Rebellion: Rise Of Mankind Book 7

by John Walker

  “We’ve been combing the computers here and though they desperately tried to erase all their activity, there was a weapon here which can knock a crew out.” Jenks paused. “And we see there was a prototype as well. It was stolen more than a day ago so they had plenty of time to install it on their ship if they had decent engineers.”

  “Apparently they did.” Meagan sighed. “What are we going to do? If the entire crew of the Behemoth is out, those pricks are going to try to board her. All we’ve got out here are a bunch of fighters. The bombers landed a while ago.”

  “We have our shuttle,” Jenks said. “They just docked to help us extract the wounded.”

  “The turrets on that thing aren’t going to help against the shields,” Mick said. “We need something else to stop them.”

  “Maybe we can just harass them until the Behemoth comes back online,” Meagan offered. “It’s worth a shot, right?”

  “Suicidally speaking,” Mick replied, “yes, it’s worth a shot. We can’t hold out against that thing. If we had missiles, maybe but otherwise, our hands are tied.”

  “If they try to dock, we can take out their link ups,” Meagan said. “You okay with that?”

  Mick paused. “Yes, but we’ll have to hang back so they don’t focus on us and suddenly decide to keep the playing field clear.”

  Meagan agreed. “Alright, Tiger and Panther, keep an eye out. When that ship gets too close to the Behemoth, we sever the link. Jenks, you guys better stay put until this is all over with. You don’t need to be flying around up here without a place to go. Can you relate that down to the planet as well?”

  “We’re on it,” Jenks said. “Be careful and let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”

  “Will do.” Meagan engaged her thrusters and directed the wings to the far side of the Behemoth. From there, they could observe and wait for the moment when they might be needed. Until then, they needed to exhibit some patience and considering what just happened to their home, they’d find it very difficult to do so.

  ***

  Gray willed himself to remain still and sitting. He stared intently at the view screen, watching the enemy ship draw close. A smarter crew would’ve opened fire while their shields were down and taken them out but these idiots wanted to commandeer the Behemoth. Because of that, they put themselves in a dangerous position.

  Even if they did get on board, they wouldn’t find it easy to occupy such a large space with three major departments still under Behemoth control. Engineering had access to life support and all doors. They’d be able to lock any section down and keep the invaders contained until such time that marines could neutralize them.

  They had to cut communications, which meant Clea’s attempt to collaborate with the legitimate military had to be cut short. This particularly stuck in Gray’s craw because the longer the fight was allowed to go on, the more Orion’s Light won. They already caused enough chaos. How had they been able to so easily infiltrate and cause this conflict?

  Maybe the intelligence agent will be able to answer that question when he gets back. Gray didn’t have a lot of faith in the idea. Considering what he was up against and the lion’s den he was infiltrating, it would be a miracle if he survived at all. With limited support, his job might well be impossible.

  I guess the kielans knew that since they sent us to find his body. That was the unspoken part of the assignment: find out if he was dead since he hadn’t checked in. However, they had to know that the moment he got into Orion’s Light, he wouldn’t be able to send messages anymore. If he didn’t go dark, he’d be dead.

  Clea tapped his arm. “Sir, Durant’s got an update.”

  Gray looked up at them both. “Go ahead.”

  “Generators are at seventy percent,” Durant said. “At seventy-five, I can fire up the engines and give you weapons.”

  “ETA for that?”

  “Roughly eight minutes.” Durant shrugged. “Give or take.”

  “And ETA for them to be in a position to attempt a docking action?”

  “About five,” Clea replied. “I do have some good news though. We can only use passive scanners if we want to continue our ploy of being dead in the water. However, I picked up several of our fighters hovering just behind us. They’re waiting for something, an opportunity to help, I suppose.”

  “To stop them from boarding,” Adam said. “Or at least give them a hard time.”

  “Good.” Gray stood finally, stretching before glaring at the screen again. “What will our limitations be at the seventy-five percent mark?”

