Juggernaut: The Ixan Prophecies Trilogy Book 2

by Scott Bartlett

After thanking the cargo ship’s captain and crew profusely, they boarded the shuttle that had just docked with her. As they descended, the pilot treated them to a view of Mars.

  “Hard to believe they used to call it the red planet,” Simpson said. “It looks almost identical to old photos of Earth.”

  Bernard nodded, while picturing what Earth looked like now: a seared desert, lifeless. “What’s our revolution gauge at?”

  “It went up to nineteen percent right after your speech, but it dropped back down to sixteen after the defender was killed. Hurst’s law is having exactly the effect she wanted.”

  As they neared the encampment of defenders, Bernard marveled at its size. There must be nearly two thousand people down there. The shuttle pilot put them down within a short walk of the camp, and they made for it right away, lugging what little they’d brought along with them.

  Ralston and the veterans broke off to find somewhere to change into their military uniforms while Bernard and Simpson pressed on, looking for a coordinator of some kind.

  Though no one was quite in charge of the defenders, after around fifteen minutes of searching they found a white-haired woman named Flo who was heading up logistics. Currently she crouched in a tent, counting first aid kits. When Bernard told her about the seventy veterans Ralston had managed to recruit so far, she got to her feet, eyes wide.

  “That’s great, but the camp is taxed as it is. Finding the resources to accommodate seventy extra people is going to be a real scramble.”

  “Plus our party of ten,” Bernard said.

  Flo ran a hand through her short, snowy hair and stared at the tent wall. “Wow.”

  Ralston entered the tent. “There you are,” he said to Bernard and Simpson, standing much straighter than he had before. The uniform clearly brought out the best in him. Beyond him, just outside the tent, Bernard spotted the other seven veterans, all in uniform.

  The Scot turned to face Flo. “Ma’am, I overheard your concern, and I want to assure you that we’ll be worth the supplies it takes to sustain us, several times over. I also started an online fundraiser that’s enjoyed modest success. All of that will go to cover the logistical burden of my veterans.”

  Since Flo still looked uncertain, Bernard said, “Might I remind you that these men and women all put their lives on the line to defend the people of the Commonwealth. Many of them fought in the First Galactic War, such as Chief Ralston here.”

  That seemed to get through. Blinking rapidly, Flo smiled. “Yes, of course. Thank you for your service, Chief Ralston. And thank you for coming to support our movement.”

  “It’s my pleasure, ma’am. How can we make ourselves of the most service?”

  Flo seemed to consider the question. “Well, people are scared, after Frank Greer died. Real scared. If you could…” She didn’t seem to know how to finish the sentence.

  Ralston seemed to understand. “Let’s get everyone who’s able back out on that street. Right now.”

  “It’s very dangerous,” Flo said. “I don’t want any more of my people killed.”

  “I understand that, ma’am. But if anyone wants to run over more defenders, they’ll have to go through me first.”

  The veterans behind Ralston put their fists into the air. “Oorah!”

  “Let’s get this party back on the street. How quickly can a megaphone be found?”

  “I can get you one,” Flo said. “Where will I find you?”

  “At the front. Let’s go!” he shouted at the other veterans, striding from the tent.

  Exchanging grins, Bernard and Simpson followed.

  Before long, Ralston and his fellow veterans were leading a massive tide consisting of hundreds of defenders, after walking through the camp and yelling that they were taking the roads back. That UHF veterans were here to help take the roads back.

  Bernard stuck close behind. Later, she would give impromptu speeches and do what she could to rouse the crowd, to set fire to the movement demanding Hurst’s resignation. But today was the veterans’ day, and she wasn’t sure she could ever have the effect they were about to.

  Finally, they stood on the roadway, with at least a dozen news cameras pointed at them, as well as a sea of coms held up to record the scene. The entire galaxy will watch what unfolds today.

  The police barricade was also there, and if Bernard’s memory served, the videos she’d seen had showed the police a lot farther back. They’d pushed forward more since the defender’s death at the hands of a Darkstream employee.

