by Chris Burton
Jake did not stick around long enough to find out. His sensors picked up an Alpha Battle Cruiser presumably making good her escape.
Now’s not the time for heroism, thought Jake. He pulled the ship away from the Kryl and the departing Earth vessels, towards the Battle Cruiser and engaged his ion drive. The Sabre accelerated briskly and was instantly taken from the threat of the Kryl. He set a pursuit course for the Battle Cruiser and opened a comm link.
* * * *
“Sir, we have picked up an Alpha comm link from a jump ship on an intercept course with us. She is catching up quickly.” He paused and then added “She will be in weapons range in thirty seconds.”
“Can you verify her Alpha coding?”
“Yes, she is using a current and authorized Alpha code. She is a Sabre 4 sir, but the call sign suggests she is being piloted by an Enson.”
“Let the tractor beam bring her in and bring the pilot to me.”
* * * *
“What are you doing out here, Enson Carter?” asked Commander Hoskins.
“Same as you, I would imagine Sir. I am looking for Professor Winterburn and I assume that as we are not on a definite course, that you don’t know where he is.”
Jake was in an assertive mood. His confidence surprised Hoskins.
“On the contrary, Mister Carter. We do know where he is and we have a vessel locked into an intercept course some distance ahead, but on our current heading. I should thank you for your actions, which have not only provided us with the precise location of the blue wormhole fissure, but also have given us the opportunity to slip out of harm’s way and away from the Kryl fracas. That will facilitate a more prompt departure when the time comes. What do you know about Winterburn?”
Jake went on to explain Carla, her sister and his meeting with Winterburn. He explained for what felt like the umpteenth time, why he came to the Tri-Star system and finally here.
“So, you seem to have covered yourself, right up to when you decided to go A.W.O.L. in one of Admiral Shenke’ s prize jump ship. Let’s hope it was worth it.”
Hoskins paused and then continued. “I think you have to be realistic. Winterburn shot off after we arrived here. I doubt he had time to pick up stragglers prior to departing. Carla is probably in one of those ships pursued by the Kryl. I would not hold out too much hope. You are welcome, given your obvious skills and the fact that you arrived with a Sabre 4, to join us in our pursuit of Winterburn.”
“I need to find Carla. If there’s any chance she might be out there, I need to find her. If it’s okay with you, I am going to refuel and then go out and look for her.”
Hoskins immediately regretted the impression of desperation he created. “Enson, I cannot allow that. The Sabre is Alpha property and I need every ship I can get. That includes you. Your skills and knowledge of Winterburn make you a prized possession. I need you to stay with the ship while we continue our pursuit of Winterburn. A number of private vessels docked with the AUSWAS ship prior to the blue wormhole opening. Joely was likely to be in board the AUSWAS ship already; there is a fair chance Carla is on board too.”
* * * *
Winterburn saw the pursuing freighter on the ships scanners. The AUSWAS ship should try to outrun her, but he was intrigued as to why a ship of this kind, a non-Alpha ship, would pursue at all. He turned towards his new crew. They were all Kryl.
“We must take nothing for granted. The humans are intelligent, yes. They are also complex and would stop at nothing to rescue one crew member when they might be putting other lives at risk. We will allow them to come a little closer, but must be wary. It is possible there is an Alpha contingent aboard and that would not be good. How long until we reach the Queen’s Ship?”
“Not long. Should I prepare the cargo?”
“No. I need to speak to them first. I owe them that. Let me know if there any changes with the freighter and when we are in communication range of the Queen’s ship.”
Winterburn was in command, although he was a warrior. He was a Kronan, part of the Kryl hierarchy second only to the Queen herself. He was a cut above the workers and drones who attended him. Right now it suited him to remain proactive. He approached the main cargo hold and two soldier drones moved aside as he entered. Within the hold sat two large storage containers adapted to accommodate the ‘live’ specimens.
“What the hell is going on, Winterburn?” asked a bespectacled man in his fifties standing at the entrance of the storage facility as Winterburn walked in.
Winterburn moved towards the center of the main reception area.
“Patience, please. I am about to explain. There will be an opportunity for questions afterwards.”
There was none of the God-like adoration Winterburn previously coerced his captives with. They were free to make up their own minds, draw their own conclusions and pour scorn on everything he was about to say. He turned to Joely first. “My dear girl. I see you have reunited with your sister.”
“Don’t you dare call me ‘dear’ Winterburn. You brought us all here under false pretenses. Are we to die at the hands of you and your crew?”
Winterburn laughed. He assumed many of the personality traits of his human ‘friends’ over the years and learned to understand the nuances of human behavior perfectly.
“You have no reason to fear me. You are the lucky ones. We will shortly arrive at our destination and you my friends will be presented to the Kryl Queen. You are, I can assure you, all safe.”
Winterburn’s own natural personality began taking over and his physical attributes were already showing more of a significant resemblance to the other Kryl onboard. “Be absolutely certain, if you step out of line, I will kill you personally.”
“Alpha will come and rescue us,” Carla broke the silence. She had hardly spoken for the last forty-eight hours, but she was happy to put herself at risk to ensure her point was recognized.
