A Show of Force

by Ryk Brown

  “Four copies,” Loki answered. “You get that, Hotshot?”

  “Sure thing, Stretch.” Josh smiled as he altered their course slightly starboard to intercept their assigned targets.

  “Painting targets now,” Loki announced. “Steady while I deploy.”

  “You got it, Stretch.”

  “Please stop calling me that.”

  “Might as well get used to it, Stretch.”

  “Opening weapons bay doors,” Loki reported. “Launching missiles.”

  Josh glanced up over his forward console as their two missiles streaked away on invisible jets of thrust, their tails glowing white hot as they disappeared in the distance.

  “Ten seconds to missile impacts,” Loki reported. “Target two is maneuvering. He’s dropping countermeasures and climbing right. Target one is down!”

  “Turning onto target two,” Josh reported as he rolled slightly to starboard and pulled their nose up a bit, adding in a bit more power on his main engines. “Where’s that second missile?” Josh wondered.

  “Tagged a countermeasure,” Loki replied. “Locking another missile on target.”

  “Save ‘em,” Josh insisted. “We’ll be guns in a few seconds at this speed. Besides, the night is young. We might need those missiles later.”

  “Switching to gun turret,” Loki said. “Pull high and force him to dive and give me a better angle.”

  “How do you know he’s going to dive?” Josh wondered.

  “He doesn’t know we’ve got a nose turret, Josh,” Loki explained. “He thinks you’re trying to engage him in a straight-out dogfight. He’ll roll over and dive. He’ll think he can turn tighter than us because of our lifting body design.”

  “He’s right, but so are you,” Josh said as he pitched the nose up a bit more.

  “Not too much,” Loki warned, “or he won’t buy it.”

  “Or he’ll think we’re idiots and can’t fly an intercept heading.”

  Josh looked out over his console again, spotting the three glowing thrust ports of his opponent’s engines. “I’ve got visual.”

  “Come on, fucker, dive,” Loki mumbled.

  “Hey, give me wing cannons.”

  “What?”

  “Just give them to me.”

  “Alright.”

  “Watch this.” Josh opened up with the Falcon’s wing-mounted cannons, sending a steady barrage of red bolts of energy streaming forward. He added a touch of power, then stomped on his rudder pedals—first left, then right, then left again—repeating the process, while he continued firing, the streams of energy slicing back and forth laterally across the sky. The Jung fighter ahead of them twisted about as he tried to avoid the streams of energy as they swept the sky, finally rolling over and nosing down to escape the deadly streams of plasma.

  “He’s all yours, Stretch!” Josh declared.

  “Stop calling me that!” Loki insisted as he opened fire with their nose turret. The icon on his weapons tracking display blinked several times and then disappeared. “Target two is down,” Loki announced. “Come hard left to rejoin Falcon Three.”

  “You got it, Stretch,” Josh replied with a grin.

  Jessica and Gerard ran down the corridor toward the front entrance to the broadcast studios, the sound of energy weapons fire reverberating through the hallways from the front lobby. As they turned the last corner to the main hallway, red bolts of energy flew past their heads, glancing off the side walls and slamming into the wall at the end of the hallway, blowing it apart. Jessica immediately moved to the side of the corridor to stay out of the incoming line of fire, Gerard doing the same against the opposite wall.

  As they neared the lobby, Gerard yelled something to his men in Cetian. The rate of fire from his men increased, and he darted into the lobby to his right, taking cover behind a long counter. Jessica followed suit, doing the same to the left. She ducked down behind the counter, moving just beyond one of Gerard’s men as he continued to fire over the top of the counter. He was obviously well-trained, being careful to keep his head down and firing in deliberate fashion rather than just spraying the area with gunfire.

  Jessica moved to the end of the counter, paused, then stuck her head out for a brief moment, taking a quick survey of the Jung positions. One behind the planter. One at the edge of the window, taking cover behind the wall. Two more further down the sloped walkway, using the curvature at the top of the walkway to their advantage as cover.

