by John Walker
Gray grabbed his chair as the Behemoth shook, some kind of massive impact rocking the ship. Olly changed the view screen for them and they saw multiple enemy fighters ramming into their shields. At least five of them made it before they were taken out by automated defense turrets, blasting away.
“How bad did that hurt the shields?” Gray asked. “How did they not get through?”
Olly shook his head, tapping away at the console. “Our shields dropped down to fifteen percent on that side. Engineering is reporting that they’ve got them on priority generators to get them back up to maximum. I’m checking but it seems that their reactors didn’t detonate. That would’ve done it…or at least, it would’ve had a better chance.”
Clea spoke up, “Durant has made several modifications to our shields so I’m not surprised it didn’t work. The good news is they won’t bother to try again. However, that means they won’t be throwing away resources either.”
“I’d rather them not get lucky,” Adam said.
“We are ten seconds from engaging with the enemy capital ships,” Redding added. “The other two are almost within firing range of The Crystal Font.”
“Whoa!” Olly shouted. “Look!”
Gray squinted at the screen and had to turn away for a moment as a flash filled the area. The entire bridge lit up then returned to normal. Was that really one of the enemy ships? What the hell did they have on that thing? I’ve seen plenty of ships go up now but that was spectacular.
“How much damage did that do?”
“The Crystal Font shields took some punishment,” Olly said. “Looks like the nearby Devaran ship also lost some shield integrity. I’m picking up a lot of debris from enemy fighters…a couple of alliance once too.”
“What happened?” Adam asked.
“Bombs,” Olly replied. “Looks like the alliance bombers launched a full payload in a couple sections where the shields went down. That did the trick.”
Gray checked his reports, wondering who they lost out there. Panther Wing was operating in the area and Tiger would join them momentarily. They were holding off a lot of fighters out there. He didn’t have much time to worry about it. Even as he considered the situation, The Behemoth turrets fired at the gnats gnawing at their defenses.
“We’re in firing range,” Redding announced. “However, so are the new enemy ships.”
“They are gearing up, too,” Olly added. “I’ve got a surge…looks like one of those beams!”
“Agatha,” Gray barked, turning sharply in his chair. “Warn The Font! Now!”
“They’ve already contacted us, sir,” Agatha said. “They’re performing a microjump!”
“Hold back, Redding. Fire at will. We need to distract these guys.”
The Behemoth cannons fired at the nearest ship, the one that took some punishment from its partner detonating. As pulse blasts streaked through the dark of space, The Crystal Font warbled and vanished only moments before a purple beam erupted from one of the enemy ships. It harmlessly flashed off into nothingness…a clean miss.
I wonder how far Kale went, Gray thought. Are we alone against three now?
The shockwave from The Crystal Font’s swift departure rocked their vessel but caused no damage. One of the enemies veered off, moving to flank The Behemoth. The other fresh opponent charged them and the final one returned fire, letting their own cannons dance along the shields of the port bow.
Gray gritted his teeth, still not entirely trusting the new shield technology. Their first fights would’ve meant hull damage by now. Now, they were in a totally different league with vastly superior tools at their disposal. They’d seemed small until that moment but when Olly returned a minimal damage report and that they were still at eighty-percent, Gray’s confidence increased.
“Return fire,” Gray ordered. “Keep up the pressure and get me some bombers. When that thing’s shields go down, I want to finish it off quickly.”
“Yes, sir.” Redding commenced a rapid succession of attacks, timed for optimized recharge. As they started hammering their target, Gray wondered about the one drawing nearer to them. Did it intend to try and ram him? Would they give up another vessel in the midst of this war? Considering how many ships were in the fleet, he didn’t see how they’d be that crazy.
Stranger things have happened.
Gray turned to Adam, “we might have to fall back if that bastard keeps advancing.”
“You’re right.” Adam grunted as he looked at his screen. “They’re determined to get closer…but it might be for optimal range of that new weapon.”
Where the hell are you, Kale?
As if to answer him, Olly raised a hand. “Sir, I’m reading The Crystal Font! I don’t know exactly what they did, but they’ve flanked the advancing enemy. Take a look.”
On the screen, Gray watched as The Crystal Font rushed toward the enemy’s rear and opened fire, letting loose a torrent of pulse blasts. Shields flared near the engines of the target ship and a bright orange flash indicated hull damage. A tactical display showed fighters closing on the damaged craft and they unleashed their own assault.
“They’ve got a hull breach,” Olly said. “And their shields in the rear are completely down! A few more bombs and they should be done!”
“Amazing time, Kale,” Gray muttered. “How’s ours doing?”
“We’re looking at…” Olly yelped. “Starboard! Full assault incoming!”
“Evasive!” Adam called.
Redding tapped a few buttons and their ship seemed to drop suddenly, taxing the inertial dampeners to the point that they audibly whined throughout the ship. Gray knew people would’ve been jostled around during that maneuver but it might’ve saved all their lives. As the enemy ship burst over them and flew by, he recognized another suicide attempt.
“Lord, those bastards really did try it!” Gray shook his head. “I need a casualty report…and keep at that guy! I’m sure we’ll have more trouble to deal with soon enough so the longer we play with these fools, the better chance we’ll get overwhelmed.”
