by Brown, Ryk
“Torpedo impact!” Mister Randeen declared. “One only, the second torpedo missed.”
“Keep an eye on our aft tubes, Mister Randeen,” Nathan reminded him, “and lock our missiles on the target.” Nathan turned to the sensor operator on his left. “Sensors, damage report on the target?”
“One moment,” Mister Navashee advised.
“Missiles locked on target.”
“Fire four,” Nathan ordered.
“Firing four,” Mister Randeen answered.
Nathan watched as four missiles streaked over his head on the main view screen that formed a quarter sphere over the front half of the Aurora’s bridge. The enemy cruiser was too distant for any of them to see with the naked eye, and the rapidly accelerating missiles also quickly disappeared from their sight.
“Damage to their starboard thrusters, Captain,” Mister Navashee reported. “Her aft shields are nearly at full power, but they’re weak on her starboard side.”
“Firing tube six,” Mister Randeen reported from tactical.
“Target is spinning up point-defenses,” Mister Navashee added.
“We’re being targeted, Captain!” Mister Willard reported.
“I thought we were jamming,” Nathan said, surprised by Mister Willard’s report.
“We are, but somehow she’s getting through. They may be targeting optically, sir, with lasers.”
“She’s firing missiles!” Mister Randeen reported. “Eight targets coming in fast.”
“She took out three of four,” Mister Navashee reported. “One hit, to her aft underside missile pod, the one she just fired from.”
“Too little too late,” Nathan muttered.
“Ten seconds until their missiles reach us, Captain,” Mister Randeen reported.
“Jump plotted,” Mister Riley announced.
“Jump,” Nathan ordered.
The bridge filled with the jump flash momentarily.
“Range to target?” Nathan asked as the flash cleared.
“One thousand fifty meters and growing,” Mister Navashee reported.
“Helm, come hard about, put us back on course for that cruiser. Mister Navashee, that nuke should’ve hit by now. I need a damage assessment ASAP.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Mister Chiles, new plot. Put us one light minute past the target. We’ll jump there, come about again, and then jump in right in front of her. She’ll have to turn to avoid ramming us.”
Mister Chiles looked over at Mister Riley from his seat at the helm, a look of concern on his face.
“Yes, sir,” Mister Chiles responded.
“Target’s aft shields are down,” Mister Navashee reported from the sensors station.
“We should attack from her stern again,” Mister Randeen suggested.
“If her captain’s any good, he’ll simply flip her end over the minute we launch from behind,” Nathan disagreed. “He’s not going to show us his unshielded side long enough for us to take a shot at him, not now.” Nathan thought for a moment. “If one nuke can take down a shield that’s nearly at full power, then maybe two nukes can take down a fully powered shield. Mister Randeen, reload tube six with a conventional torpedo. Reload one and two with fixed yield nukes, just like three and four. Rig all tubes for snapshot, same as before.”
“Yes, sir,” Mister Randeen answered.
“Sir, there are still eight missiles headed in our general direction. They’re a thousand kilometers away, but they can still reach us.”
“Can those missiles lock onto us?” Nathan asked Mister Willard.
“No, sir, they were laser guided. Unless the cruiser paints us, those missiles can’t find us.”
“She can see us, sir,” Mister Navashee reported. “We’re not that far away.”
“How far out are they?”
“At least a couple minutes, sir,” Mister Randeen reported.
“I’ve got the next jump plotted and locked, Captain,” Mister Chiles reported.
“Might as well jump then…” Nathan started.
“Contact!” Mister Navashee reported.
“Belay that,” Nathan ordered, canceling the jump.
“It’s the Falcon, sir,” Mister Randeen announced.
“Captain,” Naralena called, “CIC reports the airbase at Answari is nonoperational, but two of the eight guns protecting Answari are still active. Two of our jump shuttles have been destroyed. Two flight crews and twenty troops lost. The Falcon has been ordered by C2 to jump back into Answari and transmit orders to the ground forces to secure a protected LZ for the jump shuttles. Josh is requesting to reload so he can engage the guns as well.”
