by Ryk Brown
“Incoming fire!” Cameron warned.
The Aurora began to shake violently, the left side of the view screen flashing, as their shields protected them from the incoming fire.
“She’s rolling too fast,” Cameron reported. “We’re losing the angle.”
“SilTek jump missiles! Coming up the other side of the battleship!” Kaylah warned.
“Point-defenses!” Nathan barked.
“Already on it!” Jessica assured him.
“I count six missiles!” Kaylah added.
“I’ve lost the angle,” Jessica warned. “Firing broadsides into their starboard shields!”
“Five still coming!” Kaylah warned.
“Two down!” Cameron announced. “Three! Four! Brace!”
“All hands, brace for impact!” Nathan ordered over the ship-wide intercom.
The last missile found the Aurora’s port midship shields; the explosion lurched the ship sideways and nearly knocked Nathan from his command chair.
“Another eight right behind them!” Kaylah announced.
“Christ!” Nathan exclaimed. “Someone tell them we’re on their side!”
“Ten seconds to impact!” Kaylah reported.
“We’re past the firing solution,” Jessica added.
“Get us out of here, Loki,” Nathan ordered.
“Activating escape jump,” Loki announced as the blue-white flash filled the bridge again.
“Jump complete,” Loki sighed.
“Naralena,” Nathan called.
“Try to hail SilTek on our next pass and suggest they hold their fire when we’re attacking?” she anticipated.
“That would be great,” Nathan confirmed.
“Coming about,” Josh reported.
“Straight attack on the second cruiser,” Nathan instructed. “We jump in five seconds behind our missiles.”
“Yes, sir,” Loki replied.
“Four of them?” Cameron asked.
“Yes, but spread them out before they jump, and set them to jump in at five hundred meters.”
“That won’t give them enough room to make final course corrections,” Cameron reminded him.
“It also won’t give the Dusahn enough time to intercept them,” Nathan replied. “I’d rather miss than have them blown away.”
“Either way is ineffective,” Jessica said, partly to herself.
“Finishing our turn,” Josh reported from the helm.
“Let’s pass under, this time,” Nathan decided. “Bring us out of the jump one kilometer aft, one down, and one off the target’s port side. Pitch, yaw, and roll so we come out of the jump with our nose on the target.”
“They’ll be smaller targets,” Jessica warned.
“But they’ve got fewer guns pointing aft,” Nathan added. “They’ll also be expecting us to attack the same side as the missiles.”
“On course for jump missile launch,” Loki reported.
“Launch another round of four, Cam,” Nathan instructed.
“Targeting data loaded,” Cameron replied. “Launching four.”
Four missiles streaked away on the main view screen.
“Missiles away.”
“Adjusting course,” Josh announced.
“Jump plotted and ready,” Loki added.
“Missiles will jump in fifteen seconds,” Cameron reported. “Executing final course adjustments for target intercept.”
“Make sure you get that message to SilTek,” Nathan urged.
“On course and speed for attack jump two,” Josh announced. “Pitching up and to port,” he added, twisting his control stick counterclockwise, pulling back slightly, and tipping it to the right a bit to add some roll.
“Five seconds,” Cameron reported.
“All weapons are pre-aimed and ready,” Jessica announced. “Broadsides are set for full-power triplets. We should have time for a single round at each target as we pass.”
“Assuming we can linger that long,” Cameron added.
“Ready to rip,” Josh reported as he finished his yaw and pitch maneuver.
Four blue flashes appeared in the distance on the main view screen.
“Missiles have jumped,” Cameron reported.
“Weapons hot, execute jump,” Nathan ordered.
The blue-white flash washed over them, and, again, the Aurora was back in orbit over SilTek, this time passing the second Dusahn cruiser, slightly below and from its port to starboard.
“Firing all forward torpedoes,” Jessica announced.
“Sending burst transmission,” Naralena added.
“Cruiser Two has no port shields!” Kaylah reported.
“I have an idea,” Josh said, nearly cutting her off. “I need a hot stick, though.”
“SilTek Defense, this is the Aurora…” Naralena called over comms from the back of the bridge.
Nathan didn’t hesitate. As crazy as his friend could be at times, he was a gifted pilot, and the AI assisting him only made him better. “Jess, make his stick hot.”
“…Do not target us…”
“Your stick is hot, Josh,” Jessica announced. “Don’t miss.”
“…We are trying to defend you…” Naralena continued.
“You just be ready on all your other guns,” Josh replied as he pushed the main throttles forward.
Nathan’s eyes widened as the cruiser on the main view screen grew closer, passing from right to left. The cruiser slid up the screen slightly, then back down as Josh pitched the Aurora up while they closed on the cruiser.
“…I repeat, do not target us…”
“Firing,” Josh reported, pressing the firing button on his flight control stick. Four sets of triplets leapt from under their nose, slamming into the port ventral aspect of the cruiser’s hull, ripping it open. Secondary explosions deep within its hull spread fore and aft, breaking it up further.
“More missiles from the surface!” Kaylah warned. “Twenty seconds to impact!”