  Jessica ducked back behind the counter and looked over at Gerard at the next counter. “Hey!” she half-shouted, just enough to be heard over the exchange of weapons fire. “On my signal, everyone stop firing until I tell you to start again.”

  Gerard nodded his understanding, passing the word to his men in Cetian.

  Jessica turned her back to the open end of the counter, lowering herself into a squatting position, her rifle at the ready. She looked at Gerard and made a slashing motion across her neck. Gerard and his men ceased firing.

  A few more rounds of Jung energy weapons fire slammed into the front of the counter and the wall behind it, sending more bits of concrete and stone raining down upon them, but after a few seconds, the firing stopped.

  Jessica held her hand up, gesturing for them to remain still and not fire. She waited a few more seconds, listening for any unusual sounds. Then she heard the sound of broken glass crunching beneath someone’s boot.

  Jessica rolled backwards, rolling on her back and over, until she was again in a squatting position, only this time she was a good two meters beyond the end of the counter, her weapon raised. Directly in front of her was the Jung soldier who had been hiding behind the wall at the edge of the massive shattered windows. He had been trying to sneak forward and surprise the men behind the counter, and his eyes went wide at the sight of Jessica’s rifle barrel pointed at his face.

  Jessica squeezed off a single burst of energy, striking the man directly in the face, sending him tumbling backwards. Directly behind him, and equally surprised, was the soldier who had been using the large planter for cover. He too had exposed himself in an attempt to move forward on their position. Jessica took him down with two more shots, the first one striking his chest armor, and the second one his right eye.

  She rolled to her left as the other two soldiers further down the path opened fire. Two full rolls got her to cover, and she scrambled to her feet and ran forward to the wall. She leaned out and caught one of the two men as he popped up to fire, hitting him in the neck with an energy blast. She continued to lay down fire as Gerard moved out to the right, made his way to the window, and picked off the last man from a wide angle.

  “Clear left!” Jessica yelled.

  “Clear right!” Gerard answered.

  “Only four?” Jessica wondered.

  “The Jung have quick response squads located all over the city,” Gerard explained. “More will arrive shortly, trust me.”

  “How long do we have?” Jessica asked as she moved back toward the central hallway.

  “Five minutes at the most.”

  “We need to get the hell out of here,” Jessica said.

  “If we leave now, they will simply turn off your message. The longer we hold this position, the better the chances are that your message will be received.”

  “Fuck,” Jessica exclaimed. “Fine, but we’d better make sure all other entrances are sealed off. These counters are reinforced, so they’re as good a firing position as any. We need to clear cover from the immediate area outside, so that they have no choice but to come up that ramp and right into our field of fire.”

  “Once they realize our defensive abilities, they will simply cut the transmission and most likely level the building. They will no doubt blame it on the invading forces.”

  “No doubt,” Jessica said as she stepped through the broken out window to go outside and prep the immediate area as planned.

  The combat jump shuttle raced between the buildings, staying as close to them as possible to st
ay out of the line of firing from the Jung fighters diving on them from above. Sergeant Torwell kept his gun turret to their starboard side, aimed high along the roof line above, firing briefly as openings became available when they passed over intersections.

  “We can’t do this forever, L-T!” Ensign Latfee insisted. “Sooner or later, they’re going to come in low behind us…”

  “Then we’ll duck down another street!” the lieutenant insisted.

  An explosion lit up the sky for a moment.

  “Jumper One, Falcon Leader. Skies in the immediate area are clear.”

  “Fuck yeah!” the lieutenant exclaimed.

  “Falcon Leader, Jumper One. Thanks.”

  “Take us back up to one thousand meters and come ninety to port,” Commander Telles called from the back of the shuttle. “I need to get a good look at the downtown engagement area before we set down.”

  “You got it,” the lieutenant answered.

  The combat jump shuttle rose quickly above the buildings, climbing back up to its original altitude.

  “Telles, Mobile Two.”

  “Mobile Two, go for Telles.”

  “Telles, Mobile Two. Robinson. SIGINT is picking up something you need to see, Commander. An over-the-air broadcast.”

