“Yes, sir, the Dauntless. Looks can deceive,” he added.
The colonel shook his head. “Just surprised it made it down. But we’re glad you’re here. Get up to the wall and hold those bastards off.”
“Yes, sir.” He turned to go, but turned back as a thought came to mind. “Sir, if I may ask, how many people are inside the fortress?”
The Colonel looked off toward the distance, calculating in his mind. “One hundred thousand men, women and children last we counted. We tried to get as many as we could in before the assault began, but still, so many lost or unaccounted for out there. If we lose this fortress, well, there won’t be an Eligar II any longer.”
“I understand, sir. We’ll do our best.”
“That’s all any of us can do,” the Colonel said as Derek turned away.
Derek returned to where John, Ashley and his Marines stood. “Marines, with me, we’ve been assigned to the walls.” He looked at Ashley and John. “Ma’am, sir, you’re welcome to join us on the walls, if you don’t have a different place to be.”
“You mean if we have nothing better to do?” John asked. “Now that you mention it, I was sort of looking forward to sun-bathing down here, the light is beautiful, but I guess I’ll come up on the wall with you.”
Derek looked at Ashley, expecting her to hit John.
“I’m too tired to hit him anymore, Lieutenant. We’re with you.”
Derek nodded. “Thank you both.” He pointed to a point behind them. “There is the ramp.” The group ascended the ramp and arrived at the top of the wall.
“Shit,” John said. “Would you look at that.”
Below, thousands of Krai’kesh, skitterers and commanders both, milled about.
John pointed to a point in the distance. “Those are giant crystals, like what we saw back on Tar Ebon, Ash.”
“But they’re not nullifying our power.”
“Maybe we’re not close enough.”
“Or they have a different purpose now,” Derek said. “Look.”
As they watched, flashes of light surrounded the distant crystal. Figures appeared around it, dozens of them.
“Teleporters! That’s not fair!” John exclaimed.
“It looks like shifting,” Ashley said. “Void crystals of some sort. They act as conduits to open portals through?”
“I don’t know,” John said, “but that’s pretty badass. Gotta give the KK some credit for that.”
“The KK? Why not just call them the KKK? Krai’kesh Killers?”
“Hmmm, I actually like that name. We’ll see if it sticks.”
Derek doubted the name would stick. He cleared his throat. "That changes things if they can pump out continual reinforcements."
“I doubt they have an infinite number of troops, Lieutenant, but yes, it means they can reinforce their troops much faster than we can.”
More crystals dropped in the distance. “How are they going to breach the walls?” Even as Derek spoke, the Krai’kesh commanders called up a line of special-looking Krai’kesh. They lobbed large globules of acid projectiles at the walls of the fortress. “I guess that answers my question.”
Ashley summoned fire and burned away some of the acid. “I can’t burn it all off alone, but I’ll do what I can,” she said.
"It will be a long fight," John said. "Or short, I guess if they breach the walls."
Chapter 10 - Hope Delayed
Admiral Rigsby stood on the bridge of the Independence as the report came in from the transports that ten transports plus the Dauntless had landed. “Thank God,” he said. “What damage have we done to them, Zigana?”
“One more enemy ship has been destroyed, sir, but we’ve lost another corvette to enemy fire. With respect, sir, we are out in the open with no cover. We are approaching the moon, however. We could divert to hide behind the moon.”
“But if we do that, we lose the ability to support our ground troops, Zigana.”
“Sir, we are not able to assist our ground troops as it is. If we continue our current trajectory I have decreasing probability of success.”
“All right, bring us behind the moon. Perhaps we can draw the enemy in and ambush them.”
“There is another thing, sir. The Krai’kesh fighters are headed straight toward us. Our fighters are tailing them and picking off as many as they can. I worry the enemy will use their suicide maneuvers again.”
“Move our smaller ships to make a screen between the Independence and their fighters. Initiate interlocking fields of fire to whittle them down.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How close is the enemy to the G-line?”
“Two hundred thousand kilometers, sir.”
“So, within firing range,” Admiral Rigsby mused. “And we can shift from within the gravity shadow of the moon, yes?”
“Correct, sir,” Zigana said with puzzlement. “Are you suggesting shifting to the other side of the enemy fleet?”
“I am. We can catch them by surprise from behind.”
“But sir, that would put us in the same precarious position we are in now. We would once again be out in the open.”
“So, we shift again to get behind the moon after firing a barrage. Will it work?”
“It would quickly drain our shadow drive, sir. I calculate we could do this twice before we must recharge.”
“Make the arrangements. Appear on one side of them, then the opposite, have the fleet fire all at once and then shift back behind the moon. The second time, appear on the opposite side so they don’t expect our move and fire on our new location before we arrive there.”
“Yes, sir. I’m relaying orders to the shifters and the fleet. We can shift in thirty seconds.”
“Excellent.” Martin put his hands behind his back and clasped them. “That may just give us an edge.” An edge until what, he wasn’t sure.
The Federation fleet shifted thirty seconds later and moved to an area right beyond the G-line on one side of the enemy fleet. The entire fleet fired railgun projectiles. Two enemy vessels disappeared from the display. “Get us out of here,” Martin ordered as the fire warning indicated the enemy was firing projectiles at their position.
