From the Black (Free Fleet Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  It's not as if it's going to matter much to you. He said, that odd comforting and humorous tilt to his thoughts surprising him. “What are you gonna do? Not much you can do,” he said under his breath, if anyone had been looking at him they would have seen the sparkle of humour that passed through his eyes before he looked at his screens.

  He had a couple of days by his estimate, his guns needed to be fixed up, his people were engaged in fights inside Rosho, he saw as the doors to the breached planetary defence cannon battery blew out, Kalu going flying as modified charges followed them. Plasma scoured the area, more charges going further into the Kalu mass that was attempting to pass through their fallen brethren’s remainders.

  Silent explosions smashed into them, turning them into obstacles for those behind them.

  Now it was time for those damned shields.

  He stood, the noise making everyone look over as he marched to the shields command console, the shield officer moved out of Lifendi's way.

  “Alright, the shields aren't going to hold for long, Tactical I want you to get as many weapon systems as you can, back online and firing. Communications I want the powered armored Syndicate members to get out on the surface and clear the areas around those damned guns,” Lifendi said, cat calls of confirmation came back as each person issued orders to those they needed to.

  “Shields coming online in three minutes,” Lifendi said, a timer appearing on the main screen, he stretched his fingers, looking down at the shields console.

  He ran through reports, changed outputs and convergences, coverage areas changed and predicted outputs climbed up as he continued his modifications.

  “Ready?” Lifendi asked, his hands floating over the controls, the major adjustments were complete.

  “Good on tactical,”

  “Good on powered members”

  “Good on Shields,” Lifendi said, shunting power from power plants big enough to power Earth for years. The power plants fed him power as shields snapped into existence. Guns rammed backwards, their working parts open to their gunners as they rushed to get the weapons at full functionality.

  Kalu were mangled as they found themselves were a shield appeared. Kalu, unable to stop themselves were ripped apart by the magnetic forces of the shielding.

  These shields were made to take fortified bunker breakers, A few hundred Kalu running into them was like the rain off of an umbrella. The Kalu ships running into them were a different matter. While Lifendi had made a two tier defence with his most powerful shields protecting his weapons, he had his smaller shield generators project their field over a much larger area, making a shield over the batteries shields. They ripped Star Warriors and Destroyers apart, the shields shaking them apart on a molecular level.

  Ships that had been coming in to land, like the Kalu warriors on the surface of Rosho, found themselves running into a wall.

  The Kalu didn't react for some time, then the first lasers stabbed out, raking the shields. The rest seemed to understand, following up with their own lasers.

  “Tactical I want that damned Star-destroyer!” Lifendi yelled, his hands flying over his controls, reinforcing his shields, giving them everything that he could find to give them.

  Syndicates in powered armor opened up with their weapons as they got clear of the doors and hidden accesses, smashing into the Kalu that had been smashing Rosho's guns to gain entry.

  The Kalu took a few moments to understand what was going on. The Syndicates array of weaponry and liberal use of different and especially effective explosive ordinance kept them at bay as their own numbers increased on the surface.

  Lifendi shut down a sector's outer shields, putting the power into other shields in the area, and the under shields protecting the guns.

  The Kalu weren't firing on the under shields yet, there was still a number of Kalu inside. Fighters darted in, ramming themselves into the shields, Kalu warriors did the same. The under shields wouldn't take much under that kind of onslaught.

  Weapon systems were coming online quickly, reaching out at the Kalu ships that fired into Rosho's defences.

  Lifendi glanced upwards, the first breach at the planetary cannons was striking deeper into Rosho. There was now 14 other breaches, being big enough for a Kalu to get in, or a flood of them. A number of the airlocks and their tricks had also fallen.

  Lifendi grinned in a way that was everything but kind and humorous.

  Welcome to Rosho, and your deaths. He said mentally, looking back to his shields as he and the rest of the shield officers and personnel fought to give the batteries and Powered armor wearing people on the surface more time.

  The corridors of Rosho had been sown with traps of all kinds, Lifendi had let his people and their twisted imaginations go wild. Not even he knew the full extent of the booby traps.

  More cannons returned to their readiness positions, announcing their return to service by belching their deadly projectiles at their Kalu enemy.

  “Three outer shields lost in the north.

  “Two west,”

  “Five East,”

  “One South,” The shield officers said in business-like tones. They didn't have time to panic, they were like firefighters putting out twenty blazes at once, they didn't have the time to feel and care. That kind of pause could mean that they couldn't get to all of their fires.

  “That's what I like to hear!” Lifendi said, unable to keep the pride out of his voice, at that softness and praise, it seemed his officers worked even harder.

  Lifendi found himself let out a whoop, this was one of the greatest games he had played, the game of life and death, each side smashing the other, his people coming together, actually working to save one another instead of themselves.

  Oh what we could have done if we worked together! Lifendi thought with amazement.

  “We're up to half strength!” Tactical said, as if he didn't truly believe it. Rosho had lost a hell of a lot of guns, but she had a damned insane amount of them. She might streak atmosphere, her shields might be failing once again and the Kalu inside her armor. Yet she was one hell of a bitch, even this wounded, this battered, she showed the Kalu exactly why she had been called the deadliest stations in existence.

