Artemas saw him speaking and moved closer to him. Their small group had scattered following the fight. Roxana was on the ground being looked after by Tamara, and Glaucon was helping with the prisoners.
“What is it?” she asked.
Xenophon looked to her, his eyes wide with concern.
“There are more coming. We need a plan, and fast.”
Artemas had nothing to add at first, and as Xenophon began to mutter to himself, she tried to catch his words. Xenophon wasn’t looking for ideas. He was crunching plans in his head, and so far none of them looked good.
“Too few ships, too much damage, we cannot go back or forward. The enemy commander will not yield. Their weakness isn’t combat power...”
Then he smiled. He looked to Artemas and Komes Artemis and lifted his left hand with excitement.
“I have it. The key is Ariaeus.”
“What?” they both asked at the same time. Even Xenias, listening over the communication node, sounded confused.
“Xenophon, what do you mean?”
“You want him to help us? Help us fight Tissaphernes?”
Artemas seemed to have grasped the basic idea but not the details.
Xenophon shrugged.
“Yes, he has the fresh ships that could turn this battle around for us.”
The crackling voice of Xenias interrupted his explanation.
“This won’t work. Ariaeus has already been accused of colluding with Terrans. If he does this, he can expect nothing but the wrath of Artaxerxes. The best we can hope for is that he will stay on the sidelines.”
“That is no good,” said Komes Artemis, “We need decisive action, now!”
“Listen,” Xenophon said, but they continued to speak until finally loud whistles from Glaucon made them quieten down. His friend was on the other side of the level, but even he could see Xenophon needed silence.
“Thank you,” said Xenophon, “We don’t ask him to help. We force him to help.”
“How?” asked Xenias. The others around him repeated the question.
Xenophon instead faced Artemas.
“Can you access the controls of this ship?”
She squinted a little and then a smile spread across her face.
“I understand.”
She moved away from him, heading to the point where Darbabad Qahreman had commanded the vessel. Once safely behind the obsidian plates, she could press several buttons on the unit and access most of the systems. Blue and green imagery appeared with extensive detail on the ships and targets around her. Scattered reports and fragmented information came in from the rest of the ship, as entire sections were currently unmanned.
“I can access navigation settings and gunnery command.”
None of the others seemed to have grasped what was happening while she moved through the multiple panels to take control of the system. Xenophon and the others moved closer to her, each trying to get a view of the obsidian panels and displays around her. Xenophon was there first and pointed to the shapes of ships in the distance.
“Target Ariaeus and open fire with every weapon system still working.”
Komes Artemis stepped towards her with his weapon raised.
“What? Are you insane? You will kill us all. We cannot stand against all of their ships. We must conserve our force.”
Xenophon held back his hand and stepped between him and Lady Artemas.
“No, we need to use our brains. Remember the old adage, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
The Komes lowered his weapon, though he clearly didn’t fully understand. He looked to the panels and back to Lady Artemas.
“You have full control?” asked Komes Artemis.
“Yes. The only real security on these ships is that the command system can be operated by Median nobility; the system has already accepted me.”
Glaucon looked down at the deck where the spatharii were still rounding up prisoners.
“What about them? Can the ship function without a crew?”
Artemas shook her head.
“No. I can relay the orders, but somebody must then manually target and activate the weapon systems.”
Komes Artemis nodded, turning his head slightly away from them.
“I will get my teams working on this. I have a single unit near the port gunnery decks rounding up prisoners. Will that work?”
Lady Artemas examined the panels and checked the communication routes. She finally stopped and pointed at a series of weapon systems.
“Yes, the gun ports on decks four and five are still functioning and show their crews are nearby. I can get one of them angled far enough to fire upon Ariaeus. If you can get me some one here, I can move the ship around to use the dorsal mounts.”
Glaucon looked at the display and ran his finger along the route to reach it.
“I can do that.”
“Here, I have the Dukas,” said Lady Artemas.
On the left side of the obsidian pillars appeared a floating image with Xenias placed directly in the centre. The quality was not brilliant, but it did allow the entire group to see him.
“Is this working?” he asked.
“Dukas, we can see you,” said Xenophon.
“Good. This plan has the potential to work. Might I make one small revision?”
Xenophon shrugged.
“What do you suggest?”
“We have seven captured ships under our control now. I can have them formed up alongside you, and they can add their gunfire to yours. It will increase the effect on Tissaphernes when he arrives.”
“Good,” said Glaucon, “This might actually work.”
The other Terrans listened intently, none more so than Xenophon.
“There’s one other thing, Dukas. When he arrives, we must activate a total communications blackout until the battle is decided. He cannot know Ariaeus is the victim here.”
Dukas Xenias spoke to somebody out of the shot and then looked back at Xenophon.
“Agreed. I have already sent the signal. Once Tissaphernes jumps in, we will block all signals, including our own. Get moving, you don’t have long.”