“CAG, Captain,” Nathan called over the comms.
“Go ahead sir,” Major Prechitt answered over the comm-set.
“Have you been updated on the situation on Answari?”
“Yes, sir. We just received the updated sit-rep from C2. The proposed jump plot is risky, but doable. I think we should let the Falcon give it a try.”
“Agreed. Get the Falcon recycled ASAP. Also, get your first wave of atmospheric fighters ready to launch. We may be jumping back to Takara sooner than we expected.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Comms, tell the Falcon we’ve got inbound missiles less than two minutes out, so he needs to get on deck fast.”
“I’m sure he’ll have no problem with that, Captain,” Naralena answered as she queued up the Falcon.
Nathan smiled, remembering his first ride in the harvester back on Haven with Josh on the stick. Landing quickly was not a problem for Josh.
“Copy, Aurora,” Loki announced. “We’re coming in.” Loki switched off his ship-to-ship comms. “You get that?” he asked Josh.
“I got it. I got it. Going in hot,” Josh announced.
Loki looked at the flight dynamics display, noticing that Josh was indeed coming in awfully fast, even for Josh. “Uh, Josh, we want to land, not crash.”
“No worries,” Josh mumbled as the Falcon passed rapidly over the Aurora’s main drive section. “Translating down.” Josh fired the topside thrusters, pushing the jump interceptor down toward the Aurora.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Loki exclaimed as the interceptor nearly slammed into the top of the Aurora before passing forward of her main drive section.
“You’re not going to turn into a whiny little girl again, are ya mate?” Josh teased.
“Funny.”
“Flaring,” Josh announced. He pulled the ships nose up forty five degrees and fired his vertical thrusters at full power, slowing his rate of descent to almost nothing within a few seconds. The angle also slowed his forward speed until it was only slightly faster than the Aurora’s, bring his closure rate to only a dozen meters per second. “Touchdown,” Josh announced as the interceptors landing gear slammed into the deck, its hydraulics absorbing most of the impact. He slammed on the wheel brakes, throwing the two of them slightly forward against their harnesses. The ship rolled forward along the Aurora’s flight apron, coming to stop under the entry canopy that led into the main hangar bay. Had the deck not been rigged as an open deck, they would’ve slammed into the transfer airlock doors before coming to a stop. Instead, they slowed down just enough to roll into the main hangar bay at a safe speed, coming to a stop just before the aft most row of atmospheric fighters.
“That was fun,” Josh declared as they rolled to a stop. The Aurora’s jump flash spilled into the hangar bay through her open aft end as she jumped out of the path of the imperial cruiser’s incoming missiles.
“I still say you have a twisted idea of what fun is,” Loki argued.
Josh just smiled.
“Jump one complete,” Mister Riley reported. “Calculating jump two.”
“Coming about,” Mister Chiles reported as he put the Aurora into a one hundred eighty degree turn.
“Mister Riley, can you plot a hypothetical jump?” Nathan asked.
“A hypothetical jump? I’m not sure what you mean, sir,” Mister R
iley admitted.
“I mean, can you plot a jump from a location that we are not yet at, to another location?”
“I guess so,” Mister Riley told him, “but the system won’t let us make that jump until we’re at the proper jump point.”
“Can we override that? Set it to let us activate a short, pre-calculated jump whenever we want?”
“I don’t know, Captain,” Mister Riley admitted.
“Jump control, Captain,” Nathan called over his comm-set.
“Go ahead, sir,” Abby answered over the comm-set.
“Abby, can you hack the safeties on the jump drive? I want to be able to initiate short jumps whenever I want.”
“How short are we talking about?” Abby asked.
“No more than a few kilometers.”
“It is possible, yes, but I would not recommend it.”
“Understood. How long will it take you?”