  At one time she had been the headquarters for the Planetary defence Forces, she had degraded in many ways, yet she had garnered more weapons, more offensive abilities. All of which the gunners of Rosho were pounding into the original creators greatest enemies.

  It's odd to think that someone stood right where I am, that had probably fought these creatures so many decades ago. Lifendi cleared those thoughts, he neither had the time, nor the want to open the dark locker of thoughts that came with those what ifs.

  The Kalu had their act under control it seemed, they focused their fire onto one outer shield and then another. They started falling faster.

  “Concentrate on the under shields,” Lifendi said, cutting a few shield generators off as he reset their coverage, snapping them into existence as close to the inner shields before they would interfere with one another.

  It didn't take long for those to fall.

  “We've cleared the inner shields, forces falling back,” The communications officer said.

  Guns were going for all they were worth, some of the ones with less critical damage were looked to before going back to firing.

  “I think we've suitably pissed them off and shown them just how we Rosho can be as unforgiving as the black itself!” Lifendi said proudly.

  He looked to his shields officer, they were bent over a command console, sitting around idly would have been as bad for them as everyone else.

  Now there wasn't as many shields to manage Lifendi glanced up at the star chart. The AI controlled ships powered as fast as they could for the jump limits, their hulls wrecks. He had no remaining fighters and while most of his power armor wearing Syndicate members had done well, some had let the Kalu in, instead of clearing their guns. There were more breaches, but more guns were firing.
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  “Southern battery four seems to have bagged that Star-destroyer for you Sir,” Tactical sounded thoroughly pleased with himself and his gun crew.

  “Give them my compliments Tactical,” Lifendi said, looking at the Destroyer which look as if someone had pounded its fighter bays up into its holding areas and command decks. Lifendi knew that those fighter bays had been ripped off by Rail cannon projectiles. That destroyer wasn't going anywhere.

  ***

  “Order the nearest Kalu ship to pick us up,” Orshpa demanded, this campaign had been a hellish one. Even he hadn't thought that this cursed station would take so many of his ships and fellow Kalu to defeat. As soon as it looked as if the Kalu were going to have some kind of advantage, these creatures pulled out a trick they had hidden.

  Orshpa raked his command deck in anger, his ships had been hit with three rail gun rounds, thankfully the cannons had been at their extreme ranges and angles. They had all hit the same area of his ship, ripping away his destroyer’s ability to hold fighters and his ships ability to move.

  Edvasho, following the silent clans be damned, honourable way of battle, charged with his forces through this equally damned station. He left cannons, power plants, shield generators and it seemed everything that could hurt Orshpa and what was left of the Fleet's ships.

  Thankfully Orshpa had seen to the training of the Kalu fighters, their work meant that the station's capabilities were much lower than their original strength. Though these cursed creatures kept repairing their systems just enough to get them firing again.

  “There are two Destroyers and a Star Warrior on their way,” Orshpa's talker said.

  Orshpa didn't even have to try to make up an excuse for Edvasho, the reasons he couldn't get to the damned station were pretty clear.

  Though this will be the last time that I fight under that damned Kalu. Now there will be no trickery, there will be no Ashota to tilt the fight. Orshpa said the name as if it was a curse inside his head.

  He let out a low rumbling growl.

  “Target those shields around their weapon systems, hit them with all we have left, pass onto the fighters that they are to leave nothing capable of so much as moving on that station's surface,” Orshpa's talker didn't even attempt to reply to his leader, the clearly hot blood lust making it clear to not draw any attention to oneself.

  When he was the rightful leader of the Kalu, then he would call forth the legions and ships he had built up as soon as Edvasho and Ashota were far away enough that even Ashota's dishonourable and treacherous ears and eyes couldn't reach them.

  Then Orshpa would have a war, a war that not even Edvasho or his pet Ashota could think of. Then he would show these creatures what a true Kalu leader was capable of.

  Orshpa took another angered look at the screen, the paths which now led into the station, the Kalu opened up new paths quickly now. Their trails looked like veins through rock. They were slow and steady, but it was clear to anyone that there would be one victor.

  Orshpa gave a satisfied noise at that, turning and heading to the rear of a command deck, sitting on the half of what remained of his star-destroyer wouldn't be the best for his health in a short time.

  The rest of the command crew followed shortly after, they wished to close with these tics embedded in rock, tricks and weapons. Though they also had a healthy understanding of what would happen to them if their leader thought that they weren't doing their duties to their best abilities.

  Dealing with battle was easier than the dark and deadly minds of Kalu leaders.

  ***

  The Intelligence department’s commander had finally decided to tell Cheerleader what the hell she and her team had found out from Lady Fairgate's slaves.

  “So what is it Quor?” Cheerleader said as the woman entered her office, waving the Intelligence commander's salute away.

  “Well we now have access to the entire Union FTL relays. Lady Fairgate had got most of them, but Resilient and War station had considerably more of it mapped out. Though they didn't have the new codes. Fairgate did, and her ex-slaves knew it. We're now connected to every system found by the Union,” The Intelligence commander said excitedly.

