Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion

by Christian Kallias

  “In the absence of Daniel, you’re my new wing commander.”

  “Roger that. I’ll be airborne in twenty seconds.”

  “Give them hell, Fillio!”

  “You can count on just that. Sledgehammer out.”

  Two of the Zarlack warships vectored towards the Destiny and opened fire with everything they had.

  “Target one of these ships. Bring main weapons online and open fire.”

  “Firing now,” answered Lieutenant Sakis.

  An intense beam of green plasma shot from the Destiny and struck the target’s shields. When the firing sequence ended, it had drained forty percent of its shield. Meanwhile, the continuous pounding from the Zarlack warship made the Destiny shake and groan. It wouldn’t take this treatment for long. Its shields were holding but being taxed faster than they should have been.

  “Something’s wrong. They must have upgraded their weapons. Commander, compare their firepower with the logs from our previous engagement with the enemy.”

  The commander keyed a few inputs into his holo-console. His expression changed. “Confirmed, Commodore. Both shields and weapons seem to be at least twenty percent more efficient.”

  Twenty percent wasn’t much during smaller encounters, but with the size of the current enemy armada, it could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

  “Order the two nearest satellites to fire full power towards the same target we’ve just hit. The moment they do, fire a full volley of torpedoes.”

  “Acknowledged, Commodore.”

  Two of the ten satellites currently in orbit fired their ultra-powerful beams of energy towards the target. When they were done firing, explosions occurred on some of the decks of the ship. Its shields were down. The volley of torpedoes finished the job and the ship disappeared in a bright, fiery explosion. An intense shockwave impacted the nearby target that was still firing heavily at the Destiny.

  “Bring the moon’s defense systems online. They are to cover the satellites. They’re our only chance to win this fight. They are to target any ships approaching any of the satellites in their range.”

  “Moon defenses online.”

  “Get me a firing solution on that second bogie; same strategy: coordinate the main weapons to fire with another two satellites. Fire when ready.”

  “Main weapons won’t be charged for another twenty seconds, Commodore.”

  “What about the torpedoes?”

  “All tubes reloaded.”

  “Then fire the volley first, and then the main guns.”

  Another volley of torpedoes exploded near the approaching target, its shield absorbing their destructive power. The Destiny’s main weapons fired, and so did two of the other satellites in range. The Zarlack warship’s shields went down and flames spewed from it. It stopped firing, its weapons most likely destroyed or damaged, but the ship kept coming at max burn towards the Destiny.

  “They’re trying to ram us! Hard to port, NOW!”

  The Destiny’s armor groaned when the ship veered to port. Saroudis looked at the holo-display in terror. They wouldn’t have time to get out of the way. And Aphroditis was on board. He couldn’t let her perish here; not a chance. He keyed coordinates into his own holo-display and activated the jump engine. The Destiny jumped a mere second before impact.

  Saroudis was relieved when his ship reappeared a few parsecs outside the war theater. He turned his ship about and vectored back into the fight at maximum sub-light speeds.

  The doors of the bridge opened and Aphroditis ran in, a grave expression on her face.

  “What’s happening?”

  “We’re being attack by a large fleet of Zarlack ships. It’s not safe for you to stay on board. How strong are your ship’s shields?”

  “They’re very strong, but . . .” She looked at the main holo-screen and saw the chaos of fire being exchanged between the two fleets. Another Droxian ship exploded in the distance. “I don’t know if they are sufficiently strong.”

  “I’ll have two squadrons of fighters escort you to . . .” He thought about it. If the ships started using mass drivers to bombard Earth as they did last time they were here, she might not be safe on Earth either. “They’ll escort you to the jumpgate. From there you’ll reach Droxian space. Unless they’re attacked too you should be safe for the time being.”

  “I can’t go to Droxia, Commodore. I need to stay here.”

  “This is temporary. We need to get you to safety!”

  “I understand and thank you for your help.” The ship started to shake once more upon entering firing range. “But I won’t leave Earth space.”

