by Brown, Ryk
Josh rolled the ship madly to starboard, rolling her over several times before pushing his nose down toward the farmland below. Bolts of energy rushed past them, barely missing them as they spiraled downward.
“What are you doing?” Loki yelled, holding onto the handle across the console hood.
“Gotta get down on the deck!” Josh grunted as the G-forces pushed him back in his seat and to the left side of the cockpit. “The gun’s on the other side! The buildings will block his fire!”
A sharp jolt caused the interceptor to jump sideways. Alarms started sounding in the cockpit.
“We’re hit!” Loki hollered as he frantically scanned the systems displays.
“No way!” Josh disagreed. He struggled to pull the interceptor out of her spiraling dive, pulling her level as she skimmed the tops of the highest trees below. “If one of those energy bolts had hit us, we’d be slag!”
“Checking,” Josh announced. “Maybe it was a bird,” Josh suggested.
“Then that was a big fucking bird!” Loki exclaimed.
“I think they have some big fucking birds on this planet, don’t they?” Josh said. “We are by the ocean. Aren’t ocean birds usually big?”
“How the hell should I know?!” Loki yelled. “I think we’re still good,” he added after scanning all the systems’ displays.
“Great, now how are we going to finish that damned gun?” Josh wondered.
“Well, it can’t track fast enough to hit us,” Loki told him, “at least not the way you fly.”
“Maybe, but the other gun can. Could we stay low in the city again, sneak up on her, and blast her?”
“No way,” Loki said. “The shields are weakest across her top. Plus, she can’t raise her barrel all the way upright any longer. The only way we can take her out is to dive on her, straight down.”
“The other gun will cook us if we try.”
“Damn. We’ll have to bug out. Maybe we can reload and come back.”
“What about that convoy?”
“I almost forgot,” Loki admitted. “Jolly, Falcon,” Loki called over his comm-set.
“Falcon, Jolly. Go.”
“Jolly, Falcon. Takaran troop transports headed for original LZ.”
“Falcon, Jolly. Count?”
“Jolly, Falcon. Count three, maybe four.”
“Falcon, Jolly. Copy three, maybe four. Can you interdict?”
“Jolly, Falcon. Maybe, but we need to rearm to deal with the big guns.”
“Falcon, Jolly. We copy. We’ll see what we can do. Hurry back.”
“Jolly, Falcon. Will do. Falcon out.”
“Where to?” Josh asked.
“We’ll jump back to the C2 first, see what Commander Taylor wants us to do.”
“What do you mean, ‘what she wants us to do’? We need to kill those guns, Loki.”
“I know, Josh! I know! But we’re not running the show here; she is!”
“Fuck!” Josh swore in frustration.
“And right now, she needs to know what the current situation is on Answari.” Loki took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and keep the adrenaline from fogging up his mind. “Okay, come to one-nine-seven, nose up thirty. We jump in five.”
* * *
“Here we go again, Gentlemen,” Nathan said calmly. “Jump.”
The jump flash momentarily filled the Aurora’s bridge.
“Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported.
“Contact! Dead Ahead!” Mister Navashee confirmed.
The sensor operator’s confirmation was unnecessary, as Nathan and everyone else could see the target on the main view screen. It started out as only a small white glob, which rapidly grew into the shape of an imperial cruiser as it came right at them.
“Collision in thirty seconds!” Mister Randeen reported from the tactical station.
“Helm, hold your course,” Nathan reminded. “Stand by to translate down.”
“Aye, sir,” Mister Chiles answered.
“All rail guns, open fire,” Nathan ordered. A moment later, he could feel the vibrations of the Aurora’s rail guns as they launched their metal slugs at the enemy ship at incredible velocities. He doubted it would have much effect, especially with her forward shields up, but he wanted the cruiser’s captain to believe that the rail guns were the primary threat at the moment.
“Firing guns. Target is holding course and deploying her forward missile battery. She’ll be able to fire in five seconds.”
“Snapshot, tubes three and four!”
“Firing tubes three and four,” Mister Randeen answered.
Nathan watched as the two torpedoes streaked forward on either side of him.
“Helm, translate down,” Nathan ordered.
“Ten seconds to torpedo impact,” Mister Randeen announced.
Mister Chiles applied maximum downward thrust, sending the Aurora sliding downward so that she would barely miss the cruiser. “Clear line of sight, sir!”
“Skip us ahead, Mister Riley,” Nathan ordered. “Tactical, stand by aft tubes.”
“Jumping.”
The bridge filled with the jump flash once again.
“Tubes five and six ready,” Mister Randeen reported.
“Helm, nose down slightly. Bring our stern tubes to bear on the cruiser.”
“Pitching down,” Mister Chiles reported.
“Fire tubes when you get a good shot, Mister Randeen,” Nathan added.
Mister Randeen did not respond, as he was too busy studying his console, watching for the right moment to fire. All of their torpedoes were actually atmospheric cruise missiles used by Corinari fighters. They had been quickly adapted to be fired as torpedoes, but they were slow and had almost no maneuverability in space. They were like throwing spears, albeit spears with warheads, most of which were nuclear. “Firing five and six.”
