Taku's response came quicker then Trent would have expected. It stated that the incoming shuttle was top priority. He needed to immediately move to personal shuttle bay one and await its arrival. Then he needed to escort the passenger, by any means necessary, to the medical bay. From what Trent could gather from the brief message, Taku had a means to convince the Program, the computer system with the monotone voice, he'd learned, responsible for the docking system, to force the shuttle to land in personal shuttle bay one while reporting a different bay to docking command.
Trent stared at the image of Sir Simwa and cursed under his breath. It would take him almost an hour to reach what he figured was personal shuttle bay one, located immediately after the larger hanger bay. Holding his frustration in check, swearing he would, in the end, get his revenge, he started inching backwards in preparation to meet the new arrival.
*********
"Helm, increase speed by 1.4kps and keep an eye on TSB Mars One, they're adjusting speed before informing the battle group...I don't like falling behind!" Daniel glanced over his shoulder, seeing Captain Aysi pacing the bridge, arms crossed with a stoic expression, staring intently at the CID. The fleets were a little under 10 minutes from max weapons range for the Laser Particle Arrays, or LPAs, of one million kilometers.
The Hulk'Zif Battle Fleet battle groups had not been idle as the TSB fleet approached, adjusting their formation and speed to maximize contact time. They were now in a single file formation and moving at only 5000 kilometers per second. The TSB battle groups had, in direct response, maneuvered into a circular formation while increasing speed. The TSB EW frigates were shifted to mask the new formation, but most were left on the formations flank in an attempt to hide their numbers and confuse the enemy sensors.
The plan was devised by a Knight Admiral Bhool, who'd been recovered from the destroyed ABF Princess One. It was simple, by adjusting to a circular formation the TSB fleet would be able to alter their angle on their plane of momentum to allow the full firepower of each starship to be brought to bear. On the other hand, the HZBF would be required to split their firepower amongst the TSB starships on all sides, or concentrate on only a tiny portion, which was unlikely, given their superior firepower. This should, theoretically, keep the HZBF's superior numbers from bringing concentrated fire on any individual TSB battle group. They were, however, still outnumbered two to one, but the odds were actually worse, since the majority of the TSB starships were the smaller cruisers, frigates, and corvettes, while the HZBF consisted of not only cruisers, frigates, corvettes, battleships, and dreadnaughts, but also seven, 40 kilometer super-capital ships, and fourteen, 10 kilometer capital ships. One super-capital ship had 1600 large LPAs, more than the entire TSB Fleet combined.
Minutes continued to tick away as Daniel's heartbeat matched the seconds as he awaited the inevitable. His display suddenly flashed and began receiving target sector priorities for his battle group. He quickly assigned each LPA a target, while assisting the automated targeting system in identifying the fake gravity, solar, and interstellar anomalies created by the enemy EW system.
"Ma'am, two minutes till max weapons range and holding steady at 100,004.12 kps." said Commander Tanya in a voice so calm that he knew it was forced. The change at helm had surprised everyone, the captain having switched Commander Rew'Da with Commander Tanya, who'd originally been assigned to the Combat System Station, or CSS. Daniel figured it had something to do with Rew'Da having reaction time issues, causing the TSB Ero'Cia to fall behind the rest of the fleet on multiple occasions.
"Thank you, Commander Tanya. Angle the ship to 45 by negative 45." As the Captain gave the order the maneuvering thrusters activated, angling the starship down and to the right, but maintaining the same trajectory. The TSB fleet would rotate as they passed the enemy fleet, allowing all weapons to fire uninterrupted on a single target, if required, during the 20 seconds they would be in combat range.
Unknown anomalies and false starship signatures multiplied faster than Daniel could verify as they quickly approached the one million kilometer mark. The tactical officer in CSS was little help since he was still a recruit in the academy, having been a last minute substitute for the injured tactical officer, Lieutenant Taku, with little experience in EW recognition. A third station suddenly tied into tactical and someone marked the EW signatures at an unbelievable speed. Daniel glanced over his shoulder, and as he expected, XO Geoff's station was showing tactical. He cursed himself for needing additional assistance, while he went back to marking the ever increasing anomalies.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six..." The countdown originated from the helm and the tension on the bridge was palpable. "...five, four, three, two, one..." A sudden calm filled Daniel during the fleeting second between Commander Tanya's finished countdown and Captain Aysi's order.
