Dreadnought: War Mage: Book Two (War Mage Chronicles 2)

by Charles R Case

  “It’ll be fine. Let’s head this way, and if the corridor ends in a tee, then we’ll know if your guess was right. We need to hurry; it’s been five minutes, and we’re only halfway there,” Gonders said, making the decision.

  She motioned for them to move out, and they moved to turn the corner. Gonders was in the lead, followed closely by Boon and Sir Reitus, with the rest of the troopers just behind them. When they were only a few meters into the new passage, a mechanical whirring noise came from behind them.

  “Cover!” Gonders yelled, turning and throwing a shield to protect her, Boon, Sir Reitus, and the seven troops that had made it into the corridor with them.

  A hail of slugs began ripping into the shield from above. A turret had dropped from the ceiling and was spitting rounds at them as fast as it could. Gonders was a good mage, but the unrelenting barrage was quickly tearing through her shield.

  Boon reached out a hand, and powered the spellform Silva gave her from the hip pouch she was riding in. The new War Mage made a fist and jerked her hand downward. The turret and a large portion of the ceiling were ripped out, falling to the floor in a giant pile that blocked the passage behind them, and cut them off from the rest of the Marines.

  The air was filled with dust and sparking wires. Boon stood with wide eyes at what she had done. This was the first time she had used her powers for real, and, if she were honest with herself, it scared the shit out of her.

  “Durnt? Are you there?” Gonders asked over the open channel. “Anyone, what’s your status?”

  “We’re fine, ma’am. Just a little shaken up. That was close. Is everyone okay over on your side?” Durnt responded.

  Gonders let out a breath of relief. “Yeah, we’re fine. Looks like you’re going to have to find your own way. I’m sending you an alternate route now. Let the Sergeant Major know when you get there. We’ll try and find another way.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied, dropping the line to give the new orders.

  “Sorry,” Boon said, chagrined.

  Gonders patted her arm. “It’s fine, ba—Boon.”

  Boon felt the rush of embarrassment from Gonders at almost calling her ‘babe’ in front of the others. It made her smile.

  “Right,” Gonders said, checking the map quickly before saying, “This way. Let’s hope this is the right corridor.”

  The ten of them began to cautiously make their way, looking for hidden defenses. After traveling two hundred meters past where the map said there should have been a junction, they came to a turn in the corridor that ended in a four-way intersection.

  Gonders gave in. “We’re lost. This map is garbage.”

  “I apologize, Specialist. We had no way of checking the accuracy of the map once the ship was done.” Sir Reitus offered a slight bow of apology.

  “It’s okay. We’ll just have to find another way,” she said, checking the corridors to each side. Then she looked down the one in front of them. “Well, which way do you think?” she asked Boon.

  Boon put a hand to her chest. “Me? Why ask me?”

  Gonders shrugged. “Because you’re the War Mage?”

  Alicia laughed. “That seems like flawed logic, but…” She stepped up to the intersection and inspected her choices. “I say we go this way,” she said, indicating the left passage.

  “Any particular reason?” Gonders asked, signaling the troops left and checking her rifle for the hundredth time.

  “It seems nicer,” she admitted in all seriousness.

  She had noted that the walls were less dirty, and the doors were painted red, instead of the industrial gray they had seen so far.

  Gonders looked down the other two passages, then said, “You’re right…”

  “I figure nicer means there are more important things to break. If we can't get to the prison, we may as well start some havoc to draw attention,” Boon reasoned, then she cracked her knuckles. “Besides, I want to try out my powers.”

  “You know, for such a shy girl, you can be pretty scary.”

  39

  It turned out that the ancient humans were not as foolhardy as Sara had been led to believe. As soon as the jamming device was activated, Cora got a message from the core saying that warp was disabled, but that jumps could still be completed.

  Sara took this news with glee, and they were able to begin systematically jumping to ships that needed the most help. First on the list was the admiral’s flagship. They had taken considerable damage, and were barely staying in the fight. The fleet rallied to their position as fast as their gravitic drives would allow. The Raven disabled the destroyer that had been stalking the craft, and the admiral was able to finish it off. From that point, the battle turned in the humans’ favor, but at a very high cost.

  The Teifen were falling to the humans at a rate of two to one, with their superior firepower and shielding. However, two to one was still costly when it was considered that these were all the ships left in humanity’s control, and that the Teifen had nearly unlimited ships in reserve. However, this battle was not to win the war, but to keep from being overwhelmed. The rate of loss was worth the outcome—for now.

  Over the next twenty minutes, the balance tipped in humanity’s favor.

  As more of the Teifen were destroyed, more UHF ships were able to concentrate fire, and the toll on the Teifen fleet increased. The Raven played her part, covering her damaged sister ships by jumping in and hammering the enemy into submission, so that the defenders could finish them off while she jumped to the next ship in need. It soon became obvious that the battle was won, except for the hulk that was the dreadnought. Despite the constant hammering of the fleet, when they could get shots off, the dreadnought refused to go down.

  Sara realized how lucky they had been, punching through the defenses so early on. She figured that the only reason for their success was that the shields on the side not facing the battle had not been powered fully when they attacked. It was a tactic the Teifen used often to conserve their Aether.