“A few minutes, but you must remember that, in order to jump safely, you require a clear path to your destination. You cannot jump through solid matter.”
“I remember, Doctor. Rig the code and push it to the navigator’s console, please.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“New plan, Captain?” Mister Chiles inquired.
“We need to hit her from behind, but he’s going to try to deny us that shot. So we’ll fire on him head on, translate down, then jump ahead a kilometer so that we’re just on the other side of her. Then, we can fire point blank at her stern and jump away before she can hammer us.”
“We’re going to make two mini-jumps? Both pre-calculated?” Mister Riley asked.
“Yup,” Nathan responded confidently. “So far, we’ve been using short jumps to get into firing position and escape again. But before, if we tried to pass by and shoot at their other side, we’d get hammered as we passed. If we jump past, we should have just enough time to fire and jump away again before they can retarget.”
“We won’t be able to use that tactic more than once or twice before they catch on,” Mister Randeen observed.
“Once or twice per engagement,” Nathan corrected. “As long as the other ships never have a chance to be warned, we can keep repeating the tactic successfully.”
“I’ve reacquired the cruiser, sir,” Mister Navashee reported. “She’s turned toward Takara and is trying to make best speed with her remaining engines.”
“Adjust your plot as we go, Mister Riley,” Nathan ordered. “We’ll jump as soon as the Falcon is away again.”
* * *
Captain Waddell and his half-strength platoon of eighty men continued to work their way down the relatively empty streets of Answari. Air-raid sirens wailed in the distance, warning the citizens to remain inside for their own safety. This was all the better to Captain Waddell, as it meant fewer civilians that might cause him and his men trouble.
They worked their way down the wide promenade of the central shopping district, four groups of ten men on each side of the plaza, leap-frogging each other along as they continued to move forward. A monorail car approached along the overhead railway, moving silently along the raised track. The men all froze against the buildings and storefronts, their weapons all trained on the short monorail train as it passed over them. It was empty.
“Probably automated,” the sergeant told Captain Waddell.
“Any word from the second wave?” Waddell asked his sergeant.
“No, sir, but would they even call in? Aren’t we supposed to be maintaining a radio blackout?”
“I’m pretty sure they know we’re here by now, Sergeant,” Captain Waddell told him. “Besides, they won’t jump into the same place, not after what happened last time. They’ll have to contact us once they get boots on the ground.”
“I don’t see how they’re going to get back in, sir,” the sergeant argued, “not with those guns out there. The only reason three ships made it was because we surprised them. I’m pretty sure they’ll be ready for the next wave.”
“Commander Taylor will figure something out, Sergeant. Meanwhile, we keep moving.”
A flash of blue-white light appeared above the empty amphitheater in the college plaza. Tables and chairs that were arranged neatly for the next day’s event were suddenly tossed about by a surge of wind as the Falcon dropped from the flash and fell the last twenty meters, her lift thrusters firing at full force. She came to a hover not more than four meters above the amphitheater’s main floor. A few more meters to the right and they would have crashed through the amphitheater’s roof. The jump interceptor settled into a controlled hover, climbing slightly as it turned, and headed slowly away from its entry point.
“Jolly, Falcon, Flash traffic,” the comm-set called. Captain Waddell signaled his sergeant to hold the platoon’s forward advance.
“Falcon, Jolly. Go ahead,” he called back.
“Jolly, Falcon. New orders. Rally at point Mary one-four by Robert one-seven. Secure as new jumper LZ. Next wave: ten mikes. End message.”
“Jolly copies. What about those guns?”
“We’re working on it, Jolly. Falcon out.”
Captain Waddell looked on as his sergeant pulled out the holo-map and activated it. He looked at the map, finding the amphitheater at the location specified in the Falcon’s message. “Can we make it there in ten minutes?”
“If we haul ass,” the sergeant responded.