  Flo appeared out of nowhere and passed Ralston a megaphone, who switched it on, raising it to his lips. As he did, the other veterans came to attention in a rank that stretched across the road.

  “I know what you’re doing,” the Scot said, pointing with his free hand at the police. “You’re trying to prevent these people, people of the Commonwealth, from exercising their fundamental rights. You’re trying to prevent them from assembling peacefully by committing murder and pretending it was an accident. Well, you can do that, if you want. You can do that. But you’ll need to kill me first.”

  The veteran standing to Ralston’s left held out her hand for the megaphone, and he handed it to her. She raised it to her lips. “If you want to attack these defenders, if you want to attack the rights that make humanity a free people, then you’ll have to kill me first.”

  The next veteran took the megaphone. “If you wanna continue this,” he said, “if you wanna ruin the galaxy for our children and their children, you’ll have to kill me first.”

  One-by-one, each veteran took the megaphone and reiterated Ralston’s words. At last, the megaphone made its way back to the Scot.

  “There are more veterans on the way,” he said to the police. “You’ll know them by their uniform. You’ll know them by the quiet dignity they bear, which they acquired while defending humanity. We plan to remain peaceful, since we won’t stoop to your level, but we’re going to protect these people from you until the others get here to take our place. And then we’ll take it in shifts. And we’ll make it so that if you want to get to these people behind me with your violence, you’ll need to run us down first. And it’s gonna be that way until the day President Hurst resigns the office she was never fit to hold. Oorah!”

  “Oorah!” the other veterans shouted.

  “Oorah!” Ralston yelled, his free fist thrust into the air.

  “Oorah!” shouted all the defenders, a sea of fists surging upward.

  Chapter 61

  Fall Back

  As the crowd chanted, Police Sergeant Doucet inched toward Corporal Bradley. “We need to move back.”

  Bradley looked at him, brow furrowed. “Sarge?”

  “If we don’t show these veterans some respect, the public backlash is going to be intense.” Even Doucet could see that, and he was no PR expert.

  Slowly, Bradley shook his head. “Don’t you think we should check with the chief?”

  “Yes. I do. But if he saw what we just did, I doubt he’ll be saying any different.”

  Doucet realized his com was emitting its shrill beep, and he took it out, accepted the call, and put it to his ear.

  It was the chief. “Doucet. You’re at the site of unrest now, are you not?”

  “Yes, sir, I am.”

  “We have to unblock the access roads immediately. If word gets out that we’re denying veterans access to food and medicine, we’ll be crucified. The way the Commonwealth treats veterans is already a sore point. This will ruin us. It could set the entire galaxy to rioting.”

  “I was just about to call you and say the same thing, Chief.”

  “Right. Just get to work. We’re going to need to find another way to fight this.” The chief sighed, and Doucet realized his boss felt just as tired as he did. “Hopefully Hurst comes up with something else. I thought the new law would do it. God. We can’t even starve them out anymore. We need something else.”

  Chapter 62

  Honor

  Each Roosts
hip would only be able to use its laser once, and so Ek ordered just half of them to do so in the initial barrage.

  Some of the UHF ships had discharged their own primary lasers in their attack on Pinnacle, but many had not. As a result, their main capacitors were fully charged, and when they came under laser fire from the Wingers, they were ripped apart in titanic explosions.

  Because of the enemy’s tight formation, the resultant shrapnel punched through the hulls of several more ships, triggering yet more explosions.

  Ek watched on the tactical display as the next battle groups in line slammed on their brakes, but too late. Their momentum carried them forward, and one of them collided with a corvette that had escaped the Wingers’ assault, causing both to explode.

  Most of the braking ships made it through the cloud of speeding shrapnel, and Ek knew they would be preparing to strike back.

  “Fire the second laser salvo,” she said over the fleetwide.