  Now that it was obvious they could not win the battle, the dreadnought turned and began accelerating away to escape the warp disrupter.

  “Captain, they’re running,” Mezner reported, her voice high-pitched with the stress of the situation.

  A fleetwide communication interrupted Sara's reply.

  “This is Admiral Johansen; all available ships, target the dreadnought.”

  “Shit,” Sara said, slamming her fist on the command ring surrounding her, making the image in the viewing bubble waver for a second. “Get me Baxter on comms.”

  There was a crackling that she immediately recognized as rifle fire. “Baxter here,” he said, his voice straining slightly.

  “Baxter, the dreadnought is running. I need you to get your men back to the rendezvous point. We’re getting you out of there,” Sara said, marking a jump point for Cora.

  “Negative. We’re pinned down and can't get away without unreasonable losses,” he yelled over the gunfire.

  “If that ship jumps, we’ll lose you all,” she argued.

  “Maybe we can send you our location, like the prince did. You could come get us later.”

  “If that thing jumps into Teifen territory, our fleet won’t come after you.”

  “Well… I guess we’ll just figure something else out,” he said with forced joviality.

  Sara watched as every ship not engaged began firing directly on the retreating dreadnought. The shields were strong, but not invincible, and eventually, the aft section’s shields failed. Hundreds of gauss rounds began tearing at the back of the ship, but the craft kept picking up speed.

  “Whoa, what’s happening out there? This beast is bucking like a stuck pig,” Baxter said with concern.

  Sara bit her lip with worry. “The fleet is targeting the dreadnought’s aft section. Are you guys close to there?

  “No, we’re kilometers away, still in the belly of the beast.”

  “Try and get to the emperor. I’ll think of something. I
’m not leaving you to die out there,” Sara said, fighting back tears at the thought of losing him.

  “I’m counting on it, ma’am.”

  A huge explosion jetted flames from the top right of the dreadnought’s stern, the color and intensity matching the loss of a reactor. Then space bent around the huge ship, and it slipped into warp, leaving only the fading jet of plasma to mark where it had been.

  40

  “Captain, we’re not done. That concentrated fire left many ships vulnerable, and they need our help,” Grimms said, snapping Sara out of her fugue state.

  She shook her head to clear it and wiped the tears from her eyes. When did I start crying? What is wrong with you, Sara?! And then it snapped to clarity in her mind. I…love him. The thought of losing Baxter, now that she was finally accepting what could be, drove her rage.

  “Right, sorry. Cora, new jump coordinates. Let’s take these assholes down.”

  Pull it together, Sara. You’ll see him soon. Somehow. Focus on the here and now; win this battle so you can chase him down and tell him how you feel.

  Grimms relayed the battle’s status as the Raven jumped into the heat of it once again, disabling a destroyer quickly before jumping to a cruiser that had just taken out the last UHF carrier, and sending a full set of twelve gauss slugs into its broadside.

  “Twenty-seven… make that twenty-six Teifen ships remaining. UHF has forty-two ships still functional, and seventeen adrift. Six hundred escape pods are sending out requests for pickup, and we are seeing two hundred possible Teifen escape pods.”

  Sara gritted her teeth, marking the next position and ordering Cora to jump. They slammed a destroyer with Aether blasts and a volley of slugs, then a second volley, but the destroyer would not go down. Instead, it rolled to present fresh shields on their undamaged side.

  How dare they come to my home and try to assert their dominance over my people? And for what? Pride? Greed?

  She realized they had gotten caught up in a war so old, the reasons for it were as lost to time as those who’d started it.

  My people are not pawns to be sacrificed on the altar of another’s ambition. I am their protector, their War Mage.

  She was greater than they could ever dream to be.

  Sara powered a second spellform from Alister, shoving so much Aether into it, she felt a sucking in her soul. She let the torrent loose through the shield amplifiers. The rebellious ship in front of her, the one that had rolled to avoid more damage, bucked—its middle expanding like a balloon before bursting open with a blast of white-hot fire.

  She put in new coordinates, and they jumped.

  The gall of these pointy-headed little dictators.

  They were bugs. A pestilence she would wipe from the galaxy.

  She powered another spell, sending it through the amplifiers, and the small Teifen corvette they had jumped to was flayed open with a force blade.

  They take and they take, never relenting. They took the Elif from us thousands of years ago, and lately their homeworld. They’re trying to take Earth. And now they’ve taken Baxter from me.

  She sent a force blast down like a hammer, blasting the shields of a damaged cruiser before Hon peppered it with slugs, ripping holes through the crippled ship. Its lights flickered out, and she sent another hammer blow down, crushing its reactors, causing them to envelop the ship in white-hot light.

  “You can't have him!” she screamed at the micro-sun she had created.

  She scanned the area, but couldn't find any more red icons. She checked again, her rage pushing her to find more enemies to kill.

  The back of her head itched, but she ignored it, instead expanding the map and continuing her search.

  She caught sight of something by her feet, and looked down, focusing on it. Alister.

  He was standing with his legs spread in an aggressive stance, and was baring his teeth. Saliva was dripping from his pointy, white fangs. He looked like he should be growling, but she couldn't hear him; she couldn't hear anything but the pumping of her own blood.

