The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3)

by Kocho Trajchevski

  The Macassi nodded.

  “And both my men and the humans will help in that. They will create a diversion that will allow us to slip out silently in the confusion.”

  “Many will die Maruk.”

  “We are all already dead. It is only a matter of time. Would you rather die fighting or lying in your bed, as a slave?”

  “You know where we stand on that.”

  As he was speaking, Azogas looked at the rest of his men. He could see the signs of starvation and malnutrition on their faces. Many were already on their way to the afterlife. They just didn’t know it.

  Maruk looked at them as well.

  He knew that they had to move soon if they wanted to have any chance of escaping.

  He and his men, all of them knew the coordinates to the Lacarian home worlds. They promised the Zerg a chance for freedom if they helped them. Not many but even if few of them made it that was a chance his race had to take.

  Maruk didn’t know how many of the Zerg remained but he doubted that there were many. In the opening stages of the war the Alliance stumbled on several of the systems were the Zerg and the Empire fought. What he knew of that finding chilled him to the bone. The worlds were utter ruins, and so were the systems, with scattered debris of destroyed orbital platforms and space stations and ships, thousands of ships.

  Down on the worlds you could still see the ruins, and the skeletons of the dead Zerg and Dacarians. It seemed that even in death they were still fighting. He knew that the war the Alliance was fighting, and losing, was nothing compared with that one.

  That was a total war, a war in which the loser lost everything. As he looked at the Zerg he knew that they were a species that was standing on the brink. In few decades at most they would be gone. Dead, and most likely forgotten.

  Even if they could save few it was a noble thing to do. As he remembered the humans he smiled. It was a human thing. He wondered were that thought came from.

  “We’ll take as many as we can from your people. My advice, prepare the young ones.”

  Azogas nodded.

  “They’ll be ready.”

  He watched the strange looking creature as he and his men were carrying the loaded containers on the grav sleds.

  Mosk, that was his name, was a Carreran. His race was one of the races that were vassal races to the Dacarians. He noticed the humans that were also working here looking at him as well. He wondered how he must look to them. The Carrerans were a strange species. They were almost two meters tall, with a tin body covered with black fur. The race had three eyes and they only came in three colors blue, gray and green. And they were all different. They had two strong legs, four arms with strong muscles and a small armored tail. The head was like a wasp, with two mandibles and two antennas.

  The Macassi said that they were strong warriors, very cunning and fast. He didn’t know them but he trusted Maruk. He knew that his own race probably fought them but that was a war that was over long before he was born. There were several of the creatures supervising the loading. About twenty legionaries were on guard duty here.

  Mosk promised that he would help them. He didn’t know why the creature wanted to help them. They were usually indifferent to the suffering of the slaves. In fact on one of the stations the Carrerans were the ones that destroyed the rebel cell.

  The humans said that the creature had a reason for doing this but they didn’t elaborate. And he didn’t ask.

  He chose the youngest from both sexes to work now. They were also the healthiest. He knew that they might fail but if they succeeded those were the ones that had the greatest chance to manage to form a community.

  Mosk watched the legionaries as they talked. His race was one that was loyal to them. He even fought against the Lacarians before being assigned here. It was rare for someone like him to betray the Empire so he knew that they wouldn’t expect it.

  As he watched them he noticed one of them looking at him and nodding.

  There was a time when he would have considered them friends. But as he watched them now all he felt was hatred. It was just few months since he returned to duty. He still remembered the day he was wounded. And the squad mates he lost. People he knew for years burned to crisp by the legionaries. They were dead because they didn’t want to risk one of their precious shuttles.

  He didn’t know how he survived. But he did know who was to blame.

  He knew what the slaves were planning. He disabled the locks on the two haulers with the help of the four members of his own clan. They managed to sneak several tools and weapons among the slaves. He knew that soon they will create a diversion.

  He looked at the chamber with the control room. Two dacarians were standing inside monitoring everything. He knew that in case of a riot they would went the atmosphere from the bay. It would kill everyone here and probably in the first two levels but would protect the slaves from escaping. There were hundreds of dacarians on the asteroid. Most of them were soldiers, but there were also engineers, several medics and other personal. Their barracks were well protected in that event with blast doors that would seal them inside until the atmosphere is restored and the hangar bay is closed.

  And if the rebellion had any chance of succeeding he knew that he would have to disable them before they activate the controls.

  He looked at the others and took a short glance at one of the humans. He knew that the human understood the look.

  He started walking towards the chamber. Several of the legionaries looked at him but dismissed him. He was limping on his right leg. It was the reason he was here and not the front lines. That leg was no good. Not anymore. He didn’t have any weapons on him, except the ones nature equipped him with. His race had two arms each with a hand with three fingers and a claw, a very sharp claw that could be extended ten centimeters in case of danger. Two of his claws were broken and still not fully grown. But he still had two and they were enough. His race was a race granted with incredible speed, speed that only few races could match. The dacarians were not among those races even though their reactions were fast and they were tough to kill.

