Star Crusader: Siege of Kalar

  “One day, do you think you could bring a bird back that’s undamaged?”

  Valdis smiled, baring her teeth, but Nate did nothing. He was confused by the semantics, and looked back to Valdis, returning his gaze to Cassandra. A bird normally referred to a fighter in Navy vernacular. But there was also the colloquial name bird, used by those from Terra Nova and some of the other colonies, referring to the female partner or girlfriend. Before he could say anything, Cassandra winked at him and moved inside. As she went to sit down, the ship shuddered violently. Nate staggered as it moved, throwing many of the crew about. Not one fell, though a large metal unit filled with parts did break free of its clamps, spilling its contents over the floor.

  “What’s going on?”

  Valdis moved her feet further apart, adjusting her balance to stay upright.

  “Maybe our friends have arrived.”

  Nate swallowed uncomfortably at hearing that. And when the battlestations alert sounded, he felt his heart beginning to pound.

  If the enemy has found us, then this will be the end. With no way to escape, we will be left with just two options. Stand our ground and fight, possibly to the last ship, or surrender and move to a life of incarceration, or worse. I’m not surrendering to them.

  Nate’s face tightened as he imagined their last moment, but then the loudhailer system activated. His body tensed, and he waited for the words that would potentially mark their final moments in this unknown area of empty space.

  “This is the Captain. Nacelle repairs have been made, and the engine systems are back on-line. Byotai ships are in position and ready.”

  Nate gulped and almost started panting with relief. He suddenly felt self-conscious. He looked up, expecting to find the others looking at him, but they were watching the screens. They showed the other ships in the fleet, and Nate relaxed at seeing the Byotai ships piggy-backed over the Alliance vessels.

  “We jump out in sixty seconds. Batten down the hatches and get your gear ready. Next stop is the Fiorr Veej System, and if our information is correct, we will be there before the fighting can start.”

  Valdis grabbed Nate by the shoulders.

  “Finally we will meet our enemy and end him, once and for all.”

  Nate looked at her and shook his head.

  “Yeah, we’ll meet them all right.”

  He then remembered he’d left his sidearm back in the cabin. It was minor in the scheme of things, but he wanted to be one hundred percent ready when it came to the real fight.

  “I need to get something.”

  Valdis watched him go. She started to laugh as he reached the door to the first passageway.

  “Don’t take too long. We’ve got a party to get to.”

  Valdis turned away and headed right for the technicians and deck crew working on the fighters. She found the one Cassandra had been speaking to and interrupted him.

  “The third fighter. Can…”

  The man lifted a hand while pulling out a complicated tool system from a container.

  “Yes…it will be ready. Just give my people space.”

  Valdis nodded politely and stepped back, saying no more. She looked to the deck and watched the Byotai pilots move around their Hawkmoth fighters. They checked for signs of damage, as well as helping the Alliance crews reload the weapon systems. Luckily for all of them, the Alliance and the Byotai had agreed to some standardisation, including compatibility between ordnance hardpoints.

  “Engines are powering up,” said the voice from the speakers, “Jumping in five, four…”

  Valdis stepped to the side of the deck and placed a hand on a grab rail, just in case. There was no shudder, though she was sure she could feel something deep inside her skull, resonance, or perhaps a magnetic field interfering with something else. She watched missiles moved into position, licking her lips as they were raised up to the underside of the fighters.

  The fight has finally come. Now we will get our revenge.

  * * *

  Alliance Armoured Assault Ship 'ANS Relentless'

  Fiorr Veej System, Deadlands

  4 Hours Later

  Captain Olga Galanos rubbed her eyes and then yawned for what must have been the tenth time. It was not just that she was tired, though that was certainly very true. The real cause was the stress on her body and mind. Patrolling this sector had proven incredibly difficult over the last week, with constant drills and false alarms. Several attempts had been made into the System, and each time the Alliance flotilla had beaten it back. They were small assaults, just enough to force a response, but little more. Captain Galanos was sure this was a policy intended to keep them pinned in the area, but there was little else they could do other than blockading this point. There was only one other route into the Alliance, and that was via the Tenth Quadrant, a place guarded by General Makos and his rebel Byotai.

  ANS Relentless was part of the vanguard, a single formation of ships that changed daily and waited near the battered, but still functional Warbarge ANS Promethium. Relentless was perfect for this role, and with her contingent of fighters and gunships well placed to lead the defence. That, combined with her formidable battery of defensive weaponry, made her a tough and dependable vessel this close to the Rift. She was not alone and accompanied by another six warships in the immediate area. A short distance away were three powerful Liberty Class destroyers; two equipped as fleet defence variants, and one as a missile destroyer. A pair of fairly modern Helion heavy cruisers was in attendance to provide greater firepower. Not as tough as the Alliance ship, the remaining Helion vessels in existence were fast and carried an array of deadly missiles and torpedoes.

  It was a powerful force, and more than capable of handling a dozen ships before reinforcements could arrive through the Rift, especially with the mighty ANS Promethium as guardian. Admiral Churchill kept the rest of the fleet pulled back into the middle of the System, where they could move in to assist the others, or pull back if the situation demanded it.