  Durant replied, “minimal. We have enough generators that I’ll be able to balance the load manually and give us nearly full power.”

  “Can’t you do it now?” Adam asked.

  “Sort of. Without having enough power for the balance, it might be unstable enough to cause actual damage to the ship, up to and including a meltdown. We don’t want that.” Durant sighed. “So we have to wait.”

  “Fair enough reason,” Gray said. “You’ve done wonders with the ship as it is. Especially these passive shields. Good thought, Clea.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Clea nodded her head. “If this works out, then I think we’re going to have to add this to a valid battle tactic.”

  “Certainly though I hope that it doesn’t happen often enough to become an SOP.” Gray shook his head. “How close are they, Olly?”

  “They’re practically right on top of us now,” Olly said. “I’d estimate they’ll be in position to dock in crew quarters in…roughly two minutes.”

  “Durant?” Gray asked.

  “Oh, we’ll need to buy a little more time than that. I’d say…at least three.”

  “Can one of you tight beam communicate to the fighters?” Adam asked. “Something that the enemy won’t pick up?”

  “I can,” Agatha announced. “If you give me just a moment, I can send something that sounds like interference. Their computer will decode it but the enemy should think it’s little more than noise from being too close to us.”

  “Do it,” Gray said. “Tell them to buy us the extra couple minutes but to be cautious. I don’t want to lose any pilots over this.”

  “I’m on it, sir.” Agatha went to work and Gray forced himself to sit back down.

  The next few minutes might be the longest of his military career and the level of patience required was making his muscles tense. Luckily, there were no other rebel ships around or they certainly would’ve opened fire. His mind drifted to the countless individuals aboard the ship who were impacted by the prototype weapon.

  The Orion’s Light proved early on that they lacked any morality but this, firing experimental weapons, drifted into the realm of war crimes. The ends justified their means, at least to them. Gray shuddered to think of a universe with them in charge of anything but Earth’s history was full of cultures run by terrorists.

  Olly cursed, “Captain, we’ve got a ship incoming.”

  “What?” Gray stood up. “What kind? Where?”

  “It just jumped in off the port bow,” Olly pointed at the screen. “Magnifying…oh no. It’s the Final Star…the Orion’s Light flagship!”

  Gray scowled. “Krilan.” He turned to Durant. “Get me power fast. This fight just escalated and I need weapons.”

  “We’re almost there.” Durant shrugged. “I can’t make it go quicker!”

  “Try.” Gray turned to the screen. “I don’t intend to show my belly to that bastard and his flunky’s too close for my comfort. Pull a miracle out of your hat, Durant. I want to show these animals what happens to war criminals.”

  ***

  Meagan’s com lit up with static and she had to turn down the gain. A light flashed on her computer screen and as she acknowledged the alert, it began to decode a message. The entire process took less than fifteen seconds. A box appeared asking if she’d like to hear what had been received.

  She tapped yes and Ensign Agatha White’s voice filled her helmet.


  “Wing Commander Meagan Pointer, this is the Behemoth. The enemy vessel is on the verge of docking. We are close to full power recovery. We have passive shields engaged protecting three key areas but much of the crew is currently unconscious or worse. You have to buy us some time. Prevent the enemy from boarding the ship, even if you just harass them. Behemoth out.”

  Meagan sent the message to the rest of the pilots. Once they had a chance to hear it, she cleared her throat. “So I guess we’re ready to get in there and cause some trouble, huh?”

  “Let’s do it,” Mick said. “Sooner we dispatch this big ass ship, the sooner we can get inside and I for one could use the recharge.”

  “On my lead,” Meagan said. “Form up with your wingmen and get ready. They might launch fighters so we’ll have our work cut out for us in any event.”

  As Meagan kicked on the thrusters and propelled herself forward, her body complained at the sudden motion. She’d been out there far longer than anticipated and it was definitely taking its toll on her. After today, she’d need real downtime if she hoped to recover fully. No one was meant to pushing the limits of a fighter for such an extended period of time.

