by Ivan Kal
“Hail those ships,” Adrian said.
“They accepted, Lord Sentinel.”
Adrian straightened. “Erasi vessels, I am Lord Sentinel Adrian Farkas of the Empire. State your intent, or I will consider your actions hostile and respond in kind.”
A few seconds later a hologram of a Gatray appeared in front of Adrian. “I’m afraid that you will not like our intent, Lord Sentinel.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed at him as he recognized the voice. “Hanaru,” Adrian said, and the Gatray dipped his head.
“The Erasi cannot allow any kind of agreements between the Empire and the Shara Daim.”
“This attack will mean war between the Erasi and the Empire,” Adrian said calmly.
“No one will learn of how your ships got destroyed, and sometime later, information indicating the Shara Daim will come to light.”
“And you think that you can manipulate us like that?” Adrian asked.
“You have some impressive technologies, that is true, which is why we can’t allow you and Shara Daim to make peace. I would’ve wished to interrogate you, learn of what actually happened between you and Dai Sha Anessa. But you can’t be allowed to interfere with Erasi plans,” Hanaru said.
“We are not dead yet, and you should’ve learned a lesson from what happened in Sol with the Legions,” Adrian said, and closed the link.
The Erasi had more ships, but they didn’t know the capabilities of either the Empire’s battleships or his Sentinel ship. And the Sentinel class was bigger than a dreadnought, though it had less firepower, about the same as a battleship. It was designed with long-term operations away from the Empire in mind. Neither the Erasi nor the Shara Daim had seen the Empire’s true warships in action, which meant that his ships had a slight advantage.
Adrian looked at Va Dan Reisi. “You better get to your ship, Va Dan. If we can’t defeat them, we will cover your ship as you leave.”
Va Dan Reisi looked at him in surprise. “You would sacrifice yourselves to help us escape?”
“Well, I will be sending you records of this ambush; if we don’t make it, I want you to let my people know what really happened.”
The Va Dan looked at Adrian with a strange expression, then he inclined his head. “As you say, Lord Sentinel.” Then he left the command center.
Just as he left, the holo started flashing with missile launches. Adrian’s face settled into a cold expression as his body and mind fully settled into his ‘battle persona.’ The three ships were already connected in a point defense grid, and as the missiles entered range, the lasers from the three ships opened fire, taking them down.
“Set a course towards the hyperspace barrier, shortest route,” Adrian said. He glanced at the holo and the timer for the skim drives—forty-four minutes. They had dropped out of the skim eight minutes before; now they needed to survive for forty-four minutes until they could use the drives again and get away from the Erasi force.
The shortest route to the hyperspace barrier was below the sun’s plane on a course directly beneath his ships’ current position. He didn’t really need to get there; in fact, it would take too long. He only needed to make the Erasi think that he was rushing towards the hyperspace barrier. What he needed was to buy time for the skim drives to recharge.
The Erasi were in a concave wall formation, with the two battleships in the middle of the formation and the destroyers and cruisers surrounding them. All were firing missiles at Adrian’s ships.
“Order all ships to lock on missiles at the destroyers and cruisers,” Adrian ordered. He debated using the Watchtower, but it had been designed for large fleet battles; there wasn’t really much that he would gain by using it now. So he brought up the command-board interface instead.
“All ships have a lock, Lord Sentinel.”
“Start firing,” Adrian said, and almost instantly the three ships started firing missiles. Soon they had almost matched the number that the enemy’s larger force was putting out. The battleships were designed for that, for holding points in space and blasting anything that came near them.
The Erasi were gaining on them, their gravity drives apparently more powerful than his ships’ hybrid drives. They had already entered the outer range of his proton beams, but they hadn’t yet opened fire with them; either they were waiting for some reason, or theirs couldn’t reach as far.
A few missiles went past the point-defense and hit the battleship Inglorious’s shields. The shields flared, and Adrian checked the holo for information. The seven missiles striking in quick succession only dropped the shields of the Inglorious by six percent.
Adrian debated for a moment waiting and keeping the full capabilities of Empire’s ships a secret, but then decided against it; there was no point now. They might not survive otherwise. Adrian used the c-board to monitor the battle and make adjustments to his orders. Iris was busy using the Veritas to guide the missiles, increasing their effectiveness, and soon the Empire’s missiles started passing through the enemy defensive fire, impacting their cruisers and destroyers. Adrian highlighted the ships that were hit by his missiles.
“All ships lock proton beams on these cruisers and destroyers and open fire.”
***
Erasi battleship Highborn
Hanaru watched as the area between the two forces was filled with exploding missiles. The enemy’s ships had a surprisingly high rate of fire, high enough that they were putting up almost the same number of missiles as his taskforce was. But he knew that they couldn’t keep that up forever. Still, a couple of their missiles passed through to impact on the shields of his cruisers and destroyers. Their missiles were powerful, and the shields of the cruisers and destroyers too weak, dropping dangerously low from those few impacts.
Then dark blue beams of energy lashed out from the Empire’s ships, striking the ships that had low shields, blowing right through them and mauling Hanaru’s ships.
“What is that?” Hanaru asked with his mind.
