Crineal Chronicles 1: In Hera's Service

by Raymond L Jennings

“Zeus, this is Olympus Control. Devastator force has jumped early. Instructions?” Ken’Rathel’s voice sounded both irritated and tense.

  “This is Zeus, no time to change the jump now. We’ll wait for the preset mark and follow the plan.” The display read forty seconds.

  “Roger that, Zeus.” Ken’Rathel said in a tight voice.

  The clock ticked down and the rest of the task force jumped leaving the auxiliaries and their escort alone in the void.

  Vice Admiral Arizankis stood on the bridge of the Devastator waiting for the jump to be initiated. He thought Crineal and Ken’Rathel were cautious fools and he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t been given command of this task force. Arizankis supposed it was because Ken’Rathel was a noble and Crineal was Sar’Clax’s lap dog. Once they jumped and engaged the rebels he’d show them what a properly commanded strike force could do, he thought.

  At ninety seconds to go on the countdown a hidden subroutine in the data package on the Devastator activated and overwrote the jump instructions before retransmitting them to the rest of its strike force. Thirty-two seconds later the Devastator and its consorts jumped.

  Vice Admiral Arizankis wasn’t paying attention to the countdown when the jump occurred, but he knew that something was wrong even as the alarms started to blare out. Captain Enalamon of the Devastator may have been a vicious martinet, but he was also sharp and took in the situation in a moment as the strike force reappeared in normal space. They were inside the rebel perimeter and on top of one of the cruiser squadrons.

  There was no hesitation as he gave the first order of the battle. “Gunnery, open fire on the nearest enemy cruiser,” Enalamon commanded before turning to Arizankis. “Admiral, something has gone wrong. I suggest that all ships open fire and we should try and fight our way out.”

  Arizankis stood in shock for a second then nodded and activated his comm. “All ships open fire, target the nearest cruisers.”

  Thankfully, all of the weapons stations on the imperial capital ships had been powered up and were ready to seek out targets. The rebel cruisers proved to be slower, due to the total surprise of an Imperial strike force appearing in their midst, and the carrier and its escorts got in the first blows. Enalamon studied the tactical display. One of the destroyers had been lost already as it jumped into the space occupied by a rebel cruiser. Both ships had disappeared in a huge explosion that lit up the surrounding squadron. The carrier’s heavy laser batteries tore through another rebel cruiser, battering aside its shields and ravaging the hapless ship before it blew up. Devastator’s three cruiser escorts concentrated their fire on a third rebel cruiser and its engines blew apart under the barrage sending it tumbling through space as a dead hulk. The strike force’s destroyers split their fire between the remaining two cruisers in the enemy squadron. Although the weapons they carried were less powerful, there were ten of them each firing on a single cruiser. The shields on one failed and laser fire scoured away weapon mounts and blew holes in the ship, leaving it a wreck. The other suffered a spot failure in the shielding around its power core; the cruiser was vaporized as the core exploded. The battle had been going for less than ten seconds and the rebels had lost five cruisers in return for one destroyer.

  The base defense systems had already begun to react and the big emplacements swiveled their guns one hundred eighty degrees to target the Devastator. They locked on and opened fire. The carrier shuddered under the onslaught, its shields weakening. One of its destroyers caught a massive laser bolt amidships and broke in two. The other ships in the force were also taking hits and their shields were flaring as the rebels started to hit back. Devastator’s small craft found themselves in the worst position. They weren’t designed to stand up to even destroyer fire and now they found themselves at rest and trying to power up their weapons whilst in range of the cruiser squadron’s destroyer screen. As soon as the rebel destroyers recovered from their shock, they opened fire. The only thing that spared some of the Imperial fighters and bombers was the fact that a lot of the fire was directed at the carrier and its escorts. Even so, the wings were decimated as they fought to put distance between themselves and the big ships. The Devastator was now taking serious hits as it turned its fire onto the surrounding rebel destroyers. The smaller rebel ships took heavy damage from the carrier’s guns, leaving them wrecks or totally destroyed; but the Devastator was starting to fail. Laser batteries were falling silent as they disappeared under the pounding of the rebel fire. One of the cruisers was drifting dead in space; its systems completely knocked out. Another vanished altogether as a shot from one of the fixed defense cannons punched through its weakened front shield and tore through the ship lengthways, blowing it into small pieces. As explosions ripped at the Devastator, no one on the bridge noticed the countdown timer hit zero.