  Pushing full speed, the two ships became larger with each passing second. Her computer stated they would arrive in less than ten seconds, about what she hoped when she positioned her teams. The enemy was practically right on top of the Behemoth and would be in good position to send out a docking clamp just as the fighters arrived.

  Meagan’s finger touched the trigger of her pulse cannons just as the second ship jumped in, appearing some distance in front of the Behemoth. She immediately recognized the vessel from their previous experience with them. The Final Star. The commander of that ship killed Lieutenant Leslie Eddings, a hero of their previous engagement.

  What I wouldn’t give to be in the cockpit of a bomber right now. You brazen son of a bitch.

  “Is that who I think it is?” Mick asked.

  “Try not to focus on it,” Meagan replied. “Focus on the task at hand.”

  A docking tether deployed from the enemy ship. Meagan fired a barrage of pulse blasts and even with shields, the force of the blow knocked it to the side, ensuring it couldn’t connect with the Behemoth. They’d have to pull it back in and align for another try. The rest of the fighters fired at the ship itself, harassing it as they planned.

  Scans indicated they were launching fighters of their own, ships Meagan knew were capable of some pretty outstanding maneuvers. Durant’s upgrades were meant to succeed these people and now, the new designs would be put to the test. At the end of a very long mission without missiles. Ah, the fluid nature of combat.

  “Tiger, you keep this thing from bothering the Behemoth,” Meagan said, “we’ll take care of the fighters.”

  Mick formed up with her as they raced around the enemy capital ship. Turret fire blasted past them but never seemed to come remotely close. Either the gunners themselves were terrible shots or they had bad AI. Either way, Meagan wasn’t going to overthink their fortune. They’d have enough going against them when they met the enemy ships.

  Four already cleared their hanger with another four on their way out. Mick thrust past her, firing a full spread into the enemies who had yet to establish themselves. The first two took full on pulse blasts to their tops. Their shields popped and the first one exploded outright. The second’s engines expelled a bout of fire before spinning out of control, slamming into the Final Star’s shields and disintegrating.

  “Wow, Mick.” Meagan felt like she should be giving him a hard time about the rash action but it worked. Now they only had six fighters to deal with…at least until the Final Star launched theirs. “Get back up here and help us fight these buggers off.”

  The enemy fighters closed in, pulling wild maneuvers as if showing off what they believed to be air superiority. They’re addicted to their advantage, Meagan thought. They don’t even know how to fly conservatively. And they have no idea what they’re facing. I can work with a little hubris. Should be easier.

  “Team, let’s play a game of bait and trap.” Meagan grinned. “I’ll be the bait. No one tip their hand until they get close. Then show them that they’re not the only ones who have fantastic inertial dampeners.”

  “You sure about this?” Shelly asked. “It’s a pretty risky move, Ma’am.”

  “Oh, I think I’ll be okay. Just don’t let them take too many shots at me before you get involved. Be right back.”

  Meagan jammed her thrusters to full and charged the enemy, tilting her head to focus. She stared through the glass, every sense hyperaware. As the enemy began to fire, she made the necessary course corrections to avoid their attacks, the edges of her shields taking no more than grazes. As she flew past them at a ridiculous speed, the enemy scattered, far too late if they had needed to avoid a collision.

  She pulled up and climbed, turning so she was facing her own team. Four of the enemy pilots formed up behind her. The other two vanished, flying off to some other mission. She didn’t have time to worry about it. Dodging when she saw them coming was one thing but now she had to rely partially on scanners, partially on instinct to avoid being hit.

  As she pushed the limits of her ship, her body complained at the force pressing it into the seat. Blasts flew past her, winking out of existence some distance ahead of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw on her scanner that she was rapidly approaching her team, all engines cool as they waited for their chance to strike.