  None of them paid him any heed as he turned towards the chamber. Not even the two legionaries. It was something he did every day, to deliver his report. He carried the pad in his left arm.

  As he came the door automatically hissed open.

  One of the legionaries turned and looked at him.

  He stepped inside the room and heard the door closing behind him.

  As the legionary extended his hand to take the pad he stepped one step closer in to striking range to both of them.

  They didn’t notice the danger, not before it was too late.

  What happened next lasted only several seconds.

  As the legionary touched the pad, Mosk extended his claws. The legionary’s eyes widened in that last moment when he realized that he was dead. He tried to block the blow and to yell but got no chance. A fast strike tore his throat, black blood spreading everywhere. The second one didn’t even manage that as Mosk stabbed him in the neck bypassing his armor a second later.

  As he moved to disable the controls and lock the other dacarians the rest of the legionaries now noticing what he did reacted fast. Several started running towards him shooting and reporting. He noticed on the feeds that the slaves they armored attacked the guards there. The distraction was enough to draw the attention of most of the guards that were on station deeper in the asteroid base.

  Before they could turn he sealed them off and locked the rest in their cabins and barracks. Outside his companions opened fire on the dacarians and as the rest of his people saw them they joined. The dacarians reacted fast returning fire.

  He used the time they bought him to destroy the video feed and kill the communications so that no one would notice.

  Outside as soon as the Carrerans started fighting with the dacarians the slaves started yelling.

  Two of the Carrerans headed their way and gave them the control pad that unlocked their el
ectric chains. As soon as the humans were free most of them attacked the dacarians. One helped him and the rest of the slaves.

  The Sicarians and the Macassi joined the humans as soon as they were free.

  He and several of the other Zerg went towards the haulers.

  By the time he reached them the fight was over.

  The bay was littered with dead, most of them slaves. Of the thirty so Carrerans only five were alive.

  He knew that they didn’t have much time.

  He looked at Maruk who approached. Mosk was walking with him.

  “We don’t have much time before the dacarians react. The ones from the main bay are probably already headed this way.”

  Maruk and Azogas looked at Mosk.

  “Thank you.”

  The Carreran looked at the dead bodies and then at them.

  “There is no need to thank me. I didn’t do this for you. You must leave now.”

  After this he turned.

  He looked at the younger ones.

  “Oras take them in your hauler, all except Musa and his family.”

  His second in command nodded.

  Moments later he was joined by four of the Macassi and two of the Sicarians.

  The hauler they took was larger.

  He looked at the group of humans. They didn’t move.

  “Go. You must board now. We don’t have time.”

  Two of the younger humans a man and a female stepped forward. An older man joined them.

  “Only these two will join you.”

  Before he could ask why he noticed the humans bringing a second group of his people. They were all young ones an equal number of males and females.

  He looked at the human.

  “Thank you.”

  “No need. I hope they all survive. We all pray for that Azogas. We will give our lives gladly if that means your species survives.”

  Azogas nodded and turned. He went for the second shuttle. The rest of his and Maruk’s men followed him. Ganak joined them.

  As they took their seats inside the hauler the bay doors started opening. He knew that Mosk was operating them.

  As the doors opened the haulers exited in the outside hangar. Behind them Mosk closed the blast doors and deactivated the force field.

  The two haulers launched at ones.

  They were slow, but they had hyper drive. He knew that the journey would be long and slow but they packed enough supplies to last them long enough to reach were they were headed.

  He only prayed that they will manage to go unnoticed long enough to reach the zone where they could open a hyper window. The computer told him that the haulers will need 18 hours to reach that point.

  Behind him two more haulers launched and a moment later they received a message that there are forty more Zerg and other slaves on board. The haulers were not prepped like these two and he knew that they meant to protect them when the time came.

  He looked at Maruk.

  It was going to be long 18 hours.

  And behind them he knew that the patrol ships in the system will be reacting soon.

  Jennings came to the bridge as soon as he received the call from Aria.

  As he entered he noticed that everyone was already in place, everyone was manning their stations. He sat on the command chair and looked at the Aria.

  As he looked at her thoughts were flashing through his head. The ship was slowly moving away from the system drifting silently for the pas ten days. They were close to the coordinates Aria chose for opening a hyper window that will go unnoticed. But her call sounded urgent.

  “What’s wrong Aria?”

  “We have several contacts approaching sir, six to be more exact.”

  Jennings looked at the strained faces of his bridge officers. They were all concentrated, but he could see they were tired. He was to. The ship was on alert for the past ten days and that took its toil.

  “Are they coming after us?”

  “No sir, it seems that we found our self in an old fashioned chase.”

  Before he could ask the screen activated showing the ships in question.