  “All of the Union?” Cheerleader asked, the program set up by Min Hae and then agreed on by Salchar, had connected most of the known inhabited planets together. There was still a number of places still without FTL communications. There was also systems that hadn't been contacted since the fall of the Union.

  “Well that and most of Kalu space. It looks like the PDF seeded a lot of relays into the systems so that their scout ships could report back, even if they didn't,” Quor's expression made it clear that most were not expected to come back from their missions.

  With the Kalu's abilities of acceleration it made sense that not many ships would be able to escape once detected. Their stealth abilities made it easy for them to spring a trap on any spies.

  Cheerleader leaned back her chair in thought, this was a great boon, though she wasn't the best person to understand the full abilities this extended reach would give the Free Fleet. A truly wicked smile crossed her lips.

  “Well I think it's about time that we surprised Min Hae for once,” she said, pushing herself out of her chair, Quor looked a bit apprehensive.

  “Oh come on, he doesn't bite-much,” Cheerleader said in response to Quor's hesitation.

  “Yes Commander,” Quor said, looking somewhat relieved.

  Cheerleader patted her on the shoulder as she walked out onto the bridge. Onur was off shift, meaning that Penelope was on.

  “Penelope, could you scan for Commander Bregend's FTL communications code,” Cheerleader said, Werv made to move out of her chair, Cheerleader waved him back into it as she leaned on the railing that broke the elevated positions of the commander and their second commander from the rest of the bridge.

  “Yes Commander,” Penelope said slowly, clearly not understanding why her commander wanted her to look for a FTL code that was deep in Kalu space. Though she was fresh off of her communication's course. One learned that Commanders, especially those that hung around Salchar, or had been part of the original twenty thousand that made up the Free Fleet, were damned crazy, in ways that usually paid off.

  The familiarly large form of Bregend filled the main screen, looking rather, confused. Almost as much as Penelope, he had at least more time trying to hide his thoughts. His confused look broke into his smile as he recognized the ship he was looking at, and a certain commander, looking like the proverbial cat that got the cream.

  “Cheerleader, it seems that I am at a loss,” he said.

  “Well you would be, being in the back end of the Kalu's yard,” Cheerleader said happily, dodging telling him just how in the hell she was connected to a FTL relay in Kalu space.

  “Just part of the job, are you going to skirt the point or tell me just why I am connected to a FTL relay in Kalu space?” He asked, raising an amused eyebrow, his mouth quirking in a smile.

  “If you could put the lovely Min Hae on, then I will let Quorn here explain,” Cheerleader said, as most eyes on the bridge, both Cheerleader's and Bregend's looked to the petite Sarenmenti that would have probably gone a brighter shade of red if her scales had allowed it.

  She didn't recoil away, but stood straighter at the attention.

  “Very well,” Bregend said, making it clear that he knew Cheerleader was making him wait, just to bug him.

  “Penelope, could you send Bregend an updated file on our current situation,” Cheerleader's playful tone fading away.

  “Yes Commander,” Penelope said, working on her orders.

  Min Hae's visage split the main screen.

  “This is a most, interesting surprise,” Min Hae said, his eyes and tone pointed. Cheerleader couldn't stop herself from grinning and winking at the two. Bregend rolling his eyes as Min Hae appeared to be rather amused.

  “Penelope's getting a file on what's gone on over here ready for you. In the meantime I will let Intell
igence Commander Quorn explain how we can talk,” Cheerleader said.

  Min Hae talked off camera for a second as Cheerleader moved out of the way for Quorn who took her position at the railing.

  “Thank you commander,” Quorn said to Cheerleader, who tried to give her the most confident look she could.

  “Commanders, with the capture of Lady Fairgate..,”

  ***

  It took a few minutes for Quorn to tell both Commanders how she had found out the information, answer any questions she was able to, then Cheerleader had taken over in giving both of them a summary of all she thought relevant. Penelope had got her report off and sent it to the other commander's, they had reviewed it, each asking a flurry of questions to Cheerleader.

  “Now I've finished on what's happened here, what's going on in Kalu space?” Cheerleader asked, her cheery mood fading as Bregend and Min Hae's expressions became dark.

  “Min Hae I think it would be best if you explain it,” Bregend said.

  “Thank you Bregend,” Min Hae said, settling into his seat, looking as if he was trying to figure out where to start.

  Best to start at the beginning.

  “We made the trip into Kalu controlled space without issue, mostly to Ashota's information,” He felt his face turn hard as he remembered those first scans.

  “Though it looks that even Ashota has not been the most informed on what has been going on. It seems that Orshpa, Edvasho's sub-leader is poised to take over the Kalu clans. His personal clans have taken over every inhabited system and started building ships. There are training camps on every planet for not just battle aged males. Females and even the children are being trained in the ways of war. Though children for the Kalu is an odd concept, they are younger than normal, though no less driven or adult in mind. This is something Orshpa has exploited. He has also banned fighting pits, this usually kills many of the Kalu in fights for supremacy. He has seen from Edvasho that having his people not fight and kill on another helps his numbers in battle, and their cohesion.