  Saroudis swore in his head. “Alright, then they’ll escort you to the planet. Once you reach there, you’ll be escorted to a bunker that should withstand an orbital attack.”

  “Thank you, Commodore. I’ll get to my ship at once.”

  “Very well. Be safe.”

  “You too, Commodore. Don’t let Earth fall.”

  “I won’t.”

  She exited the bridge and the commodore relayed orders to the two nearest wings to escort and protect her ship down to Earth, at Alliance Central multiplex in DC. After the terrorist bombing they had reconstructed and fortified the installation. It was now shielded, and they had constructed an underground bunker deep beneath the Earth’s crust. She should be safe there.

  A few torpedoes and some multiple plasma fire impacted the Destiny’s shield, making it rock.

  “This is going to be a very long, hard day,” said Saroudis out loud.

  C H A P T E R

  IX

  Fillio’s wing had dispatched the first wave of Zarlack starfighters. They were outnumbered five to one but the superiority of the StarFuries paid off. Especially in the hands of skilled fighters like her. She split her wing in two to repel the next pair of squadrons vectoring towards their position.

  She painted her next target and let her drones pummel its shield and add to her own laser firepower. When it reached a satisfactory twenty percent, she fired a missile. Its target exploded in a fiery display. She flew through the flames, letting out a war cry for her own benefit as her shield lit up and deflected debris from the destroyed ship.

  She acquired her next target and pummeled its port shields with her laser. When they became dangerously low it rotated on its axis and went evasive. She locked the port side with a missile and fired. She immediately veered towards her next prey, knowing the missile would finish the job.

  The moment she engaged her next target, the previous bogie disappeared from her neuronal HUD’s translucent radar. She couldn’t help but smile. Her drones started draining the shields of the enemy craft quickly. It tried to go evasive but she wouldn’t let it breathe. Soon its shields were down. She tuned her firing to super charged and sent one volley down the craft’s engines. They exploded and the ship started madly rolling on all axes before ripping in two. For a brief moment she saw the reptilian Zarlack tumble through space before some of the debris cut him in half, guts and blood barely having time to spray before being flash frozen in place.

  Now that’s a satisfying kill, she thought. The more these bastards suffer the better. Her train of thought was interrupted when a flurry of laser fire hit her starboard shields. She broke hard to port. Her HUD flashed red: two missiles were on their way. She put her ship in a spin and released countermeasures at the last moment, firing afterburners at the same time. When both missiles detonated she was long gone. Another five craft engaged her. Clearly her prior flying and quick kills had brought her some aggro from the ships in the area.

  “The more the better. Bring it on!”

  She went evasive and spun around like a mad bird, dodging most of the incoming fire. When all her pursuers were in a tight group, she spun her ship one hundred and eighty degrees and punched her engine to face them. Her aft shields took some hits but nothing it couldn’t handle. She programmed one of her drones to turn into a mine. When she was almost upon the wave of ships joyfully rain
ing hellfire on her, she deployed the drone and punched the afterburners. She flew right through the five-ship formation.

  “So long, suckers!”

  She detonated the mine. The brunt of the explosion took three ships on the spot, the shockwave disabling the fourth ship, which collided with the fifth, ripping off one of its wings. It started spinning while leaving a smoke trail. She adjusted her vector, lined up behind it and put it out of its misery with a single, precise shot.

  She ignored the disabled ship and vectored towards the next incoming squadron. Two of her wing mates, having just dealt with their own targets, rejoined her wing. They had lost more than half their shields but were otherwise undamaged. So far none of Alpha-wing’s craft had been destroyed.

  Alpha two got painted and three missiles came towards it. She put her ship right behind it and shot one of the incoming missiles, and when she lined up to destroy a second her neuronal HUD rapidly flashed red and the onboard AINI went vocal.

  “Collision alert!”

  Before she could do anything a Zarlack ship collided with her shields. It exploded on impact and for a brief moment all she saw through her canopy were flames. She checked her shields. They were down to twenty percent.

