Ghost of an Empire (Sentinel Series Book 3)

by Richard Flunker

  Ragula switched back into atmo flying and sped off into the edge of the swarm. Two drones broke off and started firing right at him, and he spun the Falcon down and then up as the drone sped past him. He kept his eyes on the main swarm, locked on two missiles, and fired them. They sped off far faster than even the drones. One was hit directly and vanished in a cloud of metal shards. The second didn’t hit directly, but as the drone bounced out of the way, Ragula’s sideman nailed it with cannon fire.

  The drones continued to fire down along the side of the cruiser right up to the bridge. As the swarm flew over the bridge, the four other Falcons broke from underneath the cruiser, firing right into the drones.

  “Three down. Scratch four! Five!”

  Ragula came around as the cruiser cannons opened fire again. The swarm dissipated and the drones started targeting the falcons.

  “Six. Break thirty right. Line up along vector 5,” Ragula ordered.

  A Falcon sped off down to its right, heading down towards the planet. Two drones fell in right behind and started firing. Shards of metal flew off the fighter craft as Ragula lined up behind. He hit one and the second drone instantly flew off upwards back towards the cruiser.

  “GOT IT!” Kain shouted. “Third eye, vector 13.”

  Ragula looked up in his HuD and saw the new target, the flying bomb they were looking for, coming through the flak cloud. He was too far from it, but Kain was on it. The targeting lock came on, and sensors picked up two missiles speed off towards the torpedo. Just as that happened, the flying bomb fired its bomb as well. Alarms went off in the cockpit.

  “Vehement. Incoming, vector 13.”

  The cruisers cannons shifted direction nearly instantly, but this time they were trying to hit a target even smaller than the Mosquito. The HuD showed the missile impact on the flying bomb, but Ragula watched with desperation as the torpedo zipped right past the defenses and impacted into the cruiser, right along the rear port side.

  Damage reports began to flood into his feed. He switched them aside, because there was nothing he could do.

  “Tag, one three, vector 2, wing left.”

  “Hold up, I just got one. Mark three.”

  “Tag!”

  A Falcon erupted into a brief whoosh of fire that flashed off into the vacuum of space just as quickly. The ship split into several pieces and went flying off into the distance.

  “Tighten up men. Keep it by the line.”

  The targets began to disappear on his display as the men tightened up their side formations and finished off the rest of the drones. Within a few moments, there were no enemy markers left on the screen. He quickly pulled up a larger sensor reading. The majority of the drones were in a vector towards the Harmoa, too far from the Vehement. Many other wings were engaging them, and for the moment, Ragula took a deep breath.

  Always, in space, the combat was fierce but quick. The entire engagement time had been seven minutes.

  “Vehement, clear out here. Confirm damage readings please?” Ragula asked.

  “This is Vehement command. Thanks for the assist. Hull breach already sealed. Minimal damage, although they hit the Captain’s personal bathroom. He’s pissed,” he heard the echoes of laughter in the background.

  “Maybe that's the excuse he needs to install a hot tub,,” he joked back.

  “Ok wing, power down. Let’s drift right next to the Vehement and charge up as much as we can,” Ragula said, letting the Falcon’s computer take it to the side of the cruiser. Slowly, the other Falcon’s came up alongside the cruiser and in tandem with Ragula’s fighter. The wing commander watched the rest of the battle intensely, but also took a quick look at his own men. They had lost Tag and two other ships had taken a beating. Ammo count was still good though.

  A bright light made Ragula look up from his console. The Harmoa’s beam had powered up and was firing a blast down into the atmosphere. The blast stopped and the pilot scanned down through the fleet reports until he found what he was looking for. They had found the Varias and the Harmoa had fired on it from orbit. They still hadn’t found the Vengicus, though. He was surprised that the AI had allowed the Varias to get into range of the Harmoa’s beam.

  Without its command ship, the drones were less effective. The computing on board would simply revert to the final issued command and act on it within certain parameters. As Ragula watched the Harmoa put up its own flak wall, he figured out just what the last command had been. His wing was simply too far to be effective and if they burned to fly back to the command ship, they wouldn’t have enough to fly the real mission. So instead he watched, as painfully as a soldier could when not actually in the fight.