“Don’t push me, Carla. You are only here because your sister is important to me. You are also being naive. This is Kryl space, in our galaxy not yours. Alpha has but one ship in the entire galaxy. The Kryl have tens of thousands.”
Just then a communication message came from the Bridge. The Alpha freighter launched three jump ships, and they quickly closed the gap. Winterburn left the humans to their accommodations and headed for the bridge. If he was concerned, he did not show it.
“How long before we are under cover of the Queen’s shield?”
“About forty-five minutes, my Kronan. The jumps ships will be in attack range within a couple of minutes.”
“Then we will have to keep them at bay, until the sanctity of the shields affords us protection or a Kryl security battery arrives. Increase to maximum velocity and divert all non-essential power to security controls and weaponry.”
The ship went into stealth mode. This was an advancement Winterburn insisted upon when defensive upgrades were fitted, prior to their departure from Earth. It was costly, but well worth it, affording protection equivalent to Alpha’s ships of the line.
The jump ships circled the area several times before they located and locked on the stealthy ship via infrared-enhanced viewing capability. They needed to keep in close, to ensure they could keep the AUSWAS ship in view and sustain weaponry lock, and this presented the AUSWAS ship with the opportunity to deploy its own laser cannons.
The jump ships started their attack, and the AUSWAS ship’s shields did provide resistance briefly, but Alpha’s close-proximity flying allowed their weapons to break through the AUSWAS ships shield capability. It was only a matter of time before they broke through and took the ship.
“How long before we reach the Queen’s shields?” Winterburn repeated his earlier question
“Imminently, but our shields won’t last, my Kronan.”
“The security battery?”
“There are two on their way. It will be too late for us by the time they get here.”
Winterburn disliked the negativity. “We will hold them off
long enough to deploy aboard a rescue vessel. Keep targeting the jump ship.”
* * * *
The requisitioned freighter kept back some distance. Its shields were not up to battle strength. Commander Jacques launched three more Rapiers and the Eagle troop carrier, which carried the mobile infantry and whose job it was to board and take the AUSWAS ship. He received the signal from his lead jump ship to advise shield penetration was sufficient to deploy boarding forces.
It is going well, he thought. With a bit of luck we can grab Winterburn and head back towards the blue wormhole before we encounter Kryl fighters.
Just as the new Rapiers deployed, the Kryl Security Battery appeared from nowhere at high velocity and their five ships attacked the freighter. Their weapons immediately penetrated the freighter’s limited shielding. Jacques acted quickly and redeployed the three Rapiers. The plan was going well, but unless the jump ships quickly turned it around, all was lost.
Almost as if fate played a watching brief, the Halo 7 arrived. Hoskins immediately sensed the freighter was in trouble. He ordered the Battle Cruiser to arc and pull into a steep descent, heading directly towards the Kryl battery. At high velocity, the Kryl ships were forced to move aside as the Halo 7 plowed through the middle of them. Hoskins quickly ordered the deployment of five more Rapiers. They launched and immediately joined the fray. He then ordered two further Sabres to head to the AUSWAS ship and join in the battle to assume control.
* * * *
Jake wasn’t expecting to be involved, but Lieutenant Temsouri had no hesitation in deploying the Sabre 4 into a battle of this type. She knew he was a rookie but hardly a novice. She needed the swift and subtle Sabre derivative to get close to the AUSWAS ship and really ‘batter’ them with her laser cannons. Jake obliged and launched quickly, immediately setting course for the AUSWAS ship.
* * * *
Carla watched the battle from within the storage accommodation, which conveniently afforded them a good view of the entire show. She saw the jump ship, the Kryl fighters and the freighter. She realized that as long as the Kryl didn’t deploy any further ships, some kind of rescue looked likely. She watched as the Alpha jump ships continued to pepper the AUSWAS ships shields, and then a massive explosion somewhere at the rear of the ship proved the shields were disabled. She watched as the Eagle pilots brought their ship alongside the AUSWAS ship, and witnessed the deployment of a battalion of mobile infantry gain almost immediate access to the Freighter. Two of the jump ships entered the hangar bay and she heard a brief exchange of hand weaponry fire.
The AUSWAS ship must be in the hands of Alpha, thought Carla.
* * * *
That was not the end of Kryl resistance. There were thirty Kryl onboard in addition to Winterburn. They were highly-skilled, well-armed and heavily protected foot soldiers, who would lay down their lives for their Queen and their Kronan. That meant defending the ship and their Kronan, down to the last man.
The Kryl held three key positions on the AUSWAS ship. They still controlled the bridge, had a contingent of ten soldiers in Engineering, and a further ten in the cargo area, whose sole purpose was to protect their precious cargo.
Major Richard De Vere commanded the one hundred marines who made up the Halo 7’s mobile infantry. He used sixty marines today, thirty of whom took several key positions aboard the ship. Resistance must been limited, although De Vere noted the Kryl were using some kind of adaptive shield technology, meaning that following the initial skirmishes, all the Kryl’ s suits were adapted to form a greater defense against Alpha’s hand blasters and hypercannons. The blasters in particular were proving inadequate, even at the highest settings, and the marines were forced to deploy the much heavier hypercannons to make any impact on the Kryl’s technology.