  Lasers lanced forth from the half of her fleet with capacitors still charged, and more UHF ships exploded, increasing the amount of shrapnel. The rest of Carrow’s fleet was reeling as each captain broke formation, taxing their engines to veer wildly in a desperate attempt to avoid the field of destruction ahead.

  “How many ships?” Ek asked the sensors adjutant.

  “Twenty-nine, Flockhead,” the Winger said. “We neutralized twenty-nine enemy warships.”

  “Let us press the advantage.” She studied the tactical display briefly and pointed at an area. “There. While their fleet is in disarray, let us strike there. The debris cloud we created will delay the others from backing them up.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the navigation adjutant said.

  “Full power to engines, and fire a single volley of kinetic impactors from each ship just before we are in range of their lasers. As we near them, launch Talons to take advantage of their confusion.”

  Her crew worked with haste, and soon enough her fleet was on top of the wayward UHF ships. Talons spewed forth from every Roostship, joined by the Falcons that had first arrived with Ek. Together, they performed alpha strike after coordinated alpha strike. Eleven more enemy ships were obliterated.

  No one inside the bridge celebrated in any way, and she suspected the situation was the same on every other Roostship. They are as enraged and determined as I.

  On the tactical display, she watched as Carrow regained control of his captains, restoring order to their formations. “Take us back behind the debris field, keeping it between us and the enemy for as long as possible. I expect they will be much more cautious in their next approach.”

  “Ma’am, we’re getting a transmission request,” the communications adjutant said.

  “Put it through.”

  Admiral Carrow appeared on the main viewscreen, his normally pale face flushed crimson. “Have you any honor at all?”

  “Honor? I would ask you: can a creature who betrays his own species for money be said to have honor?”

  “Of course not, but—”

  “Then do not speak to me of honor. You have no authority on the subject.”

  Ek would not have considered it possible, but Carrow turned redder. “You can forget any more talk about surrender, fish. You just signed your own death warrant, along with every sky-rat under your command.”

  Carrow cut off the transmission, and the enemy began to inch around the growing debris field, approaching with much greater care this time. Instead of hugging the debris to come at Ek’s fleet in a straight line again, Carrow arrayed his ships in an arc that kept its distance, snaking around the Roostship before tightening the noose.

  I have bought all the time there was for sale. Now she could do nothing except expend her troops as efficiently as possible. Nothing but that, and hope.

  The UHF began closing in, kinetic impactors screaming toward the Roostships, followed by a startlingly massive missile barrage.

  “Take evasive action,” she said. “Instruct all crew to brace for impact.”

  The impactors hit her command ship with a sound like prolonged thunder, and twin explosions rocked the bridge, one after another. Ek had strapped in at the beginning of the battle, and she had ordered her Wingers to do so as well, so everyone kept their seats.

  “Instruct all Talons to initiate missile defense protocols immediately,” she said. “Sensors adjutant, compile a damage report and relay it to me.”

  “The impactors rocked loose a poorly secured fuel cell, sending it crashing to the deck. The explosion detonated its neighbor. Alpha and beta decks are open to space in sections two, three, and four.”

  “Seal off the affected areas and deploy damage control teams.”

  “I have some good news, Flockhead. Captain Vaghn has just appeared out of the Larkspur-Yclept darkgate and is headed our way.”

  Ek suppressed a wince. So close, and yet… “It will take her hours to reach us. By then, I fear Carrow will be finished with us. How many Roostships are en route to join our fight?”

  “Thirty-seven, four of them having recently entered the system, also from Yclept. Only one Roostship is due to reach us within the next hour, however. It’s Wingleader Korbyn’s. He’s approaching the UHF from behind, though it doesn’t seem likely he’ll do any meaningful damage.” The sensors adjutant tapped her console, and saw something that made her wings grow tense. “A sizable battle group has already broken away from the main body of Admiral Carrow’s fleet to confront the wingleader.”

  A wave of nausea crashed over Ek, and she pitched forward against her chair’s straps, suddenly losing all sense of balance, even from her seated position. It took an enormous effort of will to right herself. Her muscles would not cooperate.