  He could track everything his brethren were doing on his console. He watched with sadness as two of his brothers vanished from the target tracker list, gone forever to the darkness of space. He jumped with fear when twenty five torpedoes suddenly lit up the sensors and watched with a mix of pride and apprehension as the destroyer Geta moved into the way of the torpedoes. Nearly a hundred men and women were on board, and all gave their lives as sacrifice to defend.

  Ragula was a soldier, trained, just like any other. His skills and talent lent to killing other men. He understood the Queen’s war, he wanted to be a part of it, because in the end, he saw the finish line. No more killing. Or so he thought.

  A light blinked on the console screen. Ragula tapped it and the image of one of the Harmoa comm officers came into view along with new data.

  “Be advised. Inbound ships. Tracking two four nine. Support fleet Rafta. Looks like they burned hot to get here for the fight.”

  Ragula swiped down and checked the list of ships. Support fleet Rafta was composed of two Cruisers, two Corvettes and most importantly, the small carriers Huntah and Carlo. He picked up his head just as they came into orbit, right in the middle of the fight. He sank into his chair as a familiar cry rose up over the coms.

  “Looks like you boys could use some Wasps!!!”

  Some would say they were competitors to the Falcons, but the Wasps of Sheloh were some of the best escort fighters around. They were well versed in tight fighting in and around capital ships. No one was better suited for combat against drones than the Wasps, with their far smaller, but faster Wc-73 Slimline fighters.

  “This is Harmoa command. We are happy to see you. Falcon wings, break defense, proceed with the mission.”

  “You heard em boys, potty break is over. Let’s burn some atmo.”

  The six remaining ships broke off from the cruiser and began heading down towards the planet.

  “This is the Vehement. Thank you for the assist. Give them hell.”

  As his wing of ships began to form up for atmospheric reentry, Ragula watched on the sensors as the Wasps cleaned up the defeated drones. The Falcons suffered seventeen losses from the attack, which would only hamper them even more. Within a few moments, two other wings joined up with his right as they began to clip the upper layer of air on Coran. The gravity shield around the ship acted as a heat barrier, bending all the heat straight behind the ship. To the naked eye on the surface, they would have appeared like a bright speck of light and a trail of fire a ways behind it.

  As they braked entering the lower layer of clouds, Ragula linked up with the other escort wings.

  “Convoy lead, this is Escort lead. Sending autho to link up.”

  A small feed with two camera views popped up into a small portion of Ragula’s console.

  “Boy are we glad to see you. Zone is hot. We are past mile marker four hundred twenty three and were under fire by land forces. Tracking inbound from Vinicius.”

  Ragula confirmed on sensors, now limited by the horizon and atmospheric interference. No jamming this time though. Stargazer’s network was truly incredible.

  “Convoy lead, picking up inbounds. We will keep them off of you.”

  The clouds grew darker and rain splattered against the cockpit. The wings dipped down from under the rain cloud and out over the lake heading
south. A burst of the GARADAR showed all the incoming drones, and the targeting computer picked them up.

  “Here they come boys. We had an appetizer, now it’s time for the main course.”

  3127 – Highway twenty, Twenty miles east of Lake Ighra, Keghra Province, Coran

  “Nothing yet my Queen,” the driver reported back.

  The convoy had sped down the mountains and found some resistance in the form of some older mobile remote artillery units. They were part of some older border units, and probably due to be decommissioned years ago, if not decades. But when those shells began to rain down, it was no joking matter. Quick action prevented a disaster, and two units moved out and rapidly disabled them.

  Since then, the convoy had moved without resistance. They flew down the side access road of the highway as the main viaduct was bumper to bumper with moving transports and haulers, all moving north. They kept a sharp eye on the machines, but even if they had tried, none of those machines would be able to stop the convoy. Some of the soldiers didn’t like driving by them, as it gave away their position, but the Queen was sure they were being tracked anyways. There were too many satellites in sub-orbit and orbit. Speed was essential on the mission.