  The rest of the Imperial task force appeared as scheduled outside of the rebel perimeter. The guns of the fleet were already locking onto the fixed defenses as planned and the bombardment rolled out like a tidal wave of destruction. The nearest rebel emplacements never had a chance. They were locked on to the Devastator, and before they could retarget, they were blown apart as the kinetic rounds hit them with massive force. Those further away did manage to return fire before they too were destroyed; but their response was light and only a few shots got through. Crineal saw the Annihilator take a hit on its port side and one destroyer near the Cataclysm blow apart as a rebel heavy cannon found its mark. His fighter wings gunned their engines and followed the opening strike in as the task force behind them started to pick off the remaining emplacements. The Axes that were patrolling the perimeter had turned inwards to deal with the Imperial fighters from the Devastator force and were now out of position as the task force’s Hunters roared in behind them launching a blizzard of missiles. Crineal checked his display as they released. Two wings of Axes scattered around the perimeter in squadron-sized formations; no sign of any Archers yet but he’d bet they were at the dockyards arming up. He spared a moment to look at the status of the Devastator strike force. All three cruisers were either totally destroyed or wrecks; only two destroyers were still firing and they were under heavy attack; and less than fifty of the small craft had survived. As he watched, the Devastator took one last hit and exploded in a tremendous fireball, the expanding sphere of debris adding to the wreckage in the area. She had died well though, Crineal thought, an entire cruiser squadron destroyed and other ships damaged. Ironically, the worst ship in the fleet was going to be known for a heroic last battle. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the fight. The missile attack had almost totally destroyed the Axes that had been on patrol but more were launching from the dockyards and cruisers. However, right now the way was clear for the Star Bolts behind Crineal’s Hunters to launch their torpedo attacks against the remaining rebel capital ships. Three of the five wings each targeted a cruiser squadron whilst the remaining two picked out the orbital dockyards. The Star Bolts were similar to the Hunters in shape but somewhat bulkier because of their two missile pods. Each pod held six energy torpedoes giving the Star Bolts a huge punch against capital ships. The torpedoes flew from the bombers and locked on to their targets. The rebel ships’ point defense systems were good, but totally overwhelmed by the weight of fire. A lot of the torpedoes were destroyed, but more than enough made it through and the enemy cruisers and destroyers started to take hits. One by one, the rebel ships were being smashed into scrap metal. Crineal led Hera Squadron in to engage the newly launched Axes in his assigned sector. Three survivors of the patrolling Axes were trying to head for the cover of their big ships, but Lambda Flight got there first and opened up with a laser salvo. The Hunters’ fire crisscrossed the three fleeing ships and they all seemed to blow up together. As the four fighters from Lambda pulled away from the wreckage, the nearest rebel destroyer, badly hit and burning, got off a last shot before blowing up. The long range laser bolt squarely caught the underside of one of the Hunters and Lambda Leader vanished, Captain Hu
garl never knowing what hit him. Crineal cursed at the bad luck and toggled his comm.

  “Lambda Three, this is Delta Leader. Muscovy, you take over Lambda flight.”

  Muscovy’s voice came back solemnly. “This is Lambda Three, roger that Delta Leader.”

  Crineal could see the dockyards light up with explosions as torpedoes began to strike. A transport left one of the hangers and boosted away from a disintegrating dock. He spotted three more transports lifting clear of the asteroid base. Crineal changed frequencies.

  “Ares Leader, this is Hera Leader. Stop those three transports launching from the surface.”

  “Roger that, Hera Leader.” Major Jolienze’s soft voice replied.