“Preparing to shift,” Zigana said. Seconds later, right before the enemy projectiles crashed into the fleet, the fleet shifted and moved back behind the moon. “No damage, sir.”
“Do it again,” Martin ordered.
“Yes, sir.” The order was repeated and the fleet shifted to the edge of the G-line on the other side of the enemy fleet than they previously had. The entire fleet fired railgun projectiles again, which caused another enemy vessel to disappear and another to appear to take heavy damage. Without Martin’s prompting, the fleet shifted away before the enemy projectiles were even halfway to them.
“That seems to work nicely, Zigana. Prepare to do it again.”
“It will take a few minutes to recharge the shadow drives, but…” Zigana paused. “Sir, we are picking up multiple void portals behind us!”
“Shit,” Martin said. “It’s their second fleet,” he guessed, even before Zigana confirmed it. “Can we shift again?”
“The shadow drives still need to recharge for five minutes, sir.”
“All right, shields to maximum, bring us around and fire everything we have. Move the fleet closer. We can use coilguns at closer range and our railgun shells will have a greater impact.”
“Yes, sir.” Zigana ordered the remaining capital ships to close on the newcomers.
“Where are our fighters?” Martin asked.
***
“Attention all fighters, the fleet has moved back behind the moon. Rendezvous with the Independence ASAP.”
“No, we were just going to sit out here and enjoy the scenery,” Selene grumbled before clicking her comm in acknowledgment. She targeted another Krai’kesh fighter from behind and fired. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, for the enemy fighters moved in a straight line, only deviating twice when they thought the Feder
ation fleet had permanently moved. But now they were back on target headed toward the moon. They did not engage the Federation fighters, only flew on. It struck Selene as a rather stupid decision, but they were just brains in organic bodies. What passes for the Krai’kesh CAG must not be too bright.
The Federation fighters rounded the moon. Her HUD showed the Federation capital ships among the Krai’kesh capital ships. Coilgun and railgun shells hurtled across the relatively small distance, taking chunks out of the Krai’kesh capital ships, while the enemy fired their acid-covered rocks in reply, dealing heavy damage to the remaining ships.
It will take a bloody miracle to get out of this. Selene punched the throttle and entered the fray.
***
“Look out!” John shouted as one part of the fortress wall collapsed from the concentrated acid assault. Krai’kesh climbed over the ruins.
"I've got this," Ashley said, closing her eyes and lifting her hands. Large golems standing three meters high rose from the dirt and solidified, forming a wall of animated stone and earth which stemmed the initial tide of Krai'kesh long enough for defenders to get into place.
The Marines on the ground near the wall of golems threw grenades. They exploded over the heads of the Krai’kesh stalled there, killing a large swath of them.
Movement in the sky caught Derek’s attention. Large rocks like the one they had seen on Serpentis III crashed in the distance.
“We’ve got company,” he shouted.
The large rocks broke apart and unfurled into not one but seven towering behemoths. They mean business. It had taken several transports filled with explosives to destroy just one of them. How were they going to destroy seven of them?
John shared a look with him. “Been nice knowing ya, kid.”
“Where’s your optimism?”
“It got smashed by those giant monsters,” he pointed toward the seven behemoths.
Well that’s just great, am I the only one who still has hope?
Marines on the walls continued firing down on the Krai’kesh milling about below. Weapons platforms atop the fortress walls fired streams of coilgun shells at the enemy, destroying many Krai’kesh. Mortar shells flew over the walls and fell among them, while missiles streaked out toward the behemoths. That’s useless. Missiles alone won’t destroy them.
Movement to Derek’s left caused him to turn. A void portal was opening. Out of the portal stepped a Krai’kesh commander and half a dozen skitterers.
“Krai’kesh on the walls!” Derek shouted, then turned his rifle and fired at the Krai’kesh. He tossed a grenade short of them and it exploded, damaging the carapace of the skitterers but being absorbed by the void shield of the commander. Other Marines saw the enemy and fired.
The skitterers spread out and overtook several Marines which had not heard or reacted to the warning, striking them in the back and killing them outright. Meanwhile, the commander swept his double-edged staff around, stabbing Marines left and right.
Derek set his sights on the commander and drew his black blade. He charged, slashing at the commander’s backplate and causing the creature to roar with anger and lash out wildly with the staff. Derek parried the sweeping strike, slid the staff off his blade and thrust. The blade slid through the chest plate of the creature. It gurgled as it died. Derek felt no pity knowing the creatures inside the suits were humanoid or genetic cousins to humanity or whatever the scientists said; they were his enemy.
Derek looked behind the wall where more void portals were opening. The enemy was circumventing the golems. Piles of corpses formed wherever a Krai’kesh commander appeared and the skitterers, though easier to take down, still inflicted great casualties before dying.
“They’re behind us!” Derek shouted at John. “Can you do anything?”
John withdrew the blade from the sheath on his belt. He closed his eyes and the blade glowed, then it melted and became liquid. It held the shape of a sword through shear strength of will and magic. “Let’s go,” he said, charging down the stairs.