  The drones had come in about twenty five miles from lakeshore, and for a moment, the AA guns came to life, erupting high speed ordinance at the enemy. Falcons had swooped in just in time, and as they detected the bombing run on the Vinicius, that dogfight moved slowly south along the lake. That left their skies wide open, and they preferred it that way.

  The Royal autoway was coming up. The automated highway loaded up vehicles onto maglev strips and hauled them at high speeds along its path. The temple being was using it to bring whatever the transports were hauling up closer to the temple. The convoy wouldn’t be able to use it, not safely at least, but they could travel on the access roads underneath it. Plus, they planned to destroy it as they went. Surely, the AI foresaw that action, so the convoy expected action there.

  Their scout drone was flying ahead, reporting and sending video back, but still, all that it saw was the stream of machines heading north. Someone joked it was a traffic jam, but a quick look at the overpass at the intersection showed quite the opposite. That was the advantage of the AI. There were no arguments about who was loading first, no cutting people off, nothing typical humans fought about on the roads they drove on. Instead, heavy traffic came from three directions and siphoned perfectly onto the autoway.

  “Two miles out my Queen,” the transport speaker echoed.

  Soldiers checked their weapons quickly and swung their visors down. A light turned from red to green inside the transport, and the soldiers stood up. Ogho walked down the aisle and stood in front of the Queen.

  “Be safe,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. There would come a day she would be able to look directly into his eyes, but for the moment, she still looked up to him.

  “I beg of you to do the same,” he said. The green light began to blink and he lifted a finger up and began to wave it around in a circle.

  The transport reverberated with the sound of rifles clicking into gear and the hum of the power packs. Sunlight flooded the rear of the ATV as the hatch dropped and soldiers began filing out rapidly. As soon as the last soldier jumped out, Deespa followed right after, with Fangix at her side.

  The Royal Autoway was the product of countless generations of slave labor. This she knew. That knowledge aside, it was a wondrous sight to see. Towering seventy five feet above the ground, the autoway had six layers, each with seven lanes. Highways twenty and seven interchanged at the autoway. Ramps from either highway went up towards the autoway, but stopped short of it. Deespa watched as a hauler truck went up the ramp, and as it got to the edge, the autoway’s gravity latch picked up the truck and seamlessly threaded it into the moving traffic on the second level. In this fashion, the logging computers on the interchange kept track of moving traffic and prevented accidents and traffic jams.

  And it was in full control of the being.

  “Fan out. Pod one, on the Queen. Two and three, flank two hundred yards. Five get up into the interchange core and set the charges.”

  Pod four stayed behind with the convoy. Deespa heard the hum of the tank, and watched as the large beast came up from behind. It stopped near the front of the convoy, and the top hatch popped open. A soldier came into sight and grabbed on to the turret gun. As the pods moved out, Deespa stepped towards the highway. The trucks were moving slowly, but steadily. It was a bit eerie to see them without any drivers, but nearly every ground based vehicle in existence was rigged for auto driving. It was still basic human necessity to be the one in control behind the wheel.

  “Commander,” she called out among pod one. A soldier came running up. “Do me a favor. Get to one of those trucks and see just what they are hauling?”

  “Yes, my Queen,” he said.

  She continued to watch the progress of the other pods as the moved out to secure the intersection. Something in the back of her mind was gnawing at her though. She knew the ancient one was watching, it must be. The destruction of the autoway intersection would severely slow the flow of transports to the temple, so why not put up a fight here?

  Two soldiers ran up to one of the older model trucks with a large box hauler on its back. They ripped the doors off and crawled inside, and with a few quick slashes, hacked out the controller box. They then drove it off the road and towards the convoy until the pod commander shouted a command to move it further away. For all they knew, there were bombs or explosives in the trucks. Deespa followed the truck, walking up to where the soldiers had stopped it. They got out and came around to the back, breaking off the lock. When the back slid up, Deespa gasped.