  Her eyes widened in shock.

  In a quick motion, she reached down and plucked the frothing cat from the deck, squeezing him tight to her chest. She willed herself to calm down.

  She had caught herself pushing against the edge of reason.

  She used her breathing techniques from years of yoga and meditation. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. She did it again and again, sending thoughts of calm to Alister as she reminded herself she was in control.

  She stood, breathing with her eyes squeezed shut, for what seemed like forever, but she still couldn't hear anything. She knew that was a bad sign, but she could feel herself coming down.

  Please don’t let me lose it and start killing my friends. They’re all I have right now. She loved these people; they were her family. They didn't deserve to die because she couldn't control herself.

  Why the fuck can't I hear yet? How do I stop this?

  She could feel tears running down her face, and she squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. She felt a cold paw touch her cheek.

  “Merow,” Alister said. He bunted his forehead to her chin and began to purr loudly.

  “Are you okay? Sara?” Cora’s voice was soft and cautious.

  Sara blinked her eyes open and looked around the bridge.

  Everyone was staring at her in complete silence. She wasn’t in the rage anymore and could hear again just fine; she had just scared everyone to silence.

  She cleared her throat. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay now. Sorry. I got a little carried away.”

  Grimms approached and slowly pulled her out of the command ring, its bubble dissolving the second she left it. He directed her to the captain’s chair, and gently pushed her into it.

  “Well, I have to say, that was something. I didn’t know you could use the shield amplifiers like that,” he said, sitting in the chair next to her.

  Sara swallowed. “I didn't either, to tell the truth.” She looked at all the shocked faces of her crew. “I’m sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me, there. Please forgive me.”

  Connors was the one to break the tension. He snorted a laugh. “Sorry? That was fucking amazing!”

  The spell was broken, and the bridge all began talking at once.

  Grimms leaned in close. “That was very close to catastrophic, wasn’t it?”

  Sara nodded, still slightly shaken. “I have to be more careful. I’m beginning to understand that I’m a tool like fire is a tool. I can provide warmth, and cook your food, and even allow you to forge iron, but I can also burn you to ash.”

  Grimms gave her a reassuring smile. “You just described every Marine I’ve ever met.”

  “Marines can tell the difference between friend and foe,” Sara countered.

  Grimms frowned. “You’d be surprised.”

  They fell silent, each brooding on their own demons for a time as the crew chatted excitedly about their captain’s abilities.

  Sara felt a ball of pain at the thought of Baxter being taken.

  She wouldn't get to tell him how much she admired him. She wouldn’t get to thank him for agreeing to bond with her and take on some of her burden.

  He agreed to be by my side forever, to guard me, and for what? A small boost in power and a vague sense of my whereabouts?

  She jumped up, spilling Alister to the floor. He gave her a disapproving look before noticing her expression and becoming excited.

  “What? What happened?” Grimms asked, taken aback at her sudden movement.

  She didn't answer right away. Instead, she focused her thoughts on Baxter and, more importantly, on feeling for where he was. There. Like a lighthouse in the dark of night, he shone in her mind.

  She quickly stepped around the command ring and brought up the galaxy map on the holo projector. She zoomed in on a section, closer, until there were only a few stars on the screen. She highlighted one and zoomed in again.

  It filled the table. A
binary system with a red giant and a white dwarf, circling one another. She focused her feelings and reached out a finger, marking a spot in the empty system.

  “The dreadnought is here. We need to go now. I don't know if it’s going to warp again or if it’s too damaged, but we can't lose it. Mezner, let command know where we’re going. Cora, jump us away from this dampener, and then give me all you’ve got. Warp us there,” Sara said, entering the command ring once more and powering it up.

  Grimms stepped close. “Are you sure? You just nearly went over the edge.”

  She smiled at him. “I’m sure. I’ve got a handle on it; I can recognize the line now.”

  The colonel thought for a second before nodding. “I hope so. For your sake.”

  41

  After ten minutes and several flights of stairs, Boon and Gonders found themselves in a set of halls that were, for lack of a better word, gaudy. Thick, red carpets with gold fibers weaved in intricate patterns ran the length of the hall, and the walls were a pearl white, featuring overly ornate wainscoting and crown molding. The door handles were gold. The light sconces were gold. The pots holding exotic plants were gold. It was like looking into the bleeding mouth of a pirate with a good dental plan.

  The ship had been rocked with explosions, making forward progress slow to a crawl. After the bombardment stopped, Baxter updated Gonders, saying that he had been talking with the captain as the dreadnought took major damage before it jumped out of the Sol System. The ship had been quiet ever since.

  “I’m assuming most of the Teifen are busy with repairs, otherwise they would be all over the place. Either that, or this ship is way emptier than we thought,” Boon said, noting the empty hall.

  “Probably doing damage control. That last blast we felt was a reactor going critical,” Gonders said, motioning them to follow her.

  She squat-ran to the intersection ahead. Boon followed, then Sir Reitus, with the seven Marines bringing up the rear. Gonders poked a finger around the corner, taking a look with her built-in camera.