  “Pipe it into our helmet displays,” Telles ordered.

  “Yes, sir. Sending it now.”

  Commander Telles and Master Sergeant Jahal watched the inside of their display screens as the broadcast was transmitted to their helmet displays. On the inside of their visors, they saw an image of a woman with dark hair and a familiar face, but the image quality was poor, and the sound broken with a lot of background static.

  “This is ……ant Commander ………… of the ……… ship …… I’m trying to ………ing to the ……… The Jung have two ba………ips hi……………”

  “Isn’t that…” Master Sergeant Jahal began.

  “I believe so,” the commander agreed, interrupting his friend. “Mobile Two, Telles. Transmission is garbled on our end. Are you getting a clear read?”

  “Negative,” Lieutenant Robinson replied over the comms. “We think it’s Lieutenant Commander Nash, sir. Our best guess is that she’s trying to warn us that the Jung have more battleships hidden in the vicinity of the third gas giant in the system. I think she’s trying to warn us of an ambush.”

  “Do you have contact with the Aurora?”

  “Negative, sir. Jung fighters already shot down half the comm-sats we deployed with the second wave, and the Aurora is over the horizon from us. We were hoping that you were in a position to relay.”

  “Falcons, Falcons,” Commander Telles called. “This is Telles with priority request.”

  “Telles, Falcon Four. Go with request,” Loki’s voice replied over the comms.

  “Sheehan, Telles,” the commander began, recognizing Loki’s voice. “Urgent message relay to Aurora Actual. High probability of two or more battleships hidden in the vicinity of the third gas giant. Suspect ambush. Do you copy?”

  “Yes, sir. Possible ambush. Two or more battleships, third gas giant. We’re pitching up to jump to orbit now,” Loki promised. After a brief pause, he spoke again. “Commander, they’re going to ask where the intel came from.”

  “Tell them it came from Nash.”

  “Yes, sir. Falcon Four, out.”

  “I was sure she was dead by now,” Master Sergeant Jahal admitted.

  “So was I,” the commander agreed. “Mobile Two, Telles. Did you get a fix on the location of that transmission?”

  “Yes, sir,” the lieutenant replied over the comms. “Transmitting source coordinates to you now.”

  “Send them to CJ One as well,” The commander instructed.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Lieutenant,” Telles called to his pilot. “Get us to those coordinates as quickly as possible.”

  “On our way, sir,” the pilot replied.

  “Entering low orbit over Kohara,” Mister Riley reported.

  “I’ve got waves of Jung fighters heading up from the surface,” Luis reported from the Aurora’s tactical station. “Three waves, total of eighty-four fighters.”

  “Threat level?” Nathan asked, rotating his chair aft to face his tactical officer.

  “If they’re the standard Jung fighters we’ve seen in the past, the threat level is low,” Luis replied. “However…”

  “Hold them off as best you can, Lieutenant,” Nathan ordered. “Once the third wave is down, we should start getting some of the Falcons flying ground support sent up to us.”

  “Aye, sir. Targeting the incoming fighters with our laser turrets and mini-rail guns.”

  “If they become a problem, we can always jump out until those Falcons can join us.”

  “Jump event,” Mister Navashee reported. “Two hundred kilometers astern, just popped into orbit. It’s a Falcon.”

  “You see,” Nathan said, “we’ve got one already.”

  “Captain,” Ensign Souza called from the comm station. “Falcon Four is asking for Aurora Actual.”

  “Patch them through,” Nathan ordered. He looked at Luis. “Which one is Four?”

  “Josh and Loki,” Luis replied.

  “Aurora Actual, Falcon Four!” Loki called urgently over the comms.

  “Falcon Four, Aurora Actual,” Nathan replied calmly. “Go ahead, Ensign Sheehan.”

  “Relay from Telles. Jung have two or more battleships hidden in the vicinity of the third gas giant. Probably ambush.”

  Nathan felt his calm slip away. “Confidence?” he asked.

  “The message came from Lieutenant Commander Nash, sir!”