  “Honored One…” Wingleader Ty stared at her, his entire body proclaiming his agitation. “Are you well?”

  “I am fine. Communications adjutant, send Wingleader Korbyn instructions to evade that battle group and attempt to find a safer route to join us.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Though I’m not certain he’ll listen. The Wingers lost hope after Spire was destroyed, and Wingleader Korbyn has been particularly reckless. I doubt he’ll hear reason.”

  Ek inhaled deeply from her respirator. Do not waste your firepower like this, Korbyn. I need you.

  In truth, she needed thirty of him, at least. But one was better than none. Unfortunately, as Korbyn continued his approach despite her orders, the latter appeared more likely.

  Chapter 63

  Ready to Rock

  Bronson’s handlebar mustache twitched comically as he sneered at Husher from the Contest’s main viewscreen. “Why don’t you stay and fight me instead of sending these sky-rats to do it for you?”

  Husher yawned, mostly unsurprised to find Bronson in command of the destroyer sent to confront them. “Did you get in contact for a reason, traitor? Or is your repertoire limited to schoolyard taunts, now?”

  “You oaf. Laudano and I going to kill these Wingers, and after that we’re coming to kill you.”

  “You’re going to lose embarrassingly, Bronson. And you won’t even look good doing it. Coms, cut the transmission.”

  “Yes, sir.” Bronson vanished from the viewscreen.

  “We’ll reach the Vermillion Shipyards in twenty minutes, Captain,” Husher’s sensor operator said.

  Husher nodded in acknowledgment, but the Winger wasn’t done.

  “There’s something else, sir. The Tumbran is outside the CIC, requesting entry.”

  “Let him in.”

  The diminutive gray-skinned alien waddled inside once the hatch opened to admit him, his chin sack wobbling to and fro. Piper stopped in front of the Captain’s chair and peered up with his dome-like eyes. To Husher, the Tumbran always looked somewhat long-suffering.

  “What is it, Piper?”

  “I’ve finished work on my algorithm for controlling UHF ships remotely.”

  “Some welcome news. How do we go about activating it? Can we install it remotely as well, from the Contest?�
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  “Unfortunately not,” Piper said, raising his thin fingers to touch his face, something Husher had noticed the Tumbran did a lot, as though to make sure his head was still there. “UHF warships are designed to be impervious to hacking via any sort of signal. They can only be remotely accessed by Command, via the micronet. For us to compromise them, we must physically board each ship to upload my program.”

  As Husher digested what Piper had told him, he found himself wondering what Keyes would have done with the information. Devoting some of his forces to commandeering UHF ships would complicate the effort to recover the Providence. But I can’t just think about completing this mission. I also need to consider what I’ll need in order to extricate Keyes from Hades.

  “This has to be a quick smash-and-grab, given that the destroyer will soon be back to ruin our day. That said, I don’t think we can afford not to commandeer at least some ships. I’ll assign some marines to the task, and that team will gain control of as many UHF warships as possible. Piper, I’ll need you with that team, in case anything goes wrong with your algo, or we need your skills for anything else. Are you up to that?”

  The alien tugged on his chin sack, which Husher had never seen a Tumbran do before. “As long as you don’t ask me to try operating a firearm with these fingers.” Piper held up his hands, spreading his spindly digits in front of his face.

  Husher squinted. Was that a joke? From a Tumbran? “Uh…I won’t.”

  “We’ll be lucky to find spaceworthy vessels to commandeer,” his father said from the XO’s chair. “Seems to me they’ll need to be pretty late in the construction process, for them to be viable targets for us to nab.”

  “You’re right,” Piper said. “Though I’m loathe to admit it. Life support systems are normally installed last, since until then the shipyard can simply use its supplies of atmosphere to pressurize whatever sections construction crews are currently working on. My algorithm doesn’t require life support, so as long as we can find ships that have navigational systems but not life support, this should work.”