“Firing point-defenses!” Jessica announced.
“I need full power to all forward and dorsal shields!” Josh demanded as he translated the ship upward, pitching back down as the ship rose.
“You got it,” Cameron assured Josh.
The view screen flashed brightly as thousands of bits of debris from the doomed cruiser impacted the Aurora’s dorsal shields.
“Are they hearing us?” Nathan barked.
“I’m transmitting on every known channel and frequency,” Naralena assured him.
Undaunted, Josh held his course, plowing through the debris, rocking the entire ship in the process.
“I’m about to give you a clear shot,” Josh announced.
“This was your great idea?” Cameron asked.
“I never said it was great,” Josh defended.
“Target the second battleship with four jump missiles, set to jump as soon as they are away, and come out five hundred meters from target,” Nathan ordered.
“I already am,” Cameron assured him.
Suddenly, they were through the debris with a clear shot at the second battleship.
“Dial up a one-hundred-kilometer jump for me, Lok,” Josh urged.
Loki glanced over his shoulder at Nathan.
“You heard the man,” Nathan said.
“You got it,” Loki replied.
“Missiles rea…” Cameron began to announce.
“Launch four!” Nathan ordered before the words left her mouth.
“Firing!” Cameron replied, pressing the launch button. “Four away!”
The view screen lit up as two jump missiles on each side of the Aurora’s bow vanished behind blue-white flashes of light. A split second later, four flashes of light appeared ahead of them in the distance, followed imm
ediately by four brilliant yellow flashes as they impacted the second battleship’s shields.
Josh pulled back slightly on his flight control stick, pitching the Aurora up to get a clear jump line. He pushed the throttles for the main engines all the way forward, then reversed them back to zero thrust, pushing his stick back hard, swinging their nose back down quickly.
“Missile launch!” Kaylah warned. “Eight jump missiles…”
“Josh…” Nathan started to say.
“Jump us!” Josh ordered Loki.
Loki pressed the jump button, sending the Aurora ahead, instantly transitioning to a point beyond the incoming missiles, the battleship that had fired them, and the other battleship they had already damaged on their first pass.
Josh held his stick back, waiting until the very last second to push it forward and apply counterthrust to stop their pitch-down maneuver. He glanced at the targeting reticle on the clear screen, on the front edge of his console, adjusting the ship’s attitude until the piper in the center turned green. “Firing!” Josh announced, pressing his firing button again and holding it.
Three waves of four triplets streaked away from under the Aurora’s nose, resulting in brilliant flashes of red as they struck the first battleship’s shields.
“More missiles!” Kaylah warned. “From all three ships and the surface!”
“Escape jump!” Nathan ordered.
“Wait!” Josh exclaimed.
Loki ignored his helmsman, following his captain’s orders, and executed the escape jump, getting the Aurora out of the path of countless jump missiles.
“Damn it!” Josh cursed. “I almost had that son of a bitch!”
“Couldn’t risk it,” Nathan told him, “but it was a great maneuver.”
“If it makes you feel any better, you did drain their shields down to five percent,” Kaylah consoled.
“Not really,” Josh replied.
“Jump us to the rally point,” Nathan instructed.
“Aye, sir,” Loki replied.
“Load another four,” Nathan instructed Cameron. “Same arrival range as before. Target the other cruiser.”
“Turn complete,” Josh announced.
“Targeting now,” Cameron replied.
“You don’t really expect them to be there, do you?” Jessica wondered.
“Not really,” Nathan admitted as the jump flash washed over them. “But we have to try.”
“We’re at the rally point,” Loki announced.
“Scanning,” Kaylah added.
“We won’t be able to keep this attack up for more than a few more passes,” Cameron warned, “not unless we take out one of those battleships, and soon.”
“How are our shields holding up?” Nathan wondered.
“After two passes, most of our shields are down to about sixty percent, on average,” Cameron replied.
“They’ve dropped that much?” Nathan said in disbelief.
“Don’t forget, we’re still diverting a lot of power to recharging our jump energy banks, in case we need to jump back to an allied system sometime soon.”
“What if we alternate power usage?” Nathan suggested. “We could channel everything to shields during our attack runs and then to the jump energy banks during transitions.”
“The net result is pretty much the same,” Cameron explained.
Nathan sighed. “Anything?” he asked Kaylah.
“No contacts within five hundred thousand kilometers,” Kaylah replied.
“We’re on course for the next attack run, Cap’n,” Josh reported.
“Jump is ready,” Loki added.
“Very well,” Nathan replied. “Launch the next round of missiles,” he instructed.
“Launching four,” Cameron reported as she launched the next group of jump missiles. “Missiles away.”
Nathan waited until the missiles jumped away and then gave the order. “Take us in again, Loki.”
“Jumping.”
Nathan’s brow furrowed as the jump flash subsided. “Where’s the cruiser?” he queried, seeing nothing but a black, starry field and a sliver of the planet’s horizon along the bottom edge of their view screen.
“Cruiser is beneath us!” Kaylah warned. “Twenty kilometers! They’re closing ranks!”