The Kryl’s weaponry was effective. The marines’ armor plated suits were cut to pieces by the rapid fire laser streams. Vision was extremely limited, and the infrared vision devices were not coping in the smog created by the constant laser fire.
De Vere was an experienced campaigner. He knew he had both the tactical and numerical advantage. The Kryl confined themselves to areas of the ship which were difficult to defend and his marines made advances within the three key areas.
Engineering was the first to fall under Alpha control. De Vere’s subordinate officers took and secured the Engineering deck with no losses, and also secured two Kryl prisoners. The Bridge remained secured by heavy blast doors, with a contingent of three Kryl holding off Alpha’s advances in the badly lit corridor in front of them. De Vere personally led this assault, and patience remained the key. He lost three personnel but the odds were still in his favor.
The battle to secure the human cargo took place in a more wide-open arena. Fifteen marines were joined by Jake Carter, who had landed his Sabre inside the AUSWAS ship, armed himself and made his way to the nearest marine—who had, in turn, directed him to the cargo area. The marines cleared the corridor and exchanged open fire with the Kryl. The storage containers housing human prisoners were in view. Jake, armed with a hypercannon, was in the most-forward position with two marines either side of him.
The lead marine prepared an assault on the Kryl soldiers immediately to the left of the storage containers. He engaged his hypercannon, and stood to commence his advance while Jake and the second marine provided cover. He cleared the twenty meters between his two Alpha colleagues and the containers, but in doing so he took two direct hits. The one to his leg smashed the bone in his knee; the other severed an artery in his lower thorax. He was clearly in agony but managed to control his aim, and held the new position while he waited for his fellow marine and Jake to join him.
* * * *
Alpha was not faring as well as Hoskins might have hoped on the outside. A further Kryl security battery joined the fray and Hoskins was forced to deploy additional Sabres to assist in the battle. It didn’t help that he lost Jake Carter, who, he assumed, landed his Sabre on board the AUSWAS vessel, intent on only one thing: to rescue his loved one. To complicate matters, the freighter was in deep trouble. Hoskins isolated the freighter from the line of fire, and an evacuation was underway.
The Kryl vessels were weakening, and it was only a matter of time before Alpha secured victory in the space battle. His first officer joined him on the bridge. Jacques may have lost his first command, but he orchestrated a successful, highly charged offensive. Winterburn would soon be secure, and then they could turn about and head towards the wormhole.
* * * *
Back aboard the AUSWAS ship, Jake and the two marines successfully crossed the deck. They defended their position immediately in front of the storage containers. The lead marine was in trouble. He lost a great deal of blood, and battle conditions meant it was impossible to pull him back for medical attention.
He needs help soon, thought Jake. The marine was dying. The second marine continued to defend the position while he waited for several more of his colleagues to join him. Jake crouched down and held the hand of the dying lead marine. He doubted whether he would make it.
After another ten minutes, the cargo area fracas was over and a contingent of six marines, including a medic, crossed to Jake and his companion’s position. The medic arrived too late. Jake had held a dying man in his arms in combat for the first time, his death occurring only moments earlier.
A marine sergeant placed a plastic explosive charge on the storage container door and stood aside while the charge ignited forcing the door off its hinges and backwards into the container. Visibility was limited following the explosion, but Jake and three marines entered. The prisoners gathered on the far side of the container, having heeded the marine’s prior warning of the impending explosion.
In all thirty-six human prisoners were rescued. Jake only cared about one. He held her in his arms and kissed her. He had Carla back and it was time to bring her home.
* * * *
Winterburn knew the battle was over. He prepared to be taken, and all that would inevitably
arise from it. He knew he was far too important to the Kryl Queen for her to allow him to be taken. She would order his return imminently. He also knew he had done his job. The blue wormhole was open, and by now the advance Kryl fleet would have entered the Tri-Star system, in advance of something much bigger.
He opened the blast doors and held his hands aloft. He acted the human once again, despite the fact that his facial features had returned to his original Kryl form.
Major De Vere stepped forward onto the bridge and approached Winterburn who sat on the command pedestal.
“Professor Winterburn, I presume.”
“Yes, Major. May I congratulate you on a job well done? Your marines are as good as they say. All you have to do is take me and your human companions off this ship and back through the wormhole. Do you imagine that will be an easy task?”
De Vere did not rise to the bait.
“I am acting under orders from my superiors just as I am sure you have been. You are correct, we will take you back through the wormhole where, I imagine, you will undergo extensive interrogation. Take him away, Corporal Pearce.”
* * * *
Carla was overjoyed to see Jake. She could not believe he had come all this way to rescue her. She told him she should have been cross, since her messages explicitly requested he not come. She always knew he would. Joely, too, seemed genuinely pleased to see Jake. She had met him previously but was heavily influenced by Winterburn, which was not a way to meet your sister’s new love.
Jake sought permission from De Vere to depart the AUSWAS vessel with both sisters aboard the Sabre 4, and within a few minutes he departed on route to Halo 7.