  “Pheeeew, thank the gods these are tough ships.”

  When she recovered visual contact with the ship she had been covering she saw the other two missiles impact with it, taking its shields out. Sparks flew but the ship still seemed operational. But then it all went wrong.

  Another approaching Zarlack fighter locked onto it with a red beam of light. A tractor beam. The Zarlack pushed its afterburners and went kamikaze. Both ships exploded.

  “What the hell?” she shouted out loud.

  That’s when three incoming ships started raining heavy fire on her, each locking two missiles on her. With some pretty fancy flying she managed to dodge most of the incoming fire and dispatched four of the missiles, but two got through and struck her aft shields, disabling them on the spot. Some sparks flew in her cockpit.

  One of the Zarlacks locked its tractor beam onto her hip and started pulling her. She put her engines in reverse but the enemy craft pushed its afterburners, countering her maneuver. AINI spat out another collision alert and many of her virtual instruments went red.

  “Fuck me!” was all that came to mind.

  In two seconds the enemy craft would explode and take her out. It felt as if her heart stopped, but her mind raced beyond light speed. She mentally triggered a micro-jump. What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion and time slowed to a crawl. She saw the hyperspace window open in front of her, the ship entered it and just before she jumped she saw flames all around. The next second her craft exited hyperspace, not too far from the moon.

  “Holy crap, that was close.”

  She flew behind one of the satellites, letting her shields recharge. But then she had a perfect view of two members of her squadron, and in less than a minute they were obliterated by the same tactic.

  That’s new, she thought.

  That changed the odds radically. If enemy pilots were happily sacrificing themselves to take down StarFuries, that would complicate things. A lot.

  She opened a channel to the Destiny.

  “Commodore, the Zarlacks are sacrificing their starfighters to take out our StarFuries!”

  “I see it. This is bad.”

  “Yeah, what do we do?”

  “Don’t let their tractor beams lock onto your craft, that’s what you do.”

  “Easier said than done, with all due respect, Commodore.”

  “Can’t really debate this with you right now, Sledgehammer. We’ve got heavy incoming. Saroudis out.”

  So much for the pep talk, she thought.

  Her ship’s shields were back to a satisfactory seventy-seven percent when she decided to re-engage; but this time she would pick her targets, making sure she didn’t get pinned down as before and expose herself to this new batshit crazy tactic that was currently decimating the Earth Alliance StarFuries one by one.

  * * *

  Aphroditis’ ship was approaching one of the defense satellites when red beams locked on to two of her escorts, and Zarlack ships started throwing themselves at them. They exploded upon impact. The remainder of her protection detail fought bravely, but soon they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of ships adopting kamikaze tactics.

  She had passed the satellite when three Zarlack ships came out of nowhere and crashed upon her ship’s shields. The light within her cockpit started flickering and her craft went into a wild spin. She tried in vain to get out of it but her controls weren’t responding.

  She opened a channel,

  “Commodore! Please help. I’ve lost control of my ship. I’m currently accelerating towards Earth with no control of my engines. I don’t know what to do!”

  “Hang on, Aphroditis. I’m sending help.”

  Her heart pounded and she remembered her nightmare vision. Could that be it? Was her time up as well? A sense of dread filled her.

  She closed her eyes and focused all her energy on Chase.

  “Chase! Please help me!”

  * * *

  “Sledgehammer, this is Saroudis. Aphroditis’ ship is being attacked and her ship is out of control. Please assist her now. This is a top priority.”

  “Understood, Commodore. Sledgehammer out.”

  She vectored her ship to intercept the Olympian, but she was too far out. She needed to jump to get there fast enough. She tried micro-jumping but her HD blinked orange.

  Jump engines inoperable.

  No doubt a side effect of her last jump so near the Zarlack ship that tried ramming her. She cursed. She used her instruments to locate the nearest ship. There was only one in range. She hailed it. “Epsilon Four, please respond?”

  “Listening, Wing Commander.”