“What about our missiles?” Nathan wondered.
“Still running hot and true,” Kaylah replied. “They missed, sir,” she added, turning to look at the captain, “all four of them.”
“Roll one-eighty,” Nathan ordered.
“Flippin’ over,” Josh replied.
“What about our torpedoes?” Jessica questioned.
“No time,” Nathan insisted. “Hit them with turrets and broadsides as we pass.”
“They must have begun closing ranks the moment we jumped out,” Jessica noted as she assigned the cruiser as a target for the Aurora’s plasma cannon turrets.
“Damn it!” Nathan cursed, momentarily losing his composure.
“Even if we’d jumped them in at normal range, they still would have missed,” Cameron assured him.
“More missiles from the surface,” Kaylah added.
“Are we still hailing them?” Nathan asked Naralena.
“I have the message on a loop broadcast,” she replied.
“Battleship Two is climbing,” Kaylah announced. “Cruiser One is descending.”
“They’re trying to get more guns on us,” Cameron surmised.
“We’re being targeted by multiple guns,” Jessica warned.
“Surface missiles are altering course!” Kaylah realized. “They’re targeting the battleships!”
“Firing all weapons on the cruiser,” Jessica reported.
“All three targets are firing,” Kaylah warned.
The ship began to shake violently as multiple streams of energy weapons fire impacted their dorsal and port shields.
“Shield strength is falling,” Jessica warned. “Firing broadsides.”
“Four new contacts,” Kaylah announced. “Unknown type. Based on size, I’d call them fighters.”
A computer-generated profile appeared in a window on the main view screen.
“That’s them!” Dylan exclaimed, pointing at the screen. “Those are P-Seventy-Two Lightnings!”
“See if you can raise them,” Nathan instructed Naralena.
“Aye, sir.”
“Cruiser’s port shields are gone,” Kaylah reported.
“Target their port side and hit them with…”
“Contacts are attacking the cruiser!” Kaylah interrupted. “They’re in our firing line!”
“Belay last!” Nathan barked. “Hold fire!”
“Holding all fire,” Jessica replied.
“One of the contacts has been destroyed,” Kaylah reported.
“We can’t just sit here and get pounded without shooting back,” Jessica insisted.
“Target Battleship One and open fire,” Nathan suggested.
“I’m losing the angle on Battleship One,” Jessica warned.
“Comms, tell Subvert to disengage and jump to the rally point!” Nathan instructed.
“Another one is gone!” Kaylah reported. “Their shields suck!”
“Dorsal shields are down to thirty percent,” Cameron warned. “Starboard average is at thirty-eight.”
“Lightnings have jumped away,” Kaylah reported with relief.
“Retarget that cruiser,” Nathan began.
“Cruiser is rolling, bringing her good shields toward us,” Kaylah added.
“We can dive under them,” Josh suggested.
“Negative,” Nathan replied with a sigh. “Jump us clear, and then jump us to the rally point.”
“Aye, sir,” Loki replied as he pressed the jump button.
<
br /> “The Lightnings were not headed for the rally point when they jumped,” Kaylah told him as their jump flash washed over the bridge.
“Neither were we,” Nathan replied.
“Jump complete,” Loki reported.
“Turning toward the rally point,” Josh added.
“Your friends aren’t terribly bright,” Jessica told Dylan.
“I never said they were my friends,” Dylan defended, “and I’m pretty sure they were just trying to defend our world.”
“By attacking a much stronger enemy with insufficient firepower?” Jessica retorted. “That’s not brave, it’s stupid.”
“Easy, Jess,” Nathan said, feeling sympathy for Dylan. “What I don’t understand is why SilTek isn’t making more headway defending themselves. Surely they must have more than enough jump missiles. Launch enough of them, and you’ll bring down their shields, even on the battleships.”
“Turn complete,” Josh reported.
“Jumping to the rally point,” Loki added.
“We don’t keep a large inventory of missiles,” Dylan explained as the jump flash washed over the bridge. “No one with this kind of firepower has ever attacked us before.”
“I’m afraid those days are over,” Nathan replied, turning to Kaylah. “Anything?”
“Negative,” Kaylah answered. “No contacts within five hundred thousand kilometers.”
“Comms, drop a buoy with instructions for Subvert. Tell them to remain here until we return with instructions.”
“Aye, sir,” Naralena replied.
“We’ll jump back and finish off the cruiser, then return to the rally point,” Nathan added.
“Comm-buoy away,” Naralena reported.
“Attack jump on the cruiser plotted and ready,” Loki reported.
“Weapons ready,” Jessica added.
“Let’s make this quick,” Nathan instructed. “Execute your jump.”
“Jumping,” Loki replied as the jump flash washed over the bridge.
“They’ve reversed their altitudes!” Kaylah reported urgently.
“Helm, pull up hard forty degrees,” Nathan ordered. “All power to ventral shields.”
“Pulling up hard,” Josh acknowledged.
“Transferring all available power to ventral shields,” Cameron confirmed.