He gripped Xenophon’s arm in the traditional Terran sign of friendship and then moved away. Three Terrans that boarded the ship at the same time followed him down the ramp and towards the lower decks. Komes Artemis began speaking to his spatharii, but Xenophon put his hand on the warrior’s shoulder and stopped him mid-sentence.
“Make sure they keep them alive. We need them to control the system.”
He grimaced at this.
“How do you suggest I persuade them to help? What can we possibly offer the crew of a capital ship in the heart of Mede’s space?”
Roxana could hear him from where she lay, still being tended by Tamara. She laughed at this question, much to Komes Artemis’ annoyance.
“Simple, make them an offer than no Medes ever would.”
“Such as?”
Xenophon gave a short nod of agreement.
“Their freedom, of course.”
* * *
Median Battleship ‘Vairya’, Planet Larissa, Core Worlds
The deceleration sent the same grinding sound throughout the ship, but this time it sounded louder and much worse than before. The damage sustained during the destruction of the Terran cruiser has loosened sections of the vessel to such a degree that only the internal security fields were capable of keeping them together.
“Ten seconds, my Lord.”
The star field slowed and then stopped as the ship moved to its conventional speed and appeared in the Larissa System. One by one, the remainder of his ships moved in around him until his massed fleet of heavy warships were assembled and ready.
“Report,” he said in a measured tone.
Even as his officers checked their systems, he used his own displays to examine the scene of the space battle. The ships were scattered, and at first, he wasn’t completely sure what he was looking at. Instead, he checked on the location o
f the flagships, his nephew’s vessel; the Sraosha was in the middle of the field, along with a surprisingly small number of Lelegian ships. The Terrans were closer to the planet and spread out in three main divisions. He had to move to the far side to spot Ariaeus’ vast fleet drawn up in line of battle and a good distance from the Terrans. Flashes from the gun ports on most of the ships indicated the battle was still underway.
I knew he would let me down.
“My Lord,” said his latest Darbabad.
“The Terrans have sustained medium casualties and have withdrawn around their Titans. They appear to be leaving the field.”
“What?” he snapped back.
The last thing Tissaphernes wanted was for the Terrans to escape from his grasp. There was little chance the Emperor would grant him leave to pursue them throughout the Empire. Whatever he did, it had to be done here, and now. As he watched, he noticed a barrage of plasma being released from Ariaeus’ ship. It was fascinating to see them move at massive velocities through space. To his horror, they slammed into the bow of Sraosha in a bright blue blast. More of them struck, and some hit the Lelegians nearby.
Treachery!
He glanced to the Terran ships, noting they were keeping their distance from Ariaeus. Then the gun ports of the Titans lit up, and gunfire streaked out to hit the stern of Sraosha. It was only one volley, and the fleet continued to move away.
“Ariaeus!” he screamed so that his voice carried throughout the command deck.
The Darbabad stood trembling, terrified beyond words and unable to speak. Tissaphernes stepped out from his control centre and looked down at him. His jaw clenched tightly as he spoke.
“Track and destroy Ariaeus. He will pay for this.”
The Darbabad shook his head and dropped to one knee.
“My Lord, this entire sector is being jammed. We are unable to communicate with the rest of our forces here.”
Tissaphernes moved closely and struck him across the face with the back of his hand.
“You fool, use visual communications. Three thousand years ago we could do this with smoke and mirrors.”
He pointed in the direction of Ariaeus.
“We will deal with the Terrans later. Ariaeus must pay, and pay now!”
* * *
Median Battleship ‘Sraosha’, Larissa System, Core Worlds
A triple blast of plasma ripped into the dorsal gun batteries, triggering a series of explosions that tore a section the size of a frigate from the top of the battleship. Alarms sounded throughout the command deck, and those automatons that had been persuaded to stay at their posts began to panic. The impacts of heavy gunfire against the frontal armour of Sraosha proved devastating. For every impact, there was another breach, and more systems were knocked offline. The hits from the rear were far less serious, but even they were knocking down the shields faster than they could be fixed. Up on the highest level, Xenophon looked down at the consternation on the primary command deck and then returned to the black command section, now occupied by Lady Artemas.
“We can’t take much more of this. We’ll lose the ship before Tissaphernes can make a decision.”
If we lose this ship, then we will lose the battle and the entire Legion.
The responsibility to his people felt like a lead weight on his shoulders. It was a burden he would happily hand to somebody else. His plan was completely reliant upon swift action by Tissaphernes. The longer he delayed, the worse it would be for the Sraosha, and also increase the chances the Median commander would discover his true intentions.
Come on! Respond!
Xenophon watched the screen, as he stood right next to Artemas. They were so close in the confined section of the ship that their bodies touched. He felt his heart pounding away in his chest as he waited for his plan to come to fruition. The red indicators marked yet more sections of the ship that had opened up to damage. She looked at him with a worried expression.
“What if they are already in communication? It isn’t hard to bypass jamming at close range via line of sight.”