"Fire all LPAs!" the booming voice broke the silent calm as Daniel punched the fire icon, causing his LPAs to enter auto-fire mode.
The first salvo of LPAs streaked across the empty space between the dueling starships at the speed of light. A few found targets, the kinetic energy being absorbed by the ESS, while the trailing actual energy was vectored away. As predicted, the HZBF split its fire between the entire circular formation of TSB starships, not concentrating on any single battle group.
Two unlucky EW frigates blew as their fake battle group signatures pulled fire away from the real forces. Ten screening HZBF frigates vanished in unison, while two corvettes flickered then blew, their NSD's pierced as their energy shield systems failed. An HZBF cruiser suddenly spun out of formation, propulsion system damaged, causing its fellows to maneuver frantically.
LPAs continued sweeping across the TSB fleet. A few striking the Ero'Cia, but being easily brushed aside by their ESS. The majority of TSB starships avoided damage, only a few small LPAs breaking through weakened shields. The damage was immediately fixed as the hulls reformed into the proper shape by accessing the reserve supplies of liquid tilitium programmable matter, similar to how a body would heal a wound, but significantly faster...Daniel's hopes were on the rise.
The small and medium LPAs continued to pour almost continuous fire as the large LPAs charged, weakening ESS's, but rarely providing enough punch to inflict catastrophic damage. The large LPAs finished their charging phase and a second salvo of death sped across the darkness of space.
"Fire plasma cannon!" Captain Aysi shouted and Daniel slammed the fire icon, releasing the twirling purple tinted beam of plasma that formed on the nose of the starship, intermingling with the fire of the rest of the TSB fleet, on a direct course for the NHA Super-Capital HZBF Relus, whose screening support had scattered when a cruiser spun out-of-control seconds before.
The second salvo of large LPAs struck the TSB lines and Daniel cringed as he realized this time they would not be so lucky. The NHA Battleship TSB Mars One split apart, its ESS overwhelmed by thousands of simultaneous LPA strikes, NSD pierced. Daniel braced himself as the gravitational shockwave struck the TSB Ero'Cia, causing it to shake violently before the unstable singularity containment collapsed around the exposed neutron star. The battle group targeting feed suddenly went dead, battle group command having died in the violent collapse of the battleships NSD. Daniel didn't think, falling into his training, picking targets at will. Two more TSB battleships blew, along with a number of cruisers, corvettes, and frigates, many caught in the subsequent violent gravitational shockwaves. Screening frigates and corvettes from the HZBF battle groups continued to vanish as the TSB's LPAs reached their targets, breaking holes in the tight formation, providing access to the juicier targets within. A newly unprotected HZBF battleship blew while a dreadnaught and a few cruisers fell out of formation, spewing clouds of air and debris.
Then...the plasma beams struck and Daniel joined the small cheer that erupted on the bridge as the NHA Super Capital HZBF Relus flickered, its enormous ESS trying to absorb the gigantic amounts of kinetic and actual energy contained in the plasma beams. For a moment, it a
ppeared the massive shields would hold, bending inward in a valiant attempt to hold off its inevitable demise, but it was not enough. The plasma beams tore through the starship like it didn't exist, carving giant holes through the massive 30 meter thick tilitium hull. One beam passed through the NSD, vanishing in a sudden flash, a massive gravitational shockwave erupting that sheered the flanking HZBF starships. A capital ship, two dreadnaughts, and four battleships, flickered and vanish as the unstable singularity containment expanded and collapsed around the exposed neutron star. The smaller screening vessels that survived unscathed, tried to desperately regain formation with the only remaining capital ship in battle group.