  “Sir!” said the tactical officer, “Something at the Ararrh Rift.”

  Captain Galanos sat up straight and moved to the central display unit. There were eight officers including her near it, and all of them stared at the new contacts with interest.

  “Confirmed, our sentry buoys report approaching vessels. All show signs of combat damage, as well as substantial numbers of passengers on board.”

  “Are they hostile?”

  The tactical officer hesitated before answering.

  “Unknown, Sir, but trajectory analysis confirms they have passed through the enemy fleet massing in the Ararrh System.”

  “Then it has to be the enemy. They would never let friendly forces through unscathed.”

  With that, she hit the battlestations override, triggering alarms through the ship.

  “This is the Captain. We have ships entering our area of control. Activate defensive measures! Pilots, prepare to launch. Wait for the CAG.”

  She nodded to her communications officer, who sent word directly to the pair of T’Kari light cruisers. The ships were a rarity, some of the few craft left in the arsenal of the crippled, yet still active T’Kari. Though positioned far from the fighting, they were perhaps the most critical ships in the fleet.

  “Sir, the T’Kari are attempting to disrupt the Rift now.”

  Captain Galanos tensed at hearing that. The Helions and the T’Kari were the only people so far with reliable technology for disrupting and partially collapsing spacebridges. She remained unconvinced that their efforts would be useful against a permanent tunnel through space, like this one. She’d seen the reports on the recent tests, and as far as she was concerned, they confirmed that even with every device at their disposal, they could disrupt it for a matter of a few hours, perhaps less. Anymore would risk destruction of the rare, and difficult to recreate T’Kari ships. Seconds went by before the young man signalled to her.

  “Sir. The T’Kari confirm they are unable to collapse the phenomena, even for
a few minutes. They’ve boosted power, and are sustaining damage in their coils. They say it is being artificially reinforced from the other side. They can’t even slow them down.”

  That sent a chill down the Captain’s spine. Most races out in this part of the galaxy had the technology to secure Rifts, and the only way to stop it would be to disable whatever was keeping the Rift open on the other side. She was tempted to give the order to enter the Rift, but her orders were clear. By sending her vanguard into the Rift, she risked every one of the ships, merely on a whim. But the very fact the Rift was being held open confirmed an enemy presence, and that worried her.

  What if there’s the entire Star Empire fleet waiting on the other side? They would kill every single one of us.

  She looked to the large screen and scanned the entire System. The enemy was canny, and she had little doubt they would use feints, even if it cost them ships to pull vessels from their designated places. They could just as easily be sending in ships to probe her defences and reactions.

  “What about the Serpentis Rift? Any signs of enemy activities?”

  The tactical officer lifted a hand and rotated the mapping data to show the third of the four Rifts in the area. It was a strange System with absolutely nothing of note, save being the perfect point to position the four massive tears in space-time.

  “Serpentis Rift is clear, Sir. Our scouts remain nearby, and the sentry buoys on both sides show no signs of the enemy. This looks like a primary effort on our combat front.”

  Captain Galanos nodded.

  “Good. Let’s hope this is a straightforward, stand-up fight. I’m getting a little tired of the games. So…what do we have this time? More scouts, or another attempt to breach the minefield?”

  All eyes moved to the whirlpool as it crackled with light and energy. The same had happened the day before, only for a single broken frigate to enter. None of the ships had needed to open fire as the minefield could easily deal with such threats. Standing orders were that nothing was allowed through without the express permission of Admiral Churchill. Even so, as the Rift flashed like a lightning storm, she began to doubt herself.

  “What if they’re civilians trying to get through?”

  “Then they will die,” said her second-in-command.

  Captain Galanos looked to her crew. She had little qualms about fighting, but standing by and doing nothing while civilians came through was abhorrent to her.

  “It is never that simple. The fighting has left millions displaced. This could be a refugee fleet coming through. What better way to tie up our resources than to force us to look after hundreds of thousands of sick and injured people?”

  She rubbed her chin, trying to assess what was actually happening. There were dangers with every action she might take. Yet deep down she knew she would do whatever it took to save as many lives as possible. Her hands dropped down, and she snapped into action as though a switch had been flicked on.

  “Public broadcast, all channels. Unencrypted and in multi-language. Ready?”

  All it took was a nod before she started speaking.

  “This is Captain Galanos of the Alliance starship Relentless. Do not enter this System without prior authorisation and security clearance by Fleet Command.”

  One more flash ripped across the entrance of the Rift, and then shapes burst through. She could tell they were ships, even as the nearest mines activated and raced towards them. It took a few seconds before the first explosions started, and then one by one the targets vanished behind clouds of fire.

  “Must be hostile,” she said quietly, more to herself than anybody else. She was attempting to justify what was about to happen, even though she had little real control over it. Only the Admiral had the authority to disable the minefield, and nothing short of a concrete surrender from the Star Empire forces would make him consider that eventuality.