Xenophon’s lungs spasmed involuntarily and he gasped. The feeling was uncomfortable and nearly made him retch.
“It’s a possibility. We have to trust in their hatred more than their common sense.”
He tried to sound confident, but it was nothing more than a show, and Artemas could easily see that. Even so, she returned to the screen and redirected what energy remained to the shields in the most vulnerable parts of the ship.
“Ariaeus knows the weaknesses of this ship only too well. I would estimate we could take another minute, perhaps two, of this bombardment. Once he gets through to the lower decks, we are done.”
Xenophon looked at the screens and pointed to the less damaged underside of the battleship.
“Can’t we do a partial rotation to limit the exposure of our breaches?”
Artemas didn’t even need to consider the suggestion.
“No, our engines and manoeuvring thrusters are all gone. We’re dead in the water.”
Her words surprised him. The old expression was obviously irrelevant in space, but more importantly, it was a Terran turn of phrase, not something he would ever have expected a Medes noble to use.
“Xenophon?” asked a familiar voice on his communication node.
“Yes?”
“This is Chirisophus. My troops have just secured the shield generator rooms. You’ve got a big problem, though.”
Xenophon was having enough of a problem staying positive from the bombardment. An internal problem would be far more of an issue.
“What is it?”
“The coolant systems and transport couplings have been torn apart. If you keep the shields up for much longer, this entire section will vent into space.
And take half of the ship with it, he thought.
He looked to Artemas; she shook her head grimly.
“Engines are offline, generators are overheating, and the guns are gone.”
That’s it then.
“There’s nothing I can do down here. I am getting my troops back to our dromons and off this wreck before it blows. I suggest you do the same.”
There was no offer of help or even discussion. Chirisophus had his own loyal unit of Laconians, and he would do whatever he pleased; Xenophon had no doubt of that.
“Understood, I suggest you return to Valediction.”
There was no reply from Chirisophus, and it took a moment before Xenophon recalled that there had been some trouble on board the Titan. If he lived to see another day, he would be fascinated to see how Chirisophus had lost control of a Titan.
He turned his attention back to the massive space battle and more importantly, the array of uncommitted Median vessels. He could see the long line of fresh ships that had just arrived. They had repositioned alongside Ariaeus’ forces, and already their fleet was beginning to look like a single homogeneous force. More impacts hit Sraosha as they sat in their exposed position between the fleets of the Terrans and the Medes. He closed his eyes and reached out to Artemas, turning her to face him.
“What have I done?”
With the damage sustained, there were only two things left for them to do. Either stay on the ship as she burned, or head to the lifeboats and abandon her before it was too late. He knew the latter was the only real choice, but trying to escape while under bombardment was almost as suicidal as staying and taking your chances on a wrecked vessel.
As he thought over his poor selection of options, he noticed Artemas had said nothing. She had no plan or words of encouragement but simply pulled him to her and then stopped. He felt her breathing increase, and he immediately thought she must have been shot or injured in some way.
Have they boarded us?
He looked past her and saw the first exchange of gunfire between the ships of Tissaphernes and Ariaeus. It almost took his breath away to see the combined fleet of almost two hundreds ships tearing each other apart with heavy gunfire.
“Tissa
phernes has made his move,” she said gleefully and then pulled him to her lips.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Carian Battleship ‘Boubak’, Planet Larissa, Core Worlds
Darbabad Forouzandeh watched the final stage of the space battle unfold with nothing less than disappointment showing on her face. She had tried to make contact with Tissaphernes since her arrival, but he was blocking her transmissions as well as the rest of her division. Luckily, the rest of her group of warships remained in contact with her flagship. Twenty-two ships were now burning after a fight that had lasted little more than fifteen minutes. The bulk of casualties were those commanded by the unfortunate Ariaeus, and the same number again heavily damaged. She was pleased to see it was her own group of heavy battleships that had done the lion's share of the work. She watched as a triple volley of heavy cutters ripped through the last remaining shield of a cruiser and then burned right through its hull.
Beautiful.
“Bring us around for one more pass. And somebody get me through to Tissaphernes. I don’t care what it takes!”
Her officers did their best to attempt some degree of coordination with the rest of their ships. At short ranges they had made contact with focused laser transmitters, but Tissaphernes was either unwilling or unable to reply to the same.
That fool is obsessed with betrayal and scheming. It's more a judgement of his character than of anybody else. The first person usually to cry treason is usually the first one to think of it themself.
It was a throwaway thought, but as the fleet continued its bloody battle without any meaningful conversation between the groups of ships, she began to despair for her own kind. This wasn't the first space battle she'd been involved in where the commanders had completely ignored the reports from their own ships; she just hoped it didn't end the way these battles usually did. The only other option was that his own communications officers hadn't noticed their attempts to use the backup communications system, and that worried her even more.
“Darbabad, something is wrong!"
Black Legion: 04 - Last Stand Page 21