  Someone got a direct hit on her shields in the rear. An alarm went off indicating her shields were down to forty percent. She doubled them up, lowering the power in the front just before she dove to hand off the enemy to her team. Seven vessels engaged four, easily matching their opponent’s wild maneuvers.

  Meagan circled around and watched the antics, like some kind of insane aerial show that resulted in four downed vessels. And no survivors to tell their buddies about how we just did. Our secret remains safe for now.

  “Great job,” Meagan called, “but there are two more out there somewhere.”

  “They went back around to bother Tiger,” Mick said. “I’ve got them on scans.”

  “That’s it for them,” Shelly said. “Two against all those ships? Ridiculous.”

  “Nevertheless,” Meagan replied, “let’s get over there and make sure they’ve got all the cover they need. I don’t want them to deal with any weird surprises…like those jack asses turning themselves into bombs or something.”

  ***

  Olly practically bounced in his seat. He watched his passive scans in total torment, frustrated beyond belief that he couldn’t use any of his active equipment. The crude data coming in didn’t give him much but he was able to process it into something useful. As he watched the latest feed come in, he clenched his fists.

  “Captain, the Final Star is powering up weapons. They can fire shortly!”

  “Durant!” Gray turned to the man. “Come on!”

  “Okay, okay,” Durant muttered. His hands flew across the console. “I haven’t had a chance to test the power load balancer…nor do I know for a fact that this is going to work immediately but providing I can get the regulator to kick in…and then have the relays come online…yes, that’s good…and…now!”

  Everything lit up around them and began to hum. Olly’s computer flashed on and indicated their shields had been raised. Weapon crews reported they were good to go and had a full charge already. Apparently, Durant had them charging along with the generators. The Behemoth was ninety percent combat effective.

  Durant created the miracle, as asked.

  “You got weapons?” Gray asked to Redding.

  “Yes, sir. Who do you want me to shoot?”

  “The enemy who was trying to dock is pulling away,” Olly said. “Our pilots fended off three attempts to board us before they did.”

  “Direct all fire to that vessel,” Gray said. “Fire point blank while getting us away from them. Shooting the Final Star
just now won’t do us much good. When will we be able to microjump?”

  Durant answered, “we need to be at one hundred percent power for such an action and right now, we’re just barley at seventy-nine. I estimate at the current recharge rate, we’ll be ready for jumps in less than three minutes.”

  “We’ll have to take it toe to toe,” Gray said. “Redding, fire. Clea, get back on the com and work with Dubaris. When we’re done with these jokers, we’ll be back to getting the rebels to stand down. I want some simultaneous actions going.”

  “Yes, sir.” Clea turned her attention to the com and Olly returned his full attention to his computers. Redding fired a full barrage into the enemy ship. Their shields flared brightly and dropped down to ten percent just as the last bolt struck them. The concussion force caused some superficial damage to the decks closest to the Behemoth.

  Another full barrage might well cause serious damage.

  “Final Star is firing!” Olly shouted. “Incoming!”

  Normal pulse blasts struck the Behemoth’s forward shields. The light show was spectacular but it would take a lot more to cause any real concern. Olly noted that their shields dropped to eighty-five percent but rapidly returned to ninety before slowing their recharge. If they’d been at full power, they’d already be back to normal.

  “They’re charging another weapon,” Olly said. He let out a groan. “Their continuous cannon.”

  “Won’t matter,” Durant said. “I’ve already accounted for that. When they figure out we’ve got a counter for it, it might prevent them from attacking other alliance ships. At least for a while. Of course, we have no idea what other strange weapons they’ve stolen from around the galaxy. Or who’s installing them for that matter.”

  Fighters deployed from the Final Star, a dozen blips appearing on scans. Olly noted they were headed for the other ship, perhaps an attempt to escort it away. He frowned, conducting a thorough scan of the vessel that tried to dock with them. Power began surging from their engine room, a familiar buildup of energy.