Nathan waited, holding his breath.
“Torpedoes away.”
“First two nukes have hit!” Mister Navashee reported.
“Helm, come starboard ninety, and trim to the target’s course. Tactical, stand by for another four shot of missiles,” Nathan ordered.
“Coming starboard ninety and trimming,” Mister Chiles answered.
“Impact on torpedoes five and six!” Mister Navashee reported in excitement.
“Damage assessment?” Nathan asked.
“Forward shields are down, all her main propulsion thrust nozzles are destroyed. She’s not going anywhere for a while, Captain,” Mister Navashee reported proudly.
“Very well. Mister Riley, plot a jump to the next engagement zone. Put us one light minute out from the next target’s last known position.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Captain, the cruiser’s still got her weapons, she can still fight. We should finish her off while her shields are down,” Mister Randeen argued.
“She can fight, yes, but only if someone comes into her range,” Nathan told him. “Our job is to keep imperial ships away from Answari, not to destroy them.”
“But sir, we cannot allow ships to survive. Not if they might still be repaired to come seeking revenge on us later…”
“Mister Randeen,” Nathan interrupted, his voice becoming a bit more stern. “We have a limited amount of time before every ship in the system has received Answari’s distress call and will be at full alert. At that point, we will no longer have the element of surprise. With all their shields up, our job will become far more difficult, so we need to disable as many targets as possible as quickly as possible.”
“Forgive me, Captain,” Mister Randeen apologized. “I am only concerned for the safety of my homeworld.”
“As are we all, Mister Randeen. We will return and destroy the cruiser if and when it becomes necessary.”
“Of course, sir.”
Nathan knew he should have chastised Mister Randeen more harshly, especially for questioning his decisions in the midst of battle. However, he understood the tactical officer’s point, and
under normal circumstances, he would have agreed. Unfortunately, these were far from normal circumstances, not since he read what Tug had written on his data pad. Before that, he would have agreed with Mister Randeen’s desire to destroy the cruiser.
“Reload tubes one, two, and five with conventional torpedoes. Reload tube six with a fixed yield nuke.”
“Yes, sir,” Mister Randeen answered.
Nathan let out a long exhale. Those few words from Tug had changed everything.
* * *
“Falcon has returned,” Ensign Yosef reported as she watched the data being transmitted from the jump interceptor unfold on the tactical plotting table before them. “It looks like they jumped into the new LZ successfully.”
“Yes, but they were unable to take out any guns.”
“They damaged one. Perhaps if they reload and make another run at it, they can destroy it completely.”
“No doubt the gun teams are doing whatever they can to strengthen their defenses. Besides, we’ve got other things for them to do first.” Cameron looked at the holographic map of the Takaran system being displayed above the plotting table. “What’s the transmission time from Takara to the Avendahl in the shipyards over here?” she asked Ensign Yosef, pointing at the symbol hovering in the air in front of them.
“Six minutes,” Ensign Yosef answered.
“Then they’ve already heard the call from Answari.” Cameron keyed up her comm-set. “Falcon, C2. New orders.”
“C2, Falcon. Go ahead, sir,” Loki answered.
“Falcon, C2. Jump in and recon the Avendahl. We need to know if she’s powering up yet. Then locate the Aurora, rearm, and return to staging.”
“C2, Falcon. Understood,” Loki answered.
“What about the jump shuttles?” Ensign Yosef asked.
“Send their pilots the data from the Falcon’s jump into the new LZ and tell them to jump when ready, but one at a time. There’s not enough room there for all three of them to jump in at once. And let’s try staggering their jump intervals slightly. If there are any imperial forces in the area, we don’t want to be too predictable in our timings.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
The drone of emergency response vehicles could be heard in the distance as Captain Waddell and his meager platoon continued their double-time jog through the empty streets of Answari. The sky overhead was beginning to brighten, the fog already starting to burn away as the air began to warm with the rise of the Takaran sun. He could also hear the sound of at least one or two airships overhead—not the distinct sound of heavily laden military airships, but rather the smaller drones used by the news media. He was not surprised, as the invasion of Answari had to be the biggest news story in recent history. By the time the fog burned off, the skies would be crawling with such airships, regardless of whatever military restrictions would be placed over the skies of Answari. Normally, the Captain could care less about such coverage. However, those same news feeds could be used to convey the location, strength, and movement of his forces, and that he could not tolerate.
“Sergeant,” he began as they entered the college district’s main plaza. He slowed his advance as the amphitheater came into view. “Secure the perimeter. Get some shooters on the tops of nearby buildings. Those are news drones buzzing above us. They are probably responding to reports of the Falcon jumping in here. I want them gone.”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant responded.
“And put men along the upper edges of the amphitheater. No one other than our men gets over those hills.”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant assured him. He looked up at the first few floors of the building nearest them, seeing several faces peering out from the windows above. “What about those civilians?” he asked, pointing toward the windows. “They might start coming out of their apartments.”