“An energy weapon, Weaver. The computers have a ninety percent match on the weapon; it is similar to the Shara Daim main energy weapon, but theirs have never demonstrated this kind of range,” Hanaru’s subordinate answered.
“How long before we are in range of our main weapons?” Hanaru asked.
“One minute, Weaver.”
Hanaru settled in to watch as the Empire’s beams mauled his cruisers and destroyers. He couldn’t do anything about it, not now. In a span of the minute, he had lost one of his destroyers and one heavy cruiser. But then his ships entered the range of their own energy weapons, and Hanaru ordered all ships to open fire.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Veritas
Fire from seven different enemy ships struck the Veritas’s shields.
“Shields down to ninety-six percent and dropping.”
Adrian had feared that happening. His ships were formidable, but they were still only three ships against almost seven times that number. The Erasi would overwhelm his ships’ shields, it was only a matter of time. He glanced at the timer—another thirty-six minutes left. He looked at the shields of his battleships and saw them dropping faster than those of Veritas; already the Fortunate’s shields were at sixty-seven percent.
They weren’t going to make it, not all of them. Time slowed down for Adrian as he considered all the possibilities. He went through hundreds in a span of second, until he finally found one that could work. He opened a channel to the commanders of the two battleships.
Their holograms appeared in front of him.
“We are not going to make it, not all of us, and not while we are running away and can’t fire all of our weapons,” Adrian said matter-of-factly.
The two Ship Masters had grim looks, but Adrian saw understanding in their eyes. They were ship commanders for a reason, and they too knew that Adrian’s options were limited.
“What do you want us to do?” the Ship Master of the Fortunate asked, her eyes resolute.
“I need both of
you to put all of your non-essential personnel on skim-capable shuttles and skim them away from battle to these coordinates,” Adrian said. It wouldn’t be enough people. He knew only a couple hundred people combined from both ships could fit, even if they were crammed in the shuttles. The battleships had crews of one thousand two hundred each.
“I understand,” the Fortunate’s Ship Master said.
“Veritas will drop back and cover the shuttles’ escape. After that, your two ships will turn around and hold the Erasi long enough for Veritas’s skim drives to recharge, and we will pick up the shuttles afterwards. If you have a chance to use your drives as well, you will follow. If not…” Adrian let his words trail off. He could see that both understood. Protecting Veritas wasn’t only about keeping Adrian and the Shara Daim courier alive. Veritas had the most room and could accommodate people from the other two ships, while it also had a crew of three thousand.
“It has been an honor, Lord Sentinel,” the Ship Master of the Inglorious said, and closed the connection. The Ship Master from the Fortunate followed right behind.
Adrian kept his cold face on. It wasn’t the first time he had sent people to their deaths. He knew that it was necessary, the only way to save as many as possible. He didn’t feel guilt over it; the people on those ships had known what they were signing up for. What he felt was sadness that they would die before their times, and anger at the Erasi for making him give those orders.
“Pull Veritas back and cover the shuttles’ escape.”
***
Sentinel ship Veritas slowed down just enough for his two escorts to move in front of it, and almost immediately it became the target of the Erasi ships. Veritas returned fire with its proton beams and missiles. Their missiles supply had already dropped below half of what they carried.
Adrian watched as another of the enemy’s destroyers exploded as his ships’ proton beams got through the shields and hulls. But all his ships were limited in how many weapons they could actually bring to bear; they were firing behind them, and only a third of Veritas’s and the battleships weapons could be fired on the enemy. And the distance was an issue as well; they couldn’t use their kinetic weapons or their plasma guns. They had ion torpedoes, but without a distraction—and when there wasn’t an overwhelmingly large number of missiles in space—they would stick out, and probably be picked off much sooner. Their ships’ ion turrets were mid-range, but even if they weren’t, none of the ships could fire those behind them.
Adrian started to see the benefits of the Erasi ships’ design; the saucer shape gave them the ability to fire in almost every direction. However, the Empire’s ships couldn’t yet build such powerful gravity drives as to justify getting rid of their conventional drives.
On the holo, Adrian saw the twelve large shuttles exit the two battleships and almost instantly skim away. The battleships immediately started pulling back, following the plan.
“Put more power in the drives, get us ahead,” Adrian said as he glanced at the timer. There were twenty-two minutes left until their skim drives were back online.
***
Erasi battleship Highborn
Hanaru felt the air leave his lungs as he watched the Empire’s small shuttles escape. He hadn’t considered that their smaller craft had the ability, and them escaping spelled the failure of his plan. He couldn’t catch those ships; they would contact the Empire and the Shara Daim and let them know what had happened. He knew that he should retreat, but he couldn’t. His mind supplied small hopes that he could still salvage the situation. He doubted that their shuttles were equipped for long-term travel; they probably didn’t have trans capabilities, perhaps not even hyperspace. Their FTL tech had to occupy significant space, and they weren’t that much larger than Erasi shuttles. Perhaps they had only put the new drives in to allow them greater mobility within a system?
If he destroyed the enemy ships, he had a hope of catching them, perhaps even intact, and getting their technology. Hanaru grabbed on to that hope, just as he saw the two Empire battleships turn around and stop, waiting for his taskforce.