“I’m not dancing with them, sir,” Redding replied. “They’re taking quite the punishment over there.”
“We’ve immobilized them,” Olly said. “Engines are showing offline.” The Behemoth shook from several blasts. “But they’ve still got weapons. Just perfect.”
“Leave it to them to worry more about fighting to the last breath than moving,” Adam said, “or surviving for that matter.”
Gray wondered how this culture survived so long with their total lack of self preservation. They were entirely too willing to sacrifice their lives. Had they done it forever? Surely not. How could they? A culture only thrived when it valued life to some degree. Unless they had litters, reproducing by the dozen.
A possibility. The database doesn’t talk about any female Devarans being caught and examined.
“Did that hurt?” Gray asked.
“Sixty percent forward shields,” Olly said. “The damage from the fighters took a little longer to bring back. They’re near to ninety now.”
“Understood.” Gray shook his head. He wanted to urge Redding on but she was firing as fast as she could. These enemy vessels were tough and that was their advantage.
The Crystal Font delivered a barrage on the damaged vessel from the other side, timing it perfectly with Redding. Gray didn’t know if they were linked up via com or what but however they did it, the effort paid off. As the ship went up in a fiery ball, debris scattered in all directions. They were left with one ship left and it was still moving off after attempting to ram The Behemoth.
Clea stood suddenly and joined Olly at his station. She tapped at one of his screens, speaking quietly with him for several moments. Gray turned his attention to the reports from the rest of the ship. Medical stated they had a few bumps and bruises with the worst injury coming in the form of a broken arm. Pretty good considering what they’d just done.
Smaller vessels still buzzed around, harassing the shields. The worse t
hreat, the gunships that they detected earlier, had yet to really lay into them. However, he knew some of them were out there. He saw a brief report of several alliance fighters heading out to take them out.
I hope they’re up to that. These things look ridiculous.
“Captain,” Clea announced. “I’m reading a large jump signature. It looks like we’re warranting a little more attention.”
“Great.” Gray rubbed his eyes. “They might know what we’re up to. Get a message to The Font. We should microjump closer to the facility. Let’s make them fight around their own terrain. Give us something to hide behind. I wonder how much of their fleet they’re willing to risk to take us on.”
Adam shrugged. “I don’t know but it might be time to get in the fight with the rest of the fleet.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our marines are on the station and there’s precious little we can do for them out here. If we get into the thick of things, the rest of the ships will stay devoted to the major battle.”
“You…have a point.” Gray rubbed his chin. “Thoughts, Clea?”
“We’re the only thing out here preventing the enemy from landing reinforcements on that station,” Clea replied. “That and all our pilots are already engaged in defenses out here. We’d have a hard time disengaging at this point without leaving a lot of people behind…and some of them might need to come back aboard for repairs and resupply.”
“We can pull them back in,” Adam countered. “They’ll do better with fleet tactics anyway. Think about it. More support is not a bad thing in the midst of this.”
“But we’re doing our job,” Clea said. “We’re about to destroy their transmission facility and we’re pulling several of their resources away from the main battle. That means Mei’Gora gets to make his push all that much easier. Two more ships in his line won’t help over there but out here, we’re able to make things happen.”
“I disagree,” Adam finished, turning to Gray. “You’ve heard my piece, sir.”
Gray considered the situation for a moment. They both had good points but he was siding with Clea. Getting back to the rest of the fleet would not benefit the battle nearly as much as staying in the area, harassing the enemy. And when that station went down, they would need to be there to save those men who were able to get out.
The risks would be great but then again, they knew what they were getting into before they even left kielan space. This action, this attack on the facility, was an important push that they would be of great service to the overall battle. If they succeeded, it might go much further than all the pulse bombs they could contribute to attacking the planet’s surface.
Am I being unkind to the people under my command? Chances of survival with the fleet were better than spending time alone with The Crystal Font. If Gray elected to stick it out and brawl however many ships showed up, he’d have a lot of lives in his hands. But this was not the hour for hesitation.
No, we have to stick this out. It’s where we’re meant to be. Gray checked the situation and noted that the pilots were heavily engaged. There was no chance they would be able to pull out of those fights without risking serious losses. Each pilot was invested in the brawl and the best the larger ships could do was to keep the odds even.
“Thank you both for your input.” Gray leaned forward. “Leonard, coordinate with The Crystal Font for jump coordinates to get us over to the facility. I want to be out of here in the next thirty seconds…certainly before whoever’s coming shows up. They can come to us.”
“What about the fighters?” Adam asked. He clearly didn’t seem pleased with the decision but he kept his opinion to himself for the time being. “We’re going to be leaving them here.”
“All wings should be able to catch up to us in less than half an hour,” Gray said. “And they’ll be keeping the fighters busy for us while we take care of larger game. Especially when we start pushing for the planet.”
“Pushing for what?” Adam asked. “Did you suggest we’re pushing for the planet?”