"One down...six to go..." Daniel whispered to himself as he noticed a considerable drop in EW anomalies as the super-capitals containment field finished collapsing and space stabilized.
The returning plasma beams were off target, the majority being pulled towards EW frigates, catching three of the small starships that had fooled the enemy into thinking they were in fact, capital ships. Two more TSB cruisers suddenly vanished, LPAs slicing through unshielded armor, while two corvettes blinked, spewing oxygen and crewmen into space, before breaking apart and exploding, vanishing from his screen.
The third salvo of large LPAs fired. Causing two more HZBF dreadnaughts, struck in the lightly shielded rear, to flicker and vanished, while a multitude of frigates and corvettes blew on all sides, protecting the larger starships from fire.
"Brace for impact!" Captain Aysi shouted as a super-capital targeted their battle group, pouring hundreds of LPA beams their way. The NHA Battleship TSB Jupiter Two, which had taken command of the battle group when TSB Mars One blew, absorbed the brunt of the attack, breaking in two after its ESS failed to withstand the hundred of simultaneous strikes.
Daniel's head slammed into the PDU as his tactical display flickered, the TSB Ero'Cia bucking from the gravitational shockwave and sudden connecting enemy LPA fire. An explosion racked the bridge, throwing Daniel from his station and across the floor, bouncing painfully to a stop on his side as stars filled his vision and smoke assailed his nostrils.
"Direct hit to sections 7 and 12, sending engineering teams! Secondary explosions in section one, three, eight, nine, ten..." Lieutenant Pablo screamed as the Ero'Cia shook again, reading off the damage report as Daniel climbed to his feet, rushing back to his station. He wiped the blood from his eyes and felt relief pour over him as he found that they'd finally left weapons range...the battle was over.
“Com! Inform fleet we are taking command of the third TSB battle group. Helm, 90 degree burn! Medical team to the bridge! We have wounded!" Captain Aysi's shouting voice was hard, but also contained a twinge of sadness. Daniel turned, to see what would cause the change in the always boisterous Captain Aysi. Lying on the floor next to his station was Executive Officer Geoff, having caught a piece of flying debris in the side of his head, spilling its contents across the base of the bridge.
Daniel turned from the horrid sight, catching his breath and swallowing the rising bile, before sending causality and damage requests to his array teams. As he waited for their replies, he scanned the shambled mass of starships being displayed on the bridges CID, that had once been the TSB Fleet, still shaken from the sight of the dead XO Geoff. Eight of the sixteen TSB battleships had been destroyed, while four more were heavily damaged, having fallen out of formation. Sixteen cruisers had been destroyed, with ten more being heavily damaged. Twenty-two corvettes were destroyed, ten with minor damage. Fifty-six frigates were destroyed, with another thirty damaged. Daniel shook his head in disbelief at the destruction, before accessing the command audio channel, hoping to hear the order to retreat, to stop this useless charade.
"...repeat, all ships immediately burn 90 degrees. Once turn is complete, prepare to redeploy, next contact estimated in two hours....repeat..." Daniel muted the channel and again glanced over his shoulder at the dead XO, now being carried from the bridge. Anger filled him as he knew it was only a matter of time till they all shared the same, useless fate.
*********
The personal shuttle, or space coffin, as Trent had started calling it, appeared in the empty recess in personal shuttle bay one. Trent took a deep breath, hoping Taku had accomplished what he claimed he could, sending false information to docking command, and there wouldn't be a detachment of Sir Simwa's men running through the door as he exited the maintenance tunnel.
The front of the black tube slid open, revealing the obvious form of a woman. The dark red jumpsuit she wore was so tight that it showed off every curve of her hourglass figure, while exposing a great deal of her cleavage. The woman stretched, then carefully climbed out, scanning the shuttle bay before pulling off her helmet, letting her long, silky black hair fall free. Trent froze as his heart began racing wildly...it was her! The woman from his visions!
