Mister Hayes. Bring us around for a fore-aft pass between targets two and four.”
“What?” Jessica wondered.
“The yaw brought our cannons in line with the target’s reactor bay,” Kaylah explained.
“And aiming the broadsides on the same point and range punched through their hull, straight through to their reactors,” Nathan added.
“She wasn’t supposed to have control over the broadsides,” Jessica objected.
“She didn’t,” Cameron realized, “at least not enough control to fire them, otherwise she would have.”
“No, she wouldn’t have,” Nathan insisted. “I didn’t authorize her to do so. Only the plasma turrets and rail guns.”
“Then how did she re-aim them?” Jessica wondered.
“She had access to their aiming motors for evaluation and testing during their repairs,” Cameron realized. “I guess we forgot to disconnect her from them.”
“Good thing,” Nathan said.
“Captain, I’m getting readings on the battle group, now,” Kaylah reported. “Targets three and five are gone.”
“You mean, they’re destroyed?” Nathan asked.
“No, I mean gone. Not a trace. Target three’s containment breach caused an antimatter event that not only erased what was left of both ships, but it severely damaged target two, as well.”
“How severely?” Nathan wondered.
“Massive sections of their starboard side are gone, like they were carved away with a knife. She’s venting atmosphere, and all her reactors have jettisoned their cores, as well. They’re on battery power, and life support is failing all over the ship.”
“Are you saying we just took out three battleships, in one minute?” Cameron asked in disbelief.
“Don’t forget about the two frigates,” Jessica added.
“Let’s not get too excited,” Nathan insisted. “There’s still a dreadnought out there, somewhere.”
“I’m searching for it, now,” Kaylah assured him.
“Turn will be complete in twenty seconds,” Josh reported.
“Reduce to one KPH,” Nathan ordered. “We’ll be passing that last battleship in the opposite direction, and I don’t want to pass by her so fast that we don’t have time to get a shot off.”
“Did you say one KPH?”
“One KPH,” Nathan repeated.
“One KPH it is,” Josh acknowledged, “although I’m pretty sure that’s going to be the slowest speed I’ve ever flown.”
“I’ve got the dreadnought,” Kaylah reported. “She only jumped out ten kilometers. She’s decelerating even harder now, to fall back to the last battleship.”
“What condition are the dreadnought’s shields in?” Nathan asked.
“Her forward shields are gone, as are her stern shields, and all of her port shields. Most of her other shields are intact and at one hundred percent power.”
“And the last battleship?”
“Port and starboard shields are down, from stern to about two-thirds up the ship, after which they are fully operational.”
“So, don’t bother taking a shot at her bow,” Nathan surmised.
“We could jump past, come about again, and come up from behind,” Jessica suggested. “It worked the first time.”
“It would take too long,” Nathan insisted. “We need to attack before that dreadnought gets close enough to defend it.”
“They can defend it from where they are,” Cameron pointed out.
“Not as well as if they were alongside her, serving as protection for one of her unshielded sides,” Nathan insisted. “Kaylah, how long until the dreadnought can get alongside target two?”
“Based on their distance and current rate of deceleration, two minutes and thirty-eight seconds,” Kaylah replied.
“Wouldn’t it be faster for them to turn around and go back?” Jessica wondered.
“It takes time for a ship that size to come about,” Cameron explained. “Falling back is faster.”
“Aurora, are you able to fire the port broadside cannons?” Nathan asked.
“Able, yes, but I do not have authorization to do so,” Aurora replied.
“You do now,” Nathan told her. “Add them to your list of authorized weapons to fire for this engagement.”
“Understood.”
“Josh, change course to pass on target two’s port side, same relative altitude,” Nathan ordered. “Loki, plot your jump to come out with our port broadsides even with her bow.”
“That’s not going to give us much time to shoot,” Loki warned.
“Aurora, how many rounds can you get off before we lose our firing angle on the port broadsides?”
“Based on your intended rate of closure, and planned jump arrival point, you will be limited to one round of triplets,” Aurora replied.
“Can you do that same trick a second time?” Nathan asked. “Punch them in the reactor bay?”
