Tree of Liberty

by Wayne Basta

During the transit, Saracasi nervously drummed her fingers on the console before her. She forced herself to sit down and keep her hands still. They could be facing the entire Alliance fleet, or it could be a single ship. Until they knew, there was no sense worrying. Or at least, appearing to worry about it.

  “Multiple contacts,” Arzesaeth announced as the sensor data appeared on the tactical display. “Five—no, six contacts. Looks like an assault cruiser, two frigates, and three troop transports. There are also two drop ships being deployed to the surface.”

  Saracasi looked at the range to their target. There was no way they could intercept the Alliance fleet before those drop ships made it to the surface. They would have plenty of time to land and deploy their troops. On the plus side, if they were deploying troops, it meant that they hadn’t already wiped the colony out from orbit.

  Saracasi said, “Target those troop transports. I want three barrages of torpedoes.”

  Arzesaeth leaned in close to her. “Captain, we only have six torpedoes.”

  “We’re not going to win this with torpedoes, Lieutenant. Commence firing,” Saracasi replied. “Program the torpedoes to sync their intercept speeds.”

  The Union hadn’t been able to acquire much in the way of munitions. Torpedoes were deadly weapons that, unlike blaster bolts, could change course to pursue an enemy. They were great long-range engagement weapons. Unfortunately, they were also expensive and hard to come by. The ones she was using now had come from the frigate captured over Dantyne.

  Two torpedoes launched from the ship’s two forward launchers. They had several minutes of travel time to go to reach the troop transports. Saracasi waited, watching the clock. It took the automated reload systems more than two minutes to ready the next pair of torpedoes. But soon, they were following the first pair, and then the final set launched another two minutes after that.

  As the torpedoes drew closer to their targets, Audacious also moved closer to the Alliance ships. Positioned in a geosynchronous orbit over Lost Hope, the ships were relatively stationary compared to Audacious. However, once they detected the incoming torpedoes, they quickly changed that.

  “Looks like the troop transports are running, trying to get away from the torpedoes. And one of the frigates is moving to protect them,” Arzesaeth said, a grin on his face. “One less ship to deal with.”

  “For the moment,” Saracasi said.

  She felt satisfaction at the successful ploy but forced it down. This battle wouldn’t be won with tricks. It would soon come down to a slug fight between them and the three Alliance warships. Then she’d find out how good their shield really was.

  “Helm, alter course three zero mark one seven. I want to make that cruiser choose between us and the colony,” Saracasi ordered.

  Assault cruisers carried a large array of weapons, but most of them were arranged along one plane. That allowed them to fire a devastating barrage down at a planet, but it also meant that their underside was far less of a threat. She doubted she would be able to engage that weaker side, but at least if she couldn’t, the cruiser wouldn’t be able to fire on the colony at the same time.

  “Alliance fleet is firing torpedoes of their own,” Arzesaeth pointed out.

  “Now we get to see if the theory behind these shields holds up,” Saracasi said to herself. Then she spoke to her crew. “Point defense batteries, begin firing when in range.”

  One of the reasons torpedoes were so devastating was that when they detonated, they threw out a shaped charge consisting of several dense waves of high-velocity shrapnel. This dealt a lot of kinetic energy—more than most shields could withstand. It was the equivalent of being hit by dozens of kinetic rounds in a small area. Normal mass driver weapons could devastate small ships but could be absorbed by the shields of bigger ships. But not at the concentration delivered by a torpedo at close range.

  Two torpedoes came in at them. The frigate would not have enough time to fire a second batch before they were inside gun range. Point defense fire lanced out from Audacious and took out one of the torpedoes. At least they wouldn’t have to see what would happen when hit by two torpedoes at once.

  “All hands, brace for impact,” Saracasi said over the ship-wide speaker.

  A slight shudder in the floor proved to be the only immediate sign of impact. Saracasi had been expecting something more daunting. She looked to Arzesaeth for the damage report.

  “The shields absorbed the first wave and regenerated before the second and third waves hit. Only minimal hull damage. No systems offline,” Arzesaeth said with a smile. “Entering weapons range in three minutes.”