  “She’s alive?”

  “Apparently, sir!”

  Nathan felt a wave of both panic and relief wash over him at the same time. “Helm, take us into a higher orbit,” he ordered as he rotated forward again. “I want room to maneuver.”

  “Climbing to higher orbit, aye,” Mister Chiles acknowledged.

  “Mister Navashee…” Nathan started.

  “…I’ve got nothing in the vicinity of the third gas giant,” Mister Navashee assured him.

  “Scan the other two as well, just in case they got it wrong,” Nathan ordered. “Hell, scan them all. Find those damned battleships.”

  “Aye, sir,” Mister Navashee replied.

  Nathan tapped his comm-set. “Falcon Four, Aurora Actual. Return to Telles and let him know we got the message. Then tell him to pick up Nash and her team and get them the hell out of there. If we heard them, then so did the Jung.”

  “Pretty sure he’s on his way to her now, sir,” Loki assured him. “Mobile Two was passing coordinates to them as we left.”

  “Great. Then give him some cover, he’s going to need it.”

  “We’re on it. Falcon Four, out.”

  “Those fighters are still coming,” Luis warned. “The first wave is two minutes out.”

  “Have combat take over the perimeter defenses,” Nathan ordered. “I have a feeling you’re going to have your hands full handling two battleships.”

  “Or more,” Luis added.

  “Don’t say that,” Nathan replied. “Comms, contact all Scout ships and warn them as well.”

  “That’s assuming they allow themselves to become targets,” Luis commented. “They’ve already seen us take out their platforms and other battleships. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how we did that.”

  “Contacts!” Mister Navashee reported urgently. “Jung battleships! Two of them just came out of FTL! One directly ahead, fifty kilometers, same orbital altitude! Second one, directly above us!”

  “Designating targets bravo five and six,” Luis said. “Locking all forward tubes on bravo five, directly ahead. Locking plasma cannon and quads on bravo six above.”

  “They’re firing!” Mister Navashee added.

  “Which one?”

  “Both of them, Captain! Guns and missiles. Ten seconds!”

  “Point defenses!
” Nathan barked.

  “On it!” Luis replied. “Firing forward tubes!”

  “Escape jump!”

  “Our jump line is not clear,” Mister Riley warned.

  “Helm! New course, five to starboard! Quick as you can!”

  “Five seconds!” Mister Navashee updated.

  “Firing point defenses!” Luis added.

  “Bravo six is matching our turn!” Mister Navashee announced.

  “Clear line in three……”

  The bridge shook as rail gun fire slammed into the Aurora’s hull, then the entire compartment felt like it lurched downward, causing Nathan to feel like he was about to fly up out of his seat. The sensation repeated two more times within half as many seconds.

  “…Two…”

  “Direct hits topside!” Luis reported.

  “…One…”

  “Damage control reports hull breach topside!” Ensign Souza announced.

  “Jumping!”

  “Port recovery elevator is gone!” Ensign Souza added as the Aurora’s jump flash washed over her bridge.

  “They just missed our plasma cannon,” Luis added.

  “Jump complete!” Mister Riley reported.

  “Where are we?” Nathan asked.

  “One light minute out from Kohara,” Mister Riley replied.

  “Contact!” Mister Navashee announced. “Bravo six, just came out of FTL, still above us, slightly behind now! They’re firing again!”

  “Escape jump! Another minute forward!” Nathan ordered.

  “Jumping!” Mister Riley acknowledged as the jump flash again washed over the bridge.

  “Damn,” Nathan exclaimed, “how did…”

  “Contact! Bravo six is still with us! Above and even further behind than before! Firing again!”

  “Escape jump!” Nathan ordered again.

  “Jumping.”

  “Give me three of them in a row,” Nathan added as the jump flash washed over them.

  “Aye, sir,” Mister Riley answered.

  “Helm, as soon as we come out of the third jump, turn us two to port as quick as you can.”

  “Two to port, aye!” Mister Chiles acknowledged as the next jump flash washed over them.