She walked carefully towards the PDU in the center of the room, moving slowly, a subtle hint of confusion on her eyes. But Trent couldn't move, he didn't know what to do, fear had overtaken him, freezing his muscles as feelings exploding from his closed heart... feelings he knew...but hated. Nothing good had ever come from those feelings, he knew, only pain and despair. He could easily stay in the tunnel, he suddenly thought, and let the woman walk into Sir Simwa's hands.
The idea vanished as quickly as it appeared. He had to protect her...he had to keep her safe, away from Sir Simwa and his men, no matter his hated feelings. He hit the release icon and the access port slid open and Trent pulled himself through, along with a cloud of grey dust. A ladder extended down the wall, which he grasped clumsily, before sliding down to the floor, stumbling to gain his feet. He turned to the black haired beauty, forcing the childish feeling to flee from his mind, and smiled awkwardly. She was aiming a laser arc at his chest, but lowered it as she saw his face.
"Trent!" she said with fascination. Her silky smooth, feminine voice making him feel like he was about to melt. Happiness filled him...she knew him...but how? It didn't matter as he found himself moving towards her, not really comprehending why, but knowing that it was the right thing to do. He stopped a half meter away and looked into her emerald green eyes, seeing relief, and something else...something that made his mind go blank. A strange little creature suddenly crawled onto her shoulder with a squeak, reminding him of a tiny, four eyed monkey with six arms, before scurrying into her cleavage, staring at him curiously. His mind returned to normal as he stared in awe at the creature, then up to the woman's, smiling, goddess like face. He was about to ask her name, when a sound broke him out of his trance.
Shouts and the shuffling of many feet echoed through the outside hallway, heading from the hanger bay in the direction of docking command. Trent grabbed the woman's hand and pulled her towards the maintenance hatch.
"I would advise escaping through the hanger, the maintenance tunnels will be a hindrance should you be discovered." said a monotone voice from the woman's wrist that Trent found all too familiar. He stopped and turned, looking at a small silver sphere being projected a few centimeters above her exotic bracelet, with an odd red glow, originating from a purple gem.
"You must obtain the Star of Terra and return to the TSB Fleet Base immediately. Sir Simwa has seized control of TSB Earth Base in the name of the NHA and contact is not recommended. Please proceed into the hallway, through the hanger, and into a transport tube." Trent stared at the sphere with confused eyes. The woman, seeing this, put her hand on his cheek, causing him to blush furiously and his heart to try to exit his chest.
"This is Vin...a Program...I think we should take his advice." Her calming tone reverberated through his mind and he quickly nodded, cringing when she removed her hand from his cheek. He grabbed her other hand, feeling a surprising sense of relief at the touch, and pulled her with him towards the exit.
Carefully, he stuck his head outside the door, looking both ways and finding it clear. He took a deep breath and dashed towards the open hanger bay door only a few meters away, leadin
g the black haired beauty that made his heart race so.
The hanger appeared to be empty, but Trent wasn't going to take any chances. He ran to a stack of silver crates that were near the doors and knelt down between two, pulling the woman close as he scanned their surroundings. He suddenly became aware of her breathing and found he was reluctant to move, enjoying the calming sensation of her touch, and pleasant scent. She looked up into his eyes questioningly, causing him to force an embarrassed smile as they slide out from between the crates and ran through the empty hanger bay, heading towards the next pile 25 meters away.
They continued moving cautiously between crates, slowly making progress, while heading towards the doors at the far end which led to the transport tubes. The sudden sound of voices startled him and he rushed to the next set of crates, finding a narrow spot in-between that was completely hidden. He pushed the woman in first, then slipped in behind.
*********
Sasha's heart beat wildly as Trent's body squeezed up against her in their tiny hiding place, filling her with his masculine scent. His arms somehow found space around her, allowing him to pull her close, making sure no matter how hard she tried, she'd be unable to move, unable to escape his grasp. She started breathing heavy, almost matching the frantic pace of her heart, and felt her body temperature rise. Trent's face brushed against her hair and she found that she also had her arms around him, burying her own face in his chest. The voices came closer and Sasha suppressed the sound of her beating heart, trying to listen as they walked past.
Alutia Rising Page 25