  Now Saracasi had to decide which target to hit first. Both the frigate and the cruiser outgunned Audacious. Greater shield capacity had come at the expense of weapons, giving them fewer than a standard frigate. She still had teeth—just not enough to split between two ships and still hope to penetrate their shields.

  “All weapons, concentrate on the frigate,” Saracasi decided. The cruiser was the bigger threat, but she could take out the frigate faster. The fewer things she had shooting at them, the better chance the shields had of holding up.

  “Frigate Two is engaging our torpedoes,” Arzesaeth said.

  Saracasi said nothing in reply. Even launched several minutes apart, the torpedoes had adjusted their speed so that all six came at the transports together. That made it harder for the frigate to try to shoot them all. For once, luck was on her side. Had they not already taken out this fleet’s corvette escort, the job would have been a lot easier for the Alliance.

  “Incoming fire,” Ops reported. “Shields holding.”

  “Helm, evasive maneuvers. Try to stay with the frigate but keep us a moving target for the cruiser,” Saracasi ordered.

  Saisee began shifting the ship’s course and rotation at random intervals. At their current range, even miniscule shifts would be enough to throw off the aim of the blaster shots. The Camari pilot proved good at anticipating when attacks would come in, moving just as the shots were fired.

  “Reading minimal damage on the frigate. We’re not penetrating her shields. She’s trying to maneuver to put us between herself and the cruiser,” Arzesaeth pointed out.

  “Exactly where we don’t want to be,” Saracasi said quietly. “Saisee, new course. Bring us in a tight loop around the cruiser. Keep us on the opposite side of her from the frigate. Keep us as close as necessary. Weapons, shift target to the cruiser.”

  Compared to the cruiser, Audacious was more maneuverable. If they could orbit the cruiser, Audacious could control their relative positions. That would only work for as long as the second frigate remained out of range, though, and it also made them an easier target for the cruiser.

  “Damage to shields increasing,” Arzesaeth said. “Regeneration keeping pace, but only barely. We’re going to start taking some hull damage.”

  “Yes, but so is that cruiser. All batteries, focus on taking out their weapons,” Saracasi said.

  The dance around the cruiser continued for several minutes. One lucky barrage hit them hard enough to break through the shields, disabling one of the point defense weapons. But they succeeded in doing much worse to the cruiser, taking out half her main battery. If they weren’t so vastly outgunned, Saracasi might have considered it a fair trade.

  Chapter Twenty

  Pacing around the small command center, Zeric continued to stare at the map of the city. Another Alliance drop ship had landed, deploying troops to another part of the town. Fortunately, that part of town was on the same side of the river as the others, allowing Zeric to keep his forces concentrated around protecting the bridges.

  Shortly after issuing the orders to move troops to intercept the new threat, Zeric found himself staring at the map of the city. The command post he occupied also housed the shield generator station. Since it wasn’t quite in the middle of the city, the shield bubble missed some areas. It was those unprotected areas that the Alliance now used to stage their assault.

&
nbsp; But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why.

  Initially, it had taken him a long time to get troops over there, due to the limited bridge crossings. And the urban fighting provided the Alliance a lot of cover as they advanced. However, on the opposite side from where they were deployed, a wide open field stood—what had once been the city’s equivalent of a starport. Areas of it had already been ruined by debris from destroyed transports and craters caused by the orbital bombardment, but drop ships could land there easily enough. Also, that would have placed them closer to the shield generator.

  He thought about the battle from the other side. How would he assault the city? A pure orbital bombardment would be safest, but against a shielded target, that could take a while. Landing troops meant casualties. It would also mean a quicker end, especially if the shield generator could be knocked out in the fight. So why were the Alliance troops massed on the wrong side of the river?

  Zeric let out a curse, this time out loud. Pendergra and the techs looked at him, surprised. He ignored them. “Call these units back. Expand the scout parties out. Have them fan out through the city to the edge of the shield. Lock this building down and put snipers on the roof.”

  “Sir?” Pendergra asked, confused by the sudden order.