“Affirmative,” Aurora replied, “and with a forty-seven percent probability of success.”
“Is there any way to increase those odds?”
“Not without getting the enemy ship to slow down,” Aurora replied.
“Great, an AI with a sense of sarcasm,” Jessica commented.
“Sarcasm was not my intention,” Aurora stated. “I was simply pointing out that the speed of the other vessel is the biggest factor in the equation.”
“I was kidding,” Jessica explained.
“I’ll take those odds,” Nathan decided.
“One course to pass on the port side of target two,” Josh reported. “Crawling along at one KPH.”
“Attack jump plotted and ready,” Loki added.
“Are you ready, Aurora?” Nathan asked.
“Of course.”
“See, was I wrong?” Jessica asked Cameron.
“I should point out that most of our shields are still well-below fifty percent,” Cameron warned Nathan.
“Unless both ships hit us with everything they’ve got, and in the same shield section, we should be fine,” Nathan replied. “Jump us in, Loki.”
“Aye, sir. Jumping in three……two……one……”
One lone Dusahn battleship remained, escorted by the dreadnought still six kilometers ahead, and four kilometers to the battleship’s starboard side. Gunships that had scattered, in order to maneuver and combat the attacking vessel, were just now heading back to rejoin what was left of their battle group.
The Aurora appeared, from behind a flash of blue-white light, alongside the forward half of the Dusahn battleship, not more than five hundred meters off its port side. She opened fire a split second after coming out of the jump, releasing a single blast of four triple shots of plasma, all focused on the same point of the battleship’s port midship section. The balls of plasma slammed into the enemy warship’s hull, the first group of shots opening it up, and the following shots burrowing deep into the doomed vessel’s hull.
No sooner had the single round of triple shots left the Aurora’s broadside cannons, the Aurora, once again, disappeared behind a blue-white flash of light.
Seconds later, the remaining Dusahn battleship also disappeared, but in a brilliant white ball of light, erased from existence by the very technology that powered it, taking what was left of target two along with it.
“Jump complete,” Loki reported as the Aurora’s jump flash subsided.
“Where’s that dreadnought?” Nathan asked.
“Checking,” Kaylah replied. “They’re holding course and speed, sir.”
“Are they still headed for the Rogen system?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Helm, come about hard to starboard, and accelerate to match the Dusahn battle group’s last known speed,” Nathan ordered.
“Coming about hard to starboard and accelerating,” Josh replied as he increased power and began his starboard turn.
“What are you doing?” Cameron wondered. “The rally point is in the other direction.”
“We’re not done,” Nathan replied. “There’s still one more ship out there.”
“Yeah, the big one,” Jessica pointed out.
“Maybe we shouldn’t push our luck,” Cameron suggested.
“I agree,” Jessica said. “We’ve yet to get a clean look at that dreadnought. If it’s more heavily armored than their battleships, we may be biting off more than we can chew, even with half its shields down.”
“It’s still a direct threat to our allies,” Nathan pointed out. “All three of them.”
“There’s no way they’re going to press an attack against the Rogen system with one ship, even if it is a dreadnought. Not after losing six ships in four minutes,” Cameron insisted, “but they will stand and fight if you force them to.”
“That dreadnought is their flagship,” Nathan pointed out, “and I’m betting that Lord Dusahn, himself, is on it.”
“So what?”
“This is an opportunity to send him a clear message,” Nathan insisted, “one we may not get again. Worst-case scenario is we duke it out and end up retreating.”
“Or he jumps to the Rogen system and makes a bombardment pass over Rakuen or Neramese,” Jessica countered.
“In which case he faces about a hundred jump missiles with only half his shields to defend him,” Nathan argued. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
Cameron swallowed hard and replied, “I don’t have to trust you, Nathan. You’re the captain, and I’m your XO. And for the record, I do trust you.”
Nathan looked at Jessica.
“You know damn well I trust you,” she told him.
“Turn complete,” Josh announced. “We are on the same course as the dreadnought, same speed, two hundred meters above it.”
“Very well,” Nathan replied. “Loki, plot a jump that puts us ahead of that dreadnought, with one kilometer of space between us.”