“Then scare them back in,” Captain Waddell ordered. “We don’t need to start shooting innocent bystanders. But if one of them makes a hostile move, drop them. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.” The sergeant turned and started bellowing out orders to his men.
Captain Waddell looked about the plaza, watching as his men dispersed according to the sergeant’s instructions. He looked at his digital time piece on his wrist. The next wave of jumpers would be coming in within minutes, which would nearly double his forces. He didn’t mind that at all, but he needed a lot more than double his current strength of eighty men if he was going to push on and engage the palace directly.
* * *
“Jump complete,” Loki reported. “Beginning scans.”
“Make it quick,” Josh commented. “These people already know what’s going on in Answari.”
“Oh shit,” Loki mumbled.
“What? Is the Avendahl powered up?”
“No, but there’s at least fifty fighters headed for Takara,” Loki explained.
“So? It will take them at least a couple hours to get there,” Josh told him. “This will all be over by then.”
“But it will only take them about a minute to reach us, Josh. We’re sitting right in their flight path.”
Josh fired his main engines and throttled them up to full power. The jump interceptor might be old, but she was fast. “Well, whose bright idea was it to jump in on a direct path between the shipyards and Takara?”
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Loki defended as he frantically plotted an escape jump.
“I’m coming to port,” Josh announced. “Jump us to the Aurora’s last known position.”
“I’m working on it.”
“Well work faster,” Josh urged, looking down at his own tactical display. “Those fighters will be in firing range in fifteen seconds.”
“Got it. Come to two-two-one, speed four thousand.”
“Two-two-one at four thousand,” Josh confirmed. “Gimme a sec.”
“You have twelve,” Loki told him.
“On course and speed,” Josh announced.
“Jumping,” Loki said as the interceptor’s jump flash filled the cockpit.
* * *
The summit of the hill surrounding the amphitheater was lined with Corinari troops, all looking out at the plaza and the buildings surrounding them. Arranged in pairs, one man kept an eye on the streets while the other one scanned the windows and rooftops. The fog was beginning to lighten as the morning sky took on an amber glow. It momentarily turned blue-white, swirling about as the first shuttle jumped in about twenty meters directly overhead. The shuttle’s engines screamed, applying maximum thrust as it fell from the foggy sky.
Captain Waddell cringed as he watched the shuttle fall, coming to a hover just three meters above the deck. After stabilizing for a moment, the pilot set the shuttle gently down on the large, uncovered stage at the center of the amphitheater, its landing gear deploying and locking into position only a moment before it touched the stage.
Sergeant Horvath hollered at the men in the shuttle to disembark quickly as the shuttle’s loading ramp swung down to the stage with a thud. The men filed out of the shuttle, immediately forming up in a kneeling position just shy of the crest behind the men guarding the perimeter.
As the last man’s boots left the boarding ramp, the shuttle immediately began to raise its ramp, increasing its thrust and slowly rising off the stage. As the shuttle reached four meters in altitude, it rotated slowly to starboard and advanced over the hill and down the main promenade of the college square. It began to pitch its nose upward and climb, and just as it cleared the rooftops of the nearby buildings, it disappeared in another flash of blue-white light.
Captain Waddell looked about, scanning the twenty men that had just arrived. He looked at his watch. “Just over a minute,” he said to the sergeant.
“We can do better,” the sergeant muttered.
“As long as we don’t lose anymore shuttles, that’s all I care about.” Captain Waddell looked at the buildings. More and more of the windows were filling with the faces of the young m
en and women that attended the very college they were currently borrowing as their landing zone. “We’re building an audience.”
“Safe bet imperial command knows where we are,” Sergeant Horvath told the captain.
“They’ll no doubt redirect those troop transports the Falcon spotted, maybe even send some airships.”
“I thought the Falcon took out the airbase,” the sergeant said.
“If I remember correctly, they often kept a few at the palace primarily as emergency transports.”
“How long?”
“I figure fifteen, maybe twenty minutes if we’re lucky.”
“That’ll only get us another one hundred pairs of boots on the ground.”
“Setup a defense, Sergeant. We need to be ready.”
“What about those people in the dorms staring at us? Maybe we should round them up and secure them somewhere before things get nasty.”
“We can’t spare the man power, Sergeant. Besides, those kids aren’t armed.”
“Yet,” the sergeant added as another blue-white flash appeared above their heads and the next shuttle fell from the swirling fog.
* * *
“Jump two complete,” Mister Riley reported. “Calculating final jump.”
“Mister Navashee, confirm the target’s course and speed, and update the track for the navigator,” Nathan ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
“All torpedo tubes are loaded and ready, Captain,” Mister Randeen reported. “Missile pod is deployed and standing by. All rail guns are ready.”
“Very well.”
“Contact!” Mister Navashee reported.
“It’s the Falcon,” Mister Randeen reported from tactical.
“Receiving situation updates from the Falcon, sir,” Naralena reported from the comm-station.
“What’s going on?” Nathan asked.
“One moment, sir,” Naralena told him.
“The Falcon is requesting to land and rearm again,” Mister Randeen reported.