Captain Waddell looked at the sergeant funny, unfamiliar with the expression. “Let me guess, Lieutenant Commander Nash?” he asked, figuring the sergeant must have learned the expression from her.
“She has many colorful expressions, does she not?”
“Yes, she does. Very well, let’s haul ass then,” Waddell agreed, rising from his position.
“Here we go,” Josh announced as he increased his throttles and the interceptor accelerated away from the amphitheater.
“Stay below the buildings,” Loki reminded him.
Josh continued to accelerate as he dodged the interceptor between one building after another. “Just call my route, mate,” Josh exclaimed. “We need to get as close to that gun as we can before we fire.”
“Take your next right, around that big round tower,” Loki ordered.
Josh pulled the ship to the right, banking slightly as they turned around the tower.
“Not too fast, Josh,” Loki reminded. “Go left. We’re not trying to outrun anybody here.”
“Some of them could have guns down there, Loki.”
“Since when do Takaran citizens carry guns?” Loki challenged.
“I’m just saying,” Josh countered.
“Go right around the tan building up ahead.”
Josh continued to bank and turn according to Loki’s instructions as the interceptor raced between the buildings, working its way ever closer to the nearest working air defense battery. For several minutes, they weaved between the myriad of buildings that made up the business district of Answari, working their way toward their target on the outskirts of the city.
“Whoa, did you see that?” Loki asked.
“See what? I’m too busy dodging buildings, Loki.”
“There are several troop transports down there. I think they’re making their way toward the original jump point.”
“We should warn Captain Waddell,” Josh said as he continued maneuvering.
“No time. Prepare to translate up. We’re almost there.”
“Just say when,” Josh answered.
“Ten seconds. Arming missiles,” Loki reported. “One more left coming up, the red building.”
“Got it,” Josh assured him as he started his turn.
“Three……two……one……NOW!”
Josh maxed out the interceptor’s lift thrust, causing the small ship to jump up above the buildings. There, not more than a few hundred meters ahead of them, was their target, one of the two air defense batteries that were still operating.
“There it is!” Josh reported. “Four hundred meters and closing
fast.”
“Locking missiles. Preparing to fire.”
Josh continued staring out the front of his canopy. The gun battery was quickly swinging its barrels in their direction. “She’s swinging around to fire on us Loki!”
“Firing four!” Loki announced.
The weapons bay doors on the underside of the interceptor slid open, and four missiles dropped out in rapid succession, each one’s rocket motor lighting up as it cleared the bay. One by one, they sped off toward their target, accelerating rapidly.
“Missiles away.”
“Banking right,” Josh announced as he rolled the interceptor onto its starboard side and pulled the nose hard over. He slammed the forward propulsion nozzles all the way forward, sending both of them back hard into their flight seats as the interceptor began to accelerate hard. The barrels of the Takaran air defense battery continued to track after them, trailing the interceptor by a single degree.
“We’re sliding to starboard, Josh,” Loki grunted. “We don’t have enough lift yet.”
“Oops.” Josh added thrust through his starboard maneuvering thrusters. It wouldn’t be enough to keep them from sliding sideways into the ground forever, but it didn’t have to. It only needed to last long enough for…
The first missile struck the base of the gun battery and detonated. The blast blew a large chunk of the base away as the second missile struck the same exact spot. Its detonation blasted even deeper into the base of the gun but did not yet penetrate the base completely. The third and fourth missiles struck a bit higher, blowing apart the vertical translation track and crippling one of the gun’s double barrels.
Josh leveled the interceptors body and pulled her nose up toward the sky. “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
“Wait!” Loki warned. “It’s not dead!”
“What?”
“Its crippled, but it’s not dead. It’s still moving—slowly, but moving. And it still has one working barrel. I think we could kill it with guns this time!”
“We couldn’t last time!” Josh argued.
“Look at its power signature!” Loki told him as the interceptor continued to climb. “I think it may have lost some of its shields!” Loki suddenly turned pale. “Shit! The other gun! Roll right!”