  Her shock didn’t last long. The clear and distinct clink and then whoosh of a personal rail gun turned everyone’s attention to the top of the intersection. At the very top of the autoway were two very familiar forms.

  “Doomguard mechs!”

  The surprise was complete only because they didn’t expect to see the Queen’s personal guards there. But they were soldiers. The shock didn’t last long.

  A second rail gun fired, but the clink and whoosh sound was ten times louder. The Vulture tank fired off a shot that hit the Doomguard straight in the chest. For a second, the tall slim knight was standing there, and a second later only its legs remained. Several more shapes shimmered into view at the top while many more began jumping out of the different levels of the autoway, carried down by the gravity tractor.

  “They’re stealthed. Go to full spectrum array.”

  Deespa tapped her visor, and the display went online, showing a combination of every available visual spectrum, including gravity waves. The area around the autoway intersection lit up like the noon sun, but the Doomguard were no longer invisible. Pod soldiers leapt to cover as a firefight broke out. Deespa ducked behind an ATV and set her own personal weapons to charge. She had created what amounted to miniature gravity tractors in her fingers, just under her nails. It’s what allowed her to do her ‘magic’. The reactor, also her creation, was just under her right thigh. She was becoming the half machine she already claimed she was. As she watched the counter on the charge rise, she caught Fangix vanish around the corner of the parked truck. He had his own personal stealth suit. The assassin had his own battles to wage.

  Without their mechs, the First soldiers were no match for the Doomguard mechs. Deespa knew that well. But this time, they didn’t have to be. The tank fired again and struck another mech, disintegrating it. She was actually surprised with the accuracy of the tank until the commander sent her a message.

  “My Queen, I think Harmoa has taken control of the targeting computers on the tank.”

  It wasn’t Harmoa, but Stargazer, greatly amplifying the tanks targeting. Two digital beings battling each other. First soldiers hid behind the tank, whose armor was easily deflecting the light gauss rifles of the Doomguard. Pod three was engaged with several Doomguard se
ven hundred feet north, just under the autoway. They were taking the AI machines down, but were suffering greatly. It was time to call in some extra firepower. She tapped a button on her wristpad and sent a signal up to the Harmoa. It was acknowledged, and a small timer began, counting down from two minutes.

  “HEAVIES!”

  The shout came out from one of the ATVs ahead of where she was ducked behind. One quick look showed her four heavy mechs with rocket packs on either shoulders, dropping out from the lowest autoway level and onto Highway twenty underneath. Two of them immediately opened fire on the Vulture, sending a smoking trail of rockets at the tank. Its side cannons opened retaliatory fire right away, blasting hot metal at the incoming rockets quite successfully. It quickly took aim with the turret and launched a depleted uranium slug three times the speed of sound, but only hit one of the autoway beams. The heavy mech had moved out of the way in time. The ancient one had taken the next step.

  Her weapons reached full charge just as seven more heavy mechs dropped out of the lower level. The entire intersection had come to a standstill and at least they had accomplished that. A loud crash sent vibrations through her body and she looked up just in time to see a Doomguard looking down at her. She reached out with her hands and caught the rifle just as it was pointing down at her and she ripped it out of its hands. It leapt over her, landing in front of her. It lashed out with two retracted blades, but her gravity field worked as a shield as well if she concentrated it properly. It slashed and hit an invisible barrier twice, then stepped back almost confused. In that instant, she jabbed forward cutting through the main cable bundle in the upper shoulder, cutting control of the mech from the AI. It froze in that position.

  She looked up at the countdown and saw one minutes and ten seconds left. The tank fired twice, but she didn’t look up to see if they had hit anything. She looked over and saw two of her soldiers locked in fierce combat with a Doomguard, and losing badly. She cursed the fact she had created the mechanical soldiers, and rushed out into the gunfight. She crossed the space between the ATV and the hauler truck, about seventy feet, in an instant, but not before the Doomguard cut through one of the soldiers, spearing its entire arm through the upper chest. The other soldier lunged on its back and began twisting its head, to no seeming avail.