  The rebel Axes that had launched were trying to make an organized attack but their command structure had been shattered and they came in piecemeal. Those that faced Hera squadron scored some hits against Crineal’s fighters but no kills. The Axes were badly outnumbered and were quickly wiped out. One squadron of rebels had peeled off and was trying to provide an escort for the transports. Half of them went to the one leaving the disintegrating space dock, the other half to cover the three ships launched from the base. Ares Squadron fell on the latter formation and tore it apart before targeting the transports. Two of them blew up under the assault but the third drifted dead with its engines knocked out. A squadron from the Ragnarok intercepted the other transport and its escort. A few minutes later the rebel formation was a floating cloud of wreckage; not one ship had survived.

  Crineal fixed his attention back on his tactical display. One rebel cruiser was attempting to flee, but torpedoes from the Cataclysm’s bomber wing were homing in her. Crineal saw one rebel destroyer manage to jump out but not before being heavily damaged. Crineal wondered if it would complete the jump intact. Apart from the Devastator strike force, the Imperial losses had been light. One hit to the Annihilator and two on the Armageddon, nothing critical. Three destroyers had been lost. Two cruisers were badly beaten up but still space worthy. Several other ships had been hit; however, the damage to them was minor. He checked the fighter wings. Apart from Captain Hugarl they had lost only fourteen ships, twelve Hunters and two Bolts. The rebels’ mobile forces were destroyed and the Imperial carriers were starting to launch the marine assault craft as they entered the rebel perimeter.

  “This is Zeus. Annihilator Flight Wings Artakon and Betalt form on me to provide escort for the transports. Cremar Wing continue to cover the bombers. Drelfor Wing sweep our assigned sector. Ares Squadron, continue to watch for attempts to escape.” Following his orders, the Annihilator fighter squadrons moved to their assigned tasks. Crineal’s two flight wings shepherded the assault craft down to the base and then peeled off to provide cover as the transports landed and disembarked their troops. Crineal checked his displays once more and then called the Annihilator.

  “This is Zeus to Olympus Control. Request permission to detach a Ranger from Hermes to bring up the auxiliaries so they can assist with repairs?”

  Ken’Rathel’s voice answered him. “Permission granted, Zeus. How does it look down there?”

  “The space above the base is quiet. I’m guessing you know more about the marine assault than I do right now.”

  “Resistance is heavy, but the teams are grinding forward. A few rebels are surrendering but most seem to be fighting to the death.” The admiral’s tone was grim.

  Crineal had a nasty suspicion why the rebels were fighting. “Admiral, request that we move to a maximum security channel please?” He waited whilst Ken’Rathel changed to a more secure link.

  “Alright, General. We’re good. What’s this about?” the admiral asked curiously.

  “Sir, please put a call through to Space Corps HQ using channel beta zed six nine zed alpha. Ask for Lieutenant Penningal and tell him that it’s a Purgatory team request. This is urgent, Sir. I have to ask you to do this immediately.”

  There was silence on the other end of the comm for a minute before Ken’Rathel spoke again. “It’s done, Crineal. Would you mind telling me what’s going on and what the blazes is a Purgatory team?”

  “I’m sorry, Sir. If you don’t know then I can’t tell you. You’ll have to trust me that this is important. If HQ wants you to know then you’ll be read in to it. Once the marines have secured the base, it should be quarantined and any prisoners kept in isolation. They are not to be interrogated and all data systems are to be left untouched.” The Purgatory Teams were specialists from Intel tasked with tracking down the rebels responsible for the torture ships. Even knowledge of their existence was limited to just a few people outside of HQ. Generally each strike force had one or two officers who were aware of the situation and would advise the fleet’s commander when needed.

  “All right, Zeus. I swear, Crineal, you know more about this fleet than I do. Olympus Control out.”

  Crineal switched frequencies once more. “Hermes Leader, this is Hera Leader. Please detach one of your pilots to fetch the auxiliaries to us, please.”

  “Roger that, Hera Leader,” replied Major Venace and a minute later one of the scout ships disappeared from Crineal’s display. The general relaxed into his couch to wait the last couple of hours before being able to return to the Annihilator.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Cyndora wasn’t really looking forward to a night aboard the auxiliary Forge to say the least. She and the other assistants were taken to the Forge’s rec dorm where a number of extra cots had been placed to supplement the existing facilities. Cyndora and her three friends picked out four beds that were next to each other and tried to make themselves comfortable despite the crowded conditions. Cyndora put down her bag and her small purse. She’d been so upset she hadn’t even looked at what Crineal had packed into the bag.