  “That attack across the river is a feint. The Alliance is coming for the shield generator. Probably a special ops team,” Zeric explained.

  Pendergra dispatched the orders, and Zeric listened as scout teams spread out from the command center. Regular reports came in. No signs of any Alliance activity were seen.

  Zeric had just started to think he might have been mistaken when one of the teams stopped reporting in. When no response came from them on the comm, he felt sure he had been right. The last position they had reported from placed them only a few blocks away from the command center.

  Looking at the map of the city in that area, he zeroed in on one of the buildings: the recently expanded hospital. Most of Lost Hope stood no more than two or three stories high. At five stories, the hospital towered above everything else.

  “Dispatch two companies to the hospital,” Zeric said. “From there, the Alliance Spec Ops guys will have a clear line of sight to the shield generator.”

  “You want to have a fire fight in a hospital?” Pendergra asked, aghast.

  “It’s either that or the Alliance wipes us out from orbit,” Lei-mey interjected. “Isn’t that right, General?”

  Zeric glared at her but nodded. “Keeping the shield up is the most important priority. So far, most of their attacks have been against military targets, but that might change.”

  “Oh, it will,” Lei-mey said, her tone grave. “This colony isn’t on an Alliance world. Not even one in rebellion. As far as the laws of war go, we’re just an enemy. They won’t have the same moral objection to blasting us from orbit that they would when assaulting another world, like Enro or Dantyne.”

  Lei-mey’s comment sent a chill down Zeric’s spine. That probably also meant that the fight in the hospital would be more ugly than it had to be. Assuming the Alliance was even there. It was where he would be, anyway—go to the top floor, fire a missile, and then boom, done. Shield down.

  He itched to race out of the building to join the troops surrounding the hospital, but unlike his desire to go save his daughter, this was purely out of impatience. Though close, the hospital was still far enough away that by the time he got there, the situation would be over, one way or the other.

  While waiting, Zeric turned his attention to a commotion coming from the hall outside the command center. He briefly considered the possibility that the Alliance Spec Ops team had advanced further than expected and had infiltrated the building, but he was quickly reassured when the doors to the room were opened by a Union man.

  Through the doors came Ceta Darshawn. She looked disheveled and frightened. Relief washed over Zeric as he saw the small girl in her arms. Ciara was crying but alive.

  “Thank you, Gu’od,” Zeric said to the empty air. His friend hadn’t come with them, but then, that was Gu’od. He would have gotten Ciara out first but wouldn’t have left until all the civilians were free.

  Ceta ran into the room and over to Lei-mey. Zeric felt slightly dejected at that. But then, he hadn’t exactly been very close to Ceta.

  After giving them a moment, Zeric cautiously approached. He felt the desire to reach out and touch the little girl, to comfort her somehow. But if being in her mom’s arms wasn’t working, a strange man holding her certainly wouldn’t help.

  “I’m glad you’re OK,” he said to Ceta instead.

  Casting tear-streaked eyes at him, she gave him a small smile. “Thank you, Zeric. I don’t know if we would have made it across if it weren’t for Gu’od.” Fresh tears started to roll down her cheeks. “Gu’od. I’m so sorry, Zeric. He… he…”

  A lead weight suddenly appeared in the pit of Zeric’s stomach. Gu’od’s absence here hadn’t surprised him a moment before, but now it suddenly felt important. He grabbed Ceta’s shoulder frantically. “He what?!” Zeric shouted.

  Ceta said nothing, her panic returning at his jostling.

  He backed off, struggling to keep himself from shouting again.

  “Sir,” a quiet voice said beside him. Zeric turned to see Kumus standing there. With all that had happened lately, he hadn’t realized until now that he hadn’t seen the boy in quite some time. Not since Gu’od had left, in fact.

  As Kumus started to speak, Zeric felt himself clumsily falling down into a sitting position. “Sir, Master Sergeant Dos’redna died while escorting Ms. Darshawn away from the Alliance forces. He took out a team of soldiers cutting us off, but one of them got off a shot at him before he finished. It wasn’t fatal, but it did slow him down. He made me take these two—”

  A spark of hope surged in Zeric. “Then there’s still a chance he’s still alive!”