  “It seems we have 4 haulers, two of them heavily armored trying to reach a safe distance in which they can open a hyper space window. And we have two ships, definitely dacarian frigates, both older designs, chasing them.”

  “Can they detect us?”

  “Not yet, but there is no way we can avoid that. They are moving to fast and we’ll have to go active in order to do that. The moment we do that they will know we are here.”

  “Damn.”

  Jennings looked at the screen and felt his guts tighten in a knot. He knew that there was no way out of this without a fight. And that was something that they didn’t need. Not now. His thoughts started racing, checking through ideas, dismissing most of them but he knew that there was a way in which they could remain hidden long enough to deliver a killing stroke.

  “Aria I want you to sound red alert. Power the weapons. But don’t go active. How far are they and when will they be able to detect us?”

  “Yes sir.”

  A moment later the alert sounded. He knew that the crew will start heading for their stations. The months of constant drills will now be put on a test. Yet he could see that they were ready. They were young, they were nervous, but they were ready, determined to do their duty. He knew he had a great crew. Now it was up to him to keep them alive. He could feel the pressure but he knew that he was ready.

  “They are not searching for us, and our stealth systems are strong enough to keep us hidden until they reach a distance of 500 km. After that we will have to move to avoid collision and open fire.”

  He nodded as he took a breath. That would be a knife distance. He knew that a hit from that distance will be a killing stroke. Even if the frigates have their shields at full power. The Excelsior was a ship designed with that in mind. Its weapons were powerful enough to take on much stronger ships.

  He activated the com system.

  “This is the captain speaking. As most of you already know we have ships headed our way. They are not after us but they will detect us soon so we must try and destroy them to keep our mission secret. For many of you this will be your first battle. I know it is scary and hard but you are a great crew. The best I had a chance to command. You proved that time and again in the past months. This is just another test nothing more. We all know our mission, and our duty. This is what we trained for. Be brave and have faith in yourself, in your shipmates and in this ship. It will not fail you.”

  He finished the speech and smiled as he noticed the stronger determination on the faces of the bridge officers.

  Aria smiled at him and nodded. He returned it and then looked at the screen.

  “Can you tell me what is happening out there?”

  “From what I can see on the passive sensors it seems that three of the haulers are trying to protect this one.”

  As she said that one of the ships was pointed on the screen.

  “They are using lasers and firing them on the frigates, but with little effect.”

  “How long do we have?”

  “At the speed they are using we have three minutes sir.”

  Jennings looked at the time and nodded. There was nothing he could do but wait.

  Azogas looked at the faces of the others as the hauler rocked from another hit. They hopped to have more time but the frigates noticed them and gave chaise four hours ago. They were finally in firing range and were trying to disable them.

  “We won’t be able to hold up for long.”

  Maruk looked at him.

  “I know. Only one of us needs to really escape. Mosk and his hauler carry the most important cargo my friend. We need to buy them time”

  Azogas nodded.

  “Yes we have to do that.”

  As he said that he looked at the faces of the other people on the hauler. They all agreed. He could read it on their faces. They knew that they will die and yet they were all prepa
red to do what they could to help that one ship escape, to give that small flicker of hope he felt a boost, a hope that his race will get a second chance. He felt his eyes fill with tears.

  He felt a hand on his shoulder. As he turned he noticed that it was the human.

  “Thank you Lugo. Thank you all.”

  He didn’t get an answer just nods but he knew that they would do what was needed.

  Maruk looked at him.

  “They destroyed one of the haulers and damaged the other. I’m slowing us down.”

  They all felt as the hauler slowed.

  Mosk and his hauler raced ahead.

  Behind them the other hauler was hit again and for a moment it lost control. The first dacarian frigate raced past it firing one more shot that hauled the ship.

  Artas watched as his ship passed the first hauler. He knew that its engines are damaged and that it can’t escape. It was time to catch the others.

  He turned to his communications officer.

  Contact the Himarua and tell Goraz to destroy their engines I want them alive. His officer nodded and gave the message.

  But as he did he noticed his sensor officer turn with an alarm.

  “What?”

  “The hauler is increasing speed sir. It will ram the Himarua.”

  “Destroy it.”

  As the hauler went straight towards the Himarua both frigates opened up with their weapons. Multiple hits hit the ship blowing huge holes but failed to stop him. The ores and metals that were loaded on it proved useful absorbing the hits and preventing them from destroying the critical systems. One of the last shots hauled the reactor and the ship lost its engines but it continued on inertia. By the time it struck the frigate the ship was a burning piece of metal, all its crew dead. But they did their duty.

  The frigate fired all it had and tried to slip past them. But all it managed was to present its top side. As the hauler hit it its shields flared white and then collapsed. The sections were the hauler struck exploded in fragments. Debris exploded outwards as the inner decks were opened to vacuum. Bodies of dead legionaries and crew of the ship flew outward.

  The ship continued its course but far slower.