Derek followed, keeping his sword out as the two charged down the stairs and entered the fray.
John cut the first enemy he faced, a skitterer, clean in half with his sword. The acrid smell of alien flesh burning wafted from the site. A second enemy fell to the blade of molten steel. Derek faced off against another skitterer, killing it slower than John could but still killing them. Then he watched as John faced one commander. His molten blade sliced clean through the enemy staff, then he swung again and bisected the enemy commander. “Take that, you bastard,” John spat.
The enemy commanders, recognizing the threat John posed, made their way toward him.
“Uh, John, they’re surrounding us,” Derek warned.
“You can’t contain the light,” John quipped.
“You’re not made of light,” Derek pointed out.
“Well, you can’t contain a sword of light.”
“Tell that to them.”
“Bring it on, you bastards!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Three enemy commanders attacked at once. Derek took one of them, while John fought the other two. Derek parried the first strike from the enemy commander, ducked the counter attack from the other end of the staff and stabbed the commander in the chest, killing it.
John sliced through the legs of the first Krai’kesh commander, then spun and parried the blow of the second, which chopped the enemy staff in half. John followed through with a sweeping strike which took the second commander’s head off. He stood there, steam sizzling from his blade due to the blood of the creatures frying on it, then let out a sigh. “Sweet relief,” he said. “If only for a moment.”
A roar in the distance announced the behemoths. “Can your sword cut through them?”
John shook his head. “Not effectively enough. It would exhaust all the energy trying to cut through the legs of even one thing.”
“Can you call down sunlight, like in the legends?”
I can try,” John said, “once they get closer.”
That should do.
***
“Shields are twenty percent, sir, seven floors are venting atmosphere, sir. Repair and damage repair crews are doing all they can,” Zigana reported.
“It will not be enough,” Martin said, putting his head in his hands. “There are too many of them.” He lifted his head. “Wait, what if we overload our shadow drives, all at once? Will that create enough of an explosion to destroy their fleet?”
"At this proximity, sir, I estimate that shadow drive explosions from all our ships at once has an eighty-five percent chance of destroying all of the capital ships we now face. However, sir, I must caution this will still leave the first enemy fleet and strand our ground forces. Plus, we would be dead."
“Sometimes sacrifices must be made. Prepare to overload the shadow drives of all ships on my mark.”
“As you command,” Zigana said without emotion.
A beep indicating a message chimed across the bridge. “A message? From who?” Martin asked.
“It came from the backup Shadow Array, sir. It is time-stamped for a week ago, sir, but it only just arrived. I expect it was bounced around between the main array and the backup array, sir, and did not…”
“I don’t need the technical explanation, Zigana. Who is it from?”
"The supreme commander. I will put it on display."
The holo display morphed from the sensor map to the image of the supreme commander, Dawyn Darklance. “Attention Federation forces in Sector Eighteen. I have declared war against the Krai’kesh and martial law in the Federation. I am enroute with the Black Fleet. We expect to arrive in one week’s time. Hold your position until that time. Good luck and God speed.” The message ended.
“A week ago…” Martin whispered. “Zigana, hold off on overloading the shadow drives.”
“Sir, we are detecting multiple void anomalies throughout the system. They are concentrated on our location.”
Marti
n held his breath as tears leaked from his eyes. Friend or foe, that was the question. “Signatures?”
Chapter 11 - Breach and Clear
“Ya didn’t tell me you knew the deputy director,” Corbin said to Kimberly as they walked down a hallway inside the Federation embassy.
“You didn’t ask,” Kimberly said.
“Do ya know the president? The supreme commander perhaps?”
“I met the president,” she said. “I don’t know if that counts as knowing him.”
“Ah right, I forgot you saved ‘is life.”
The small group entered a situation room within the embassy. “Have a seat,” Isabelle instructed them. “We need to make a plan.”
“How did you know we were in trouble?” Kimberly asked.
“I received your message upon arriving in the system.”
“But why did you come with a full complement of Marines?” She held up a hand. “Please don’t misconstrue my questioning as lack of gratitude, I want to understand how you came to be here, ma’am.”
Isabelle chuckled. "Always so proper and polite, Kimberly. When I couldn't reach you or the station I knew something was wrong. Officials kept telling me the station was fine and nothing was going on, but I couldn't reach anyone at the station, so I grabbed reinforcements and came right away. What we need to do first is blockade Crossroad Station.”
“A blockade? The merchants will hate that.”
“I don’t give a shit about the merchants. There are who knows how many Krai’kesh on ice in that warehouse. Whoever ran that operation knows we are onto them and knows they can no longer try hiding the Krai’kesh in plain view like that. My guess is they’ll unleash the Krai’kesh and let them wreak havoc.”
“Do you have enough manpower to stop that many Krai’kesh?”
Isabelle snorted. “No. I brought one cruiser with four dozen Marines. It won’t be near enough to maintain a blockade OR board the station to clear what will become a Krai’kesh den out.”
Eclipse: Book Two of the Dark Tide Trilogy Page 9