  “I have a mission for you. This is top priority. There’s an Olympian ship plummeting towards the planet. You need to tractor it and help it any way you can. We cannot lose the person on board this ship, do you understand?”

  “Copy. I’m on it. MetalMonster out.”

  * * *

  On board the Valken, Chase was resting in one of the bunk beds in the back of the ship. He had just finished eating a sandwich and had to admit he missed Earth’s culinary delights. He could really go for a pizza or some Chinese deep-fried meal right now. His hands were locked behind his head as he thought about what it would be like to be back on the beautiful blue planet.

  There was no denying he dreaded it more than anything else. Just knowing he was travelling towards Earth gave him a headache. But that was most likely because he felt remorse and shame, leaving everything behind as he had. He could still remember the heated discussion he had with his once commanding officer and friend Adonis Saroudis.

  He had tried to convince him that time would heal his wounds and that revenge wasn’t the way to go. But how could he know? Nobody could. All Chase knew was how much he hated his brother, how every minute of every day he envisioned killing him with his bare hands, as he should have done on board Damocles-3. Gods, why didn’t he do it? Why didn’t he just end Argos then and there?

  That brought another set of shameful memories. The way he and Daniel had argued before his departure and resignation from the Earth Alliance. He hoped Daniel would forgive him. He didn’t intend to hurt his feelings. But he did say things he shouldn’t have. When he blurted out that it was his fault for not letting him execute Argos, Chase knew that these had been harsh words uttered in a moment of anger and utter sadness. He hoped Daniel knew that as well. The last thing he wanted was his brother-in-arms to blame himself.

  Blame. There was only one person to blame for everything that had gone wrong for as long as he could remember now. The fall of the Alliance, the fight for Earth’s survival, Sarah’s torture and her ultimate demise. And now Ares’ death.

  Tears of hate welled at the corners of Chase’s eyes.

  Argos was the one respo
nsible for all that pain, chaos, misery and death. But a day would come when Chase would at least rectify the mistake that his brother’s birth had been. On that day he would make him wish he was never born. Killing him was only part of it. He needed to suffer. Chase would often daydream about how much pain he would inflict on Argos before putting him out of his misery. He felt as if the day of reckoning was approaching.

  Then he heard her shout in his mind. Aphroditis.

  “Chase, help me!”

  No visions though, just a mental call, as Argos had done so many times. That couldn’t be a good sign. Ares had made him promise to protect her. Chase already felt responsible for Ares’ death and great sadness for the loss of his mentor.

  He closed his eyes and tried projecting his mind towards the source of the voice. He couldn’t even visualize it, though. He thought of Earth, but that didn’t seem to help.

  Then he felt a warm energy engulf him from head to toe. The energy was familiar somehow, but Chase couldn’t place it. He tried again and suddenly felt his consciousness travel at faster than hyperspace speed, and when he opened his eyes he was next to her. He tried to put his hand on her shoulder but it passed right through it. Right, I’m not actually there, thought Chase. He tried talking but she didn’t seem to hear.

  Chase watched Aphroditis frantically trying to bring the engines of her ship back online. The ship was spinning madly, and she was about to enter Earth’s atmosphere. He needed to find a way to help her. He saw a StarFury during one of the rotations of her ship. He also saw multiple capital ships engaged in combat. From what he could make of that millisecond view, Zarlacks were attacking Earth Alliance and the Droxian ships defending it.

  At this moment, Chase regretted leaving Earth. Argos had to be on one of those ships, so if he had stayed put . . . Another cry for help from Aphroditis snapped Chase out of his current thought pattern. He closed his eyes again and concentrated, trying to project his mind to the nearest StarFury.

  When he opened his eyes again he was aboard a StarFury in a launching bay he knew well: one of the satellites. He immediately fired up the craft and took off. As he flew outside the landing bay’s force field he saw another StarFury being pounded by a Zarlack starfighter. Its shield were down and the enemy had locked onto it with a tractor beam. It was on an intercept course at full burn.