Gray grinned. “We’ll be pretty close and there’s no reason not to hop over there and do a little damage. Might shake up the entire enemy fleet, don’t you think? Besides, we’ll be right near their facility the whole time. There’s no way they’ll be able to ignore us. Once again, buying all our ships, fighter and acting fleet, a chance to get their jobs done.”
“What if they have planetary defenses?” Adam asked. “Won’t that be a little more than we can handle?”
“They’ll have a hard time hitting us,” Clea said, “without striking their own people and even if they start shooting, we should be able to outmaneuver them. I’ll work with Olly to get an early warning system up and running before we get there. That should give us plenty of time to dodge any particularly powerful attacks.”
“Do it,” Gray said. “Prepare for a microjump, people. I want to take this party to their doorstep.”
Chapter 7
Meagan formed up with Alma on her left. Mick gave her a serious dressing down about heading out for those gunships and she actually had to pull rank on him. He wasn’t happy and she didn’t blame him either. The situation was crazy but the targets had to go. If they formed up and attack in unison, they might be able to cause real damage to the larger ships.
Never mind what such weapons might do to us. The fact they’re too wily for automated defenses certainly doesn’t help. Time to see how they respond to a little human…er…sentient control.
Scans showed their targets were just up ahead. In thirty seconds, Meagan would have an extreme range firing solution. The amount of lead she’d have to employ would be insane so she intended to get much closer before pulling the trigger. Her companions certainly had the nerves to be patient.
When Estaban finds out about this little adventure, he’s going to lose his mind.
Meagan knew that leaving Panther Wing under Mick’s command would probably draw some complaint but these ships needed to be challenged. She couldn’t ask her own people to risk themselves against the unknown factor represented by the enemies, not until she’d seen their work with her own eyes.
That’s just an excuse. I really just want a shot at them.
Admitting such a point to herself made Meagan feel guilty but she didn’t have to say it out loud. The others flying with her didn’t care. They were in the same boat. Their reasons might vary, up to and including protecting The Crystal Font but ultimately, this felt like a personal challenge.
“They’re formed up,” Alma announced. “I’m going to take the left flank. Rahan, you’re up top. Tular, go for the right.”
“You relegating me to the bottom?” Meagan asked.
“I thought you could do as you please,” Alma replied, “but you’re welcome to take my advice if you’d like.”
“Thanks, Alma. I appreciate it.” Meagan chuckled. “Just be sure to stagger your approaches so we don’t wind up shot in our own crossfire.”
Meagan broke formation, diving to get herself into position. The other ships went off in their various directions, preparing for the assault. The four enemy ships didn’t alter their course or speed, continuing on as if they didn’t notice the incoming ships. I know you have us on scans. Are you really so laid back about our approach?
“I’m going with missiles first,” Alma said. “I’ll follow up with pulse cannons.”
“Let’s do this on a mark,” Rahan added. “I’m starting a countdown. On five, fire your missiles and initiate the attack.”
“Be cautious,” Meagan said. “These guys don’t seem to care about us right now.”
“They will in a second,” Tular said. “Go, Rahan.”
Meagan initiated a target lock as the countdown began. She had tone by the time he reached three. At five, she pulled the trigger, counted to three and discharged her pulse cannons.
At first, it looked like the enemy might allow themselves to be destroyed. They didn’t climb or move from the attack but just continued
their lazy course. Once the missiles reached the halfway point, their turrets spun around and began firing like crazy. The seemingly random shots took out the missiles and Meagan had to perform some wild evasive maneuvers to avoid being hit.
Meagan’s computer reported that the pulse shots were a clean miss. She wouldn’t have been able to watch them had she wanted to consider the enemy’s defenses. The others reported similar results and returned to their positions for their next attempt. Meanwhile, the gunships lumbered on, still unconcerned and moving without a care in the universe.
“Hate to state the obvious,” Meagan said, “but um…that didn’t work. Any suggestions?”
Alma hummed. “We might be able to—”
“We’ve got normal fighters incoming,” Rahan interrupted. “Six.”
Meagan checked her scanner for an ETA and noted they had less than three minutes before they’d be joined. So these guys called for some reinforcements. Where are they going that they don’t want to deal with us themselves? They should be able to, if they decided to go full offensive.
“We need to hurry then,” Alma said. “And I’ve got a plan. Hang back. This…might get me a few appointments with our mental nurse.”
Meagan started to ask her what she planned to do when Alma hit her afterburners and plunged toward the rear of the gunships. The kielan vessel came under fire a moment later and she dodged and weaved her way through the assault, her shields flaring twice before she burst between them all.
“What the hell are you doing?” Meagan called out. “Are you insane? Get out of there!”
“Almost done,” Alma replied. “Just gotta leave them a little surprise…and Rahan? Can you do the honors?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Alma’s ship flew out the other side of the small cadre of enemies and she dove to avoid further attacks. She’d be out of firing range in a few moments, just as Rahan flew in from the left. He began firing but not at the enemy ships. No, Meagan’s scanners picked something else up. Did she drop something?
A massive flash of light erupted in the midst of the enemy ships, even as they tagged Rahan at least half a dozen times. Orange light erupted from one of his engines but he held it together and altered course, flying away.