  Pain and regret crossed Kumus’s face as he shook his head. “No, sir. As we ran ahead, another team of soldiers came up from behind us. Gu’od… he… turned to confront them, using one of the downed soldiers’ rifles. They shot him, sir. He’s dead.”

  The despair Zeric felt flashed with anger. “You left him behind!”

  Kumus’s face dropped and his shoulders sagged even further. The boy wasn’t really even old enough to enlist, but he had served Zeric faithfully since Enro. Without orders, he, like Gu’od, had volunteered to go and try to protect Zeric’s daughter. But none of that mattered to Zeric at that moment. Gu’od was dead. The one person he always knew he could count on to be there would never be there again.

  “Now, wait a minute,” Lei-mey said. “Kumus risked his life for your daughter. I’m sure he did what was necessary.”

  “What was necessary?” Zeric growled. “No, that’s what I did. Because you told me to. I stayed here. It should be me dead out there! Not him!”

  “If you were dead, what would happen to the rest of us?” Lei-mey argued. “You’re the only one who saw the sneak attack coming. Without you, the shield would likely be down now.”

  “So what? My friend is dead. His child will grow up without a father.” Zeric cursed. “And it won’t matter anyway. This shield can’t withstand a sustained bombardment. Even if we stop that team, it won’t matter. We’re still dead. It will just take longer.”

  Lei-mey looked like she was about to continue arguing, but Zeric had had enough. “Get out. I don’t want to see you near here again.”

  When Lei-mey didn’t immediately move, he shouted again, “Go! You and Kumus. Get out!”

  Turning away from them, Zeric moved back to the tactical map. He had Alliance soldiers to kill.

  “The second frigate is now closing,” Arzesaeth said.

  Saracasi had lost track of that frigate and the transports during the fight. She expanded the tactical display. For a moment, she was confused when she couldn’t find the transports. Then she smiled. “Looks like our torpedoes got through,” she said, giving herself a secon
d to celebrate, and then moved on. “Helm, next loop, allow Frigate One to catch us and give a full burn toward them, keeping our engines angled away from the cruiser for as long as you can.”

  As the ship rotated around the cruiser, Saisee found an angle that put them pointing right at the first frigate but kept their engines away from the cruiser, safe from enemy fire. Then he launched the ship at the frigate. At the same time, all weapon batteries shifted their fire back to the frigate.

  The sudden shift in movement caught the frigate off guard, and it took several seconds for them to shift their fire. By that time, Audacious was practically on top of them. Once they had moved past the frigate, relative to the cruiser, Saracasi ordered a complete stop compared to the frigate. For a precious few seconds, they had an easy line of attack on the frigate and the cruiser could not fire on them without risking hitting the frigate.

  “We’ve disabled the shields!” Arzesaeth announced triumphantly.

  “Continue firing. Knock out their weapons and engines,” Saracasi ordered.

  The exchange of fire had been to Audacious’s advantage, since her shields were able to keep up with just the one frigate’s fire. But that advantage hadn’t lasted long. Now the cruiser could fire on them, and the second frigate would be in range in a matter of minutes.

  A sudden shudder went through the deck of the ship. Some of the weapons fire had penetrated through the shield before the barrier could be regenerated. For a moment, the vibration was severe enough Saracasi felt sure they had taken some damage. “Damage report,” she ordered.

  “We lost the second point defense battery,” Arzesaeth answered.

  They could live without that, Saracasi decided. They were too close for a torpedo engagement now, and cruisers didn’t carry any fighters.

  “Frigate One is disabled!” Ops shouted in triumph.

  Saracasi breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn’t last long. One frigate was out of the fight, but a fresh one was just about to enter the battle. They had damaged some of the cruiser’s weaponry, but that still left them far outgunned. Only one barrage had penetrated Audacious’s shields, but it had been enough to take out some of her weapons. The longer the fight went on, the more that would occur.