As they had turned, their rate of fire also increased as more of their weapons got into range. Energy beams bombarded his ships, killing another two destroyers and one cruiser.
***
The battleships Inglorious and Fortunate rained fire on the incoming Erasi ships, destroying another destroyer and a cruiser, while they left the two battleships virtually untouched, focusing on destroying the advantage in numbers that the Erasi had.
The Erasi were adjusting their formation, so that they would surround the two battleships from both sides, but it was too late; they had closed the distance enough that the Empire’s ships could use their other weapons.
Suddenly the space between the two fleets was filled with bright yellow plasma balls as the two battleships fired at the remaining Erasi destroyers. The three destroyers that had already suffered damage suddenly had dozens of plasma balls from each ship striking their shields, punching through and then burning through their hull. Within moments of the attack, one of the destroyers blew up.
The Erasi focused their fire on the Fortunate, whose shields were close to failing, pouring all of their missiles, energy beams, and their own versions of the plasma weapons into the assault. The ships’ shields failed and the enemy started scorching the Fortunate’s hull. But the Empire’s ships were made out of heavy ri-steel alloys; they were much denser than the Erasi materials and could take more punishment. Therefore, even though the Fortunate was being hammered, it still kept pouring fire into the six cruisers, while the Inglorious shifted its fire to the two untouched Erasi battleships. Six kinetic ri-steel slabs of metal exploded out of the Fortunate’s turrets, smashing through two of the cruisers’ shields and punching right through the hull with such force that they snapped one ship into pieces. And then the barely alive Fortunate joined the Inglorious in firing on the two Erasi battleships, leaving the last few cruisers and destroyers alone.
***
Hanaru watched another each of his cruisers and destroyers explode. He couldn’t believe it; the Empire’s ships had proven far more formidable than what the Erasi had thought possible. He was left with five destroyers and four cruisers; he had lost almost half of his force against a force much smaller than his. His battleships were being hit with powerful energy, plasma, and even primitive kinetic weapons that were far more powerful than anything he had ever seen. The enemy no longer had missiles, but it didn’t seem to matter. Hanaru ordered his ships to focus fire on the Empire battleship that had lost its shields, while keeping their distance enough that they could evade the enemy’s kinetic weapons.
He knew that he had failed. Even if he got past these two battleships, the other ship was too far away now for him to catch.
He watched the enemy battleship being pummeled into scrap, with areas being opened to space while it still refused to die. Then, finally, several missiles and energy beams punched deep enough that the ship bulged and exploded in a blinding flash of light.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Veritas
Adrian watched as the Fortunate blew up, while the Inglorious still fired at the enemy battleships, with its shields almost failing. He glanced at the timer, seeing six more minutes. If the Inglorious survived for six more minutes and its drives were still operation, it would be able to get away.
Adrian watched on the holo as the minutes ticked away. The Inglorious was fighting, firing all of its weapons and even managing to take down one of the battleships’ shields, scoring a couple of hits on its hull.
The timer entered the last minute, just as Inglorious’s shields failed. The Inglorious’s Ship Master started firing kinetic weapons at the battleships, forcing them to move to evade and buying him time. The timer hit zero, and Adrian held his breath as he watched the holo. Then he saw the Inglorious enter the skim, and he heard a cheer from his crew.
The Inglorious was leaking atmosphere when it entered the skim, and it didn’t
have time to orient and point itself towards Adrian; instead, they went in the opposite direction. But that didn’t matter; they would exit the skim beyond the hyper-barrier, and from there could escape the system.
Adrian watched the Erasi forces. They had remained in space, and Adrian knew that the Inglorious entering the skim would have messed with their electronics. That was why Empire’s ships always engaged the skim away from stations and ships that weren’t entering it, as creating a skim field protected the ship inside.
Adrian kept Veritas on the same course for a few minutes, scanning actively for the Inglorious to drop out of the skim. Then, a minute later, they appeared on his holo and he opened a channel. They were outside the jamming field now.
He was greeted with the hologram of the Ship Master with a sad expression on his face.
“You made it,” Adrian said.
“We did.”
“Set a course for Sol through hyperspace. It will take you longer, but it will eliminate a chance that you will be ambushed along the way. Send a report for the Emperor informing him of these events, and give a copy to Master Gotu at Olympus Mons.” There were no relays between the Shara Daim and the Empire’s territory, so it was actually faster for them to go to Sol than to try and send a message from here.
“Yes, Lord Sentinel. We will need to do some emergency repairs, but we will manage it before the Erasi arrive, if they choose to pursue us.”
“Good luck,” Adrian said, and closed the channel. He then ordered the Veritas to the rendezvous point with the shuttles.
***
Several hours later, after they had picked up the shuttles and settled the people on board, Adrian sat with Va Dan Reisi in his office. The Veritas had entered hyperspace, and on Reisi’s advice had taken a slight detour to Shara Radum.
“The Erasi really don’t want us talking,” Adrian commented.
“It seems not,” Reisi said.
“Tell me, how is it that this Kar Daim of yours managed to get your people to reach out to us? I believe that that goes against everything you believe in.”