  Jaydea sat down next to her. “So that was the general, huh? He seems a little short for a Galactic. Kinda cute, though.”

  Cyndora rested her chin miserably on her drawn-up knees. “He’s from Earth.”

  “He is? I thought I recognized the accent, but I didn’t know there were many Earthers in the Space Corps, never mind as generals.” Jaydea brushed Cyndora’s hair back from her face as Marshalla and Xianing moved closer to offer their support. “Don’t worry, girlfriend. He’ll be ok.”

  Xianing nodded. “He’s got to be. No one else ever made me feel like I meant something since I came aboard ship.” She patted Cyndora’s shoulder reassuringly.

  Cyndora sighed. “I know. His pilots all adore him, too. He’s a good man.” She pulled the heavy bag towards her and opened it to look inside. Crineal had packed it with chocolate bars, a few make-up kits and some lipsticks. Jaydea and Marshalla took a look, too.

  “Blazes!” Marshalla exclaimed. “He’s trying to make sure ya don’t need for anything for a long while if he don’t come back.”

  Cyndora closed the bag for a moment, lost in thought. “Well, I don’t need it because he’s coming back,” she declared stubbornly. “Marsh, how many people do you think there are in this dorm?”

  Marshalla looked around. “I dunno. Maybe about a hundred?” she replied trying to assess the number of milling assistants.

  Cyndora did a quick count of the bars. “Ok, you take two bars each and then Xian, if you could get me half a dozen trays from the mess hall? And you two can help me break up these remaining bars into thirds.” Xianing trotted off to get the trays whilst Cyndora and the other two began breaking up the chocolate. When the oriental woman returned with the trays Cyndora started laying out the pieces on them. Once that was done she stood on her bed, her feet balanced on the frame for support.

  “Quiet everyone!” she yelled. “I have free chocolate for you all courtesy of General Crineal. If you’d like some please form a line at my bed.” She stepped down as the other assistants started to queue up.

  Jaydea grabbed her arm. “Are you crazy, girl? You’re going to give this stuff away?”

  Cyndora turned to Marshalla. “What’s the most important thing in t
he dorm, Marsh?”

  The dusky woman nodded her understanding. “Share what ya got. She’s right, Jay. I bet the general would like this, too.”

  Xianing was already standing with a tray handing out pieces. The assistants nodded their thanks to Cyndora as they took their share. Some knew who she was and thanked her by name. Marshalla, Xianing, Jaydea and Cyndora stood there handing out the precious chocolate until only a few pieces were left. Everyone was sitting around the dorm room carefully savoring the candy. The four friends finished up the last pieces between them. Cyndora looked at the make-up kits and lipsticks that remained in the bag. She tipped them out onto the bed. There were five make-up cases and about a dozen lipsticks.

  “Ok, share these out between you,” she said.

  Marshalla looked at her. “Are you sure, Cyndy? You might need these.”

  “No,” she said defiantly. “No, I won’t.”

  During the evening some of the assistants from the Forge came over to thank her again, having found out who she was. Her three friends sat around her to make sure she wasn’t unduly troubled by anyone and they helped to answer some of the questions the people from the Forge had about Crineal and what had been happening in the Annihilator’s rec areas following Commander Del’Tarim’s arrest and trial. Eventually the visits tapered off and the four of them tried to settle down to rest.

  Marshalla chuckled. “You know you just added another bit to the general’s legend and your own? Soon every assistant will want on the Annihilator.”

  Cyndora thought about that a little. “You heard what he said. He wants to make sure all assistant rights are enforced. I think things are going to get better for everyone.”

  On the far side of Marshalla, Xianing spoke up. “She’s right, Marsh. I wouldn’t bet against the general. I think he’ll make sure everyone’s treated right.”

  Cyndora tried to fall asleep but she was worried about tomorrow. Mainly it was for Crin, but Fel, Saphy and even Major Strieger were in her thoughts. They would all be in danger. Cyndora shifted restlessly on the bed until she felt someone cuddle up behind her with a sigh.