“Aye, sir,” Loki replied, exchanging glances with Josh.
“Spin us around one-eighty, and be ready on all forward tubes,” Nathan added, “full power triplets. Do not fire unless ordered and, if so ordered, don’t stop until that ship is obliterated.”
“Josh turned slightly, glancing over his shoulder at Nathan, unsure of the sanity of his orders.
“It’s all right, Josh,” Nathan assured him, winking.
“Yawing one-eighty,” Josh acknowledged, starting the maneuver. “Standing by to blast the shit out of them with all forward tubes.”
“Close enough,” Nathan said. “How are our forward shields looking?” Nathan wondered.
“About eighty percent right now,” Jessica replied. “I can steal power from our other shields to boost them if you’d like.”
“Better keep them as they are,” Nathan decided. “The last thing we need is for a few gunboats to sneak in and sucker punch us while our guard is down.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Jessica said with a sigh. “I can’t believe we’re going to do this,” she whispered to Cameron.
“After all the shit he’s pulled, this surprises you?” Cameron replied.
“Good point.”
Nathan rose from his command chair, turning around to look aft. “Everyone ready?”
“If I said no, would that stop you?” Jessica joked.
“Let’s finish this,” Nathan said, turning around to face forward again. “As soon as we jump in, translate down as quickly as you can, Josh. I don’t want them jumping before they hear me out.”
“Assuming they don’t blast the shit out of us, first,” Josh muttered.
“Execute your jump, Mister Sheehan.”
“Jumping in three…”
“Pre-aiming all gun turrets forward,” Aurora announced.
“Two…”
“Good idea,” Nathan agreed.
“One…”
“Here goes nothing,” Nathan stated, mostly to himself.
“Jumping,” Loki said as the Aurora’s jump flash lit up the bridge.
Josh immediately sent the Aurora translating downward. “Oh……my……God,” he exclaimed as the massive dreadnought slid up in front of them, filling the entire view screen. “That thing is huge.”
“We’re being targeted!” Kaylah warned.
“Hail them on all channels and frequencies,” Nathan ordered.
“Hailing on all channels and frequencies,” Naralena answered.
“Be ready with an escape jump if needed,” Nathan told Loki.
“Are you kidding,” Loki
replied.
Nathan glanced at the helm, noticing that Loki’s finger was already hovering over the jump button.
“Their guns are coming around to take aim at us,” Cameron warned.
“They’re scanning us,” Kaylah reported. “Jamming…”
“Negative,” Nathan ordered, “don’t jam them. Let them see what they’re facing.”
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” Jessica said. “Those guns will take down our shields with a single shot.”
“Any response?” Nathan asked, looking back at Naralena and ignoring Jessica.
“Nothing yet.”
“Well, they’re not firing, so they must know we’re hailing them,” Nathan surmised.
“I’m getting detailed scans on that ship,” Kaylah said. “They’re not bothering to jam us either.”
“Anything interesting?” Nathan wondered.
“So far, only that Captain Taylor was right, their hull is extremely well-armored.”
“Are you telling me we can’t blast our way through their hull?” Nathan asked.
“No, we can, but it’s going to be a lot more difficult than those battleships. They were completely dependent on their shields. It’s almost like they skimped on the hull skin when they built them.”
“I’m getting a response to our hails, Captain,” Naralena announced. “They’re attempting a vid-link.”
“Put them up,” Nathan instructed, turning forward again.
“You are either a fool, or…” Lord Dusahn began.
“I did not call you to exchange insults, sir,” Nathan interrupted. “Stand down now, and withdraw your forces from the Rogen sector, and we will allow you to depart without further damage.”
Lord Dusahn laughed. “You have but a single warship and are grossly outgunned.”
“Yet, this single warship just took out four of your battleships, and two frigates, all without a single scratch on our hull…at least, not a new one,” Nathan said. He suddenly held up his right hand and said, “Wait, I miscounted, we took out five of your battleships, not to mention four cruisers.”
“What are you talking about?” Lord Dusahn demanded.
“Have you heard from the Jar-Razza lately?” Nathan asked.