  This time it was different, and she could tell. Her hand hovered over the controls, and she pulled down the intercom from the ceiling. Dozens of lights rippled through the Rift, filling the entire area with explosions. The number increased, and then the wreckage burst through.

  “The minefield is down to ninety-eight percent, Captain. And falling.”

  The numbers didn’t concern her just yet. There were more than enough mines in the area, and if it looked like help was needed, she could give the order for the vanguard to open fire. Their combined firepower added to the minefield would prove devastating. Ripples of light raced about through the vast minefield as one device after another exploded. There were tens of thousands of the objects, hundreds being laid by robotic drones every day. Without scanners and the correct identification data, it was nigh on impossible to locate even a few hundred of them in the seconds the enemy had to spot them. They were designed to function as a vast neural network, using small micro-nozzles to adjust their positions around each other. Yet for all this technology, they were now being ripped apart more quickly than even the most pessimistic analysis.

  “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”

  “Launch fighters?” asked her second-in-command.

  Captain Galanos considered her potential actions. Her gut told her to get her fighters outside, but something made her uneasy about this enemy action. She’d been there when they tried to breach it with twelve ships, and it was nothing like this. Either they were using a new weapon, or somebody had decided a suicidal assault was the only way to succeed.

  “Get me the Admiral, and hurry, man!”

  As her eyes moved back to the screen, she nearly choked. More and more ships cascaded through, each quickly turning into a flaming ruin before it could attempt to cause any damage.

  “I need information on those ships. What exactly is coming through?”

  The large display unit showing the mapping of the visual data, but on one side a close-up of a ship appeared. The image then split apart to three different versions. The first was blurred but intact, and by the time of the third, the ship was nothing but debris. The computer placed statistics alongside the vessel, including estimated dimensions, mass, and configuration.

  “It’s Byotai,” she said to herself.

  The next number stunned every one of them. Apart from the raw data, there were additional scans that confirmed life signs on board the ships, very substantial life signs.

  “What? This cannot be right. Over a thousand people on the passenger liner, and then this?”

  She pointed to a triple-sectioned cargo vessel that lay in fragments. Mines continued to detonate around it, quickly tearing chunks out of its outer hull. Smaller mines moved in to finish off the job already started by the heavy weapons.

  “Are they enemy ships?”

  There was silence, and that annoyed the Captain more than the carnage she was seeing. Another large transport pulled in, as yet more ships forced their way through the mines like ancient icebreakers. Every second, more and more people were dying. Simply watching and waiting wasn’t an option, not for her.

  “I need information. Now! Anything, just get me information!”

  Her officers rushed about as they checked the data, but the one constant was that the ships kept on arriving. There were all types running the gauntlet, but even she had to admit that not one of them looked military.

  “Eighty-eight percent.”

  Captain Galanos opened her mouth to speak, but then the image of the aged Admiral Churchill appeared. The man had a calming effect on all those around him, and this was no exception.

  “Captain, we’re seeing it.”

  “I don’t like it, Admiral. This is new. I have signatures on more than a dozen ships, with half already damaged or destroyed. The casualties will be in the thousands at this rate. What if they are refugees?”

  The man looked at her, utterly silent and expressionless. He waited for what must have been four seconds before replying.

  “I’ve deactivated the field for thirty seconds. That is all you have, Captain. Get me actual intellig
ence on these ships, and find out if they are hostile or not. After that, the field powers up again. It’s enough time to get them through safely.”

  “Yes, Admiral.”

  The connection stayed live while she looked back to the view of the Rift. There were now three shattered hulks, plus two more showing signs of heavy damage. They drifted through the inert mines, and onwards. The Rift flashed again and again, and now more ships came in, each roughly the same as the others.

  “Sir. I’m receiving distress calls from the lead ships. It’s Byotai. They say they are fleeing the Marloj System. They seek asylum.”

  Admiral Churchill called out, his voice drowning out the man.

  “I don’t like this. Pull your forces back behind Promethium, and keep your fighters ready. The Helion Battlegroup is deploying to cover you. Orion Battlegroup is forming up behind to provide a reserve. It’s time. Activate defence in depth, Protocol Three.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  She then activated her comms system on the local channel. They’d practiced a number of different scenarios so far, but Protocol Three was the most common variation. They would deploy in two formations, with the squadrons of ships staggered to provide a layered defensive barrier to the Helios Rift. The first line, which happened to be her vanguard, would sustain heavy damage, but anything breaking through would be forced to deal with multiple groups all the way to the Rift.

  “All ships, withdraw to the rally point. Prepare to launch fighters on my mark.”

  The small group turned abruptly and boosted their engines. It would take nineteen minutes to move to their new course, but before they’d made it halfway, the Rift flashed again. This time more than twenty ships burst through the weakened minefield. Many were already damaged, but the rest breached the defences and continued onwards towards the vanguard.

  “Vanguard ships, rotate and form up on Promethium’s flank. Open gun ports, prepare for battle!”

  The distance covered bought them time to fight, and as they rotated, even more ships came through. Details of each intact vessel appeared on the main screens, and Captain Galanos looked at them with interest.