Ixan Legacy Box Set

by Scott Bartlett

  “Yes, sir.”

  Most of the Vesta’s Air Group deployed from launch tubes, with orders to randomize their movements until the optimal moment.

  Minutes later, when the Progenitor force attacked the Gok ships, just as Ek had predicted, the hundreds of Pythons converged like a fist clenching. The sudden movement helped mask Ayam’s squadron, which had dropped into subspace only to pop back into reality to hit a carrier with an alpha strike, taking out its main engine.

  Then, as the rest of the Air Group closed with the enemy, so did the dozens of Gorgons Tremaine had found the space to fire. Six ships went up in flames, and when the Gok ships realized what was happening and joined their power to the Vesta’s, more began to fall.

  The Progenitors managed to strike back some, taking out two of the Gok ships and eleven Pythons. Husher was loathe to take any losses, but he had to admit it was an incredible trade. Clearly reluctant to continue the exchange, the remaining enemy ships transitioned out of the dimension, relinquishing their position.

  “There,” Ek said, indicating a point on the battlespace a few light seconds away. “If we can reach that space within three minutes, we will be in position to hit a battle group of six Progenitor ships who will believe themselves safe. For self-preservation, we will have to strike and then transition out immediately.”

  “Noni?” Husher said. “Can we make it there in three minutes?”

  “I can try, Captain, with a reasonable expectation of success. Our mapping of the multiverse is limited, but based on Ochrim’s calculations, I—”

  “Just do it. If we take too long to reach it, we’ll find something else to target once we get there.”

  “What about the Air Group, sir?” Tremaine said.

  “We’re leaving them here for now. Transition out, Chief Noni.”

  As it turned out, they reached the position Ek had designated in two minutes and forty-seven seconds. Husher had Tremaine unleash a massive missile barrage, complete with Banshees, Hydras, and Gorgons. The Progenitors launched Ravagers to help with missile defense, but Husher had calculated his barrage to be overwhelming. Two ships went down before the Vesta transitioned out, and when they returned to the universe less than five minutes later, sensors confirmed that he’d calculated correctly: there was no trace of the four remaining ships they’d targeted. Either they’d been destroyed or they’d transitioned out.

  So it went, for a time: the Vesta flitting in and out of her native reality, exploiting vulnerabilities in the enemy’s positioning. The Progenitor’s numbers were great, but no ship in the battlespace rivaled the Vesta. Husher wedded his tactical knowhow to Ek’s advanced perception, and in doing so they ensured the supercarrier did real work wherever it appeared.

  The Secret Service of lifeboats-turned-warships were also making outsized contributions. It seemed the battle for Home had granted Winterton an opportunity to fulfill his vast potential, and managing several data streams produced by the Vesta’s sensor suite, he observed and analyzed the battlespace with a skill that rivaled Ek’s. He reported on the Secret Service’s activities whenever one of their ships reappeared. “Captain Okane just played a large role in disrupting a Progenitor assault on the Eos’ formation, sir,” Winterton said at one point, and moments later he reported that Captain Deeley, another Secret Service captain, had single-handedly taken out three destroyers.

  Despite these successes, and despite that the Progenitors were losing ships at a faster rate then the allied fleet, they weren’t losing them fast enough.

  Especially not if they’ve kept ships in reserve. If that was the case, the allies seemed doomed.

  Even so, they fought on.

  Without warning, a destroyer appeared directly in front of the Vesta, followed by a cohort of eleven more warships of the same make.

  All twelve hit the Vesta with particle beams.

  “Transition out, Noni!” Husher barked.

  The Nav officer did—just in time, as Winterton confirmed: “They almost had us, sir.”

  “That first ship to appear,” Husher said. “That was Teth’s, wasn’t it?”

  Winterton gave a grim nod. “Aye.”

  “Noni, take us directly behind that formation, and Tremaine, be ready to hit them with everything.”

  “It will take nearly eight minutes for us to return to that location, sir,” the Nav officer said.

  Husher cursed under his breath. “Can’t we just transition back the way we came?”

  “I’m afraid the multiverse doesn’t work like that.”

  Eight minutes proved too long: when they reappeared, Teth and his destroyers were gone from their previous position.

  “Watch out carefully for Teth’s destroyer, Winterton,” Husher growled. “I want to take every opportunity to kill him that presents itself.”

  “Aye, sir,” the ensign said, though he was staring hard at his console. “Sir, it appears the Brotherhood has entered the system. Thirty ships with profiles matching those that turned to their side recently transitioned through the darkgate, and they’ve been joined by an escort of hundreds of Progenitor ships.”

  Husher frowned. He had no idea why the Progenitors would prioritize the Brotherhood ships like that, but it couldn’t be good. Either way, with so many ships protecting them, he couldn’t see a way to attack the former IGF ships without losing his own ship in the process.

  Chapter 49

  Snapped in Half

  “Help me anticipate Teth’s targets,” Husher said to his Fin XO. “Neutralizing him could cut the enemy’s morale in half.”

  Ek nodded. “I expect his skill is greatest among the enemy captains. As such, he will pursue important targets, but only ones not surrounded by too many defending ships. I have identified three targets that meet those criteria, given the battlespace’s current configuration.”

  “What are they?”

  “The sparsely defended underside of an orbital defense platform—though I doubt he will pressure it, since the situation over the planet is fluid enough that Teth may find himself under more threat than anticipated, which I am sure he will account for. The Ceres’ Air Group has been thinned enough that she offers a likely target for Teth, provided he gets in and out before the destroyers and cruisers encircling her can act. Finally, a Gok battle group of thirteen assorted warships has isolated itself from allies, and Teth will know he and his destroyers can overwhelm them handily by taking them from behind.”

  Husher frowned at the overlay he shared with Ek, which highlighted the three targets she’d indicated. The Gok have had a tendency to operate on their own throughout the battle, to their own detriment. But would Teth bother to target them? “I think we should count on Teth wanting to take down the bigger target,” he said at last. “He’ll go for the Ceres. At least, I think he will. Let’s roll the dice. Noni, take us inside the formation protecting the Ceres.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Noni said, and an instant later, the Vesta left the Milky Way once again.

  When they returned four minutes and twenty-nine seconds later, just where he’d ordered Noni to put them, Teth wasn’t there.

  Winterton looked up from his console, not quite concealing his frustration. “Teth chose to target the Gok ships, Captain,” he said. “He and his destroyers have almost neutralized the entire battle group.” Winterton’s gaze fell to the console, then flicked back toward Husher. A fearful expression had replaced the hints of frustration that tightened his features before. “Sir, the Ceres is speeding toward us—as though she means to ram us!”

  Husher narrowed his eyes. “Helm, full reverse thrust, and Coms, contact Captain Riggs and ask what he’s doing. Once you’ve done that, make sure the destroyer and cruiser captains behind us are aware of what’s happening. They may have to get out of the way, too.”

  “She’s gaining on us, Captain,” Winterton said. “She has a full head of steam.”

  And we’re starting up from a complete stop. “Noni, standby to transition out on my mark.”
<
br />   “Aye.”

  “Sir,” Winterton said, his voice hitching with something that sounded very close to panic. “The other four capital starships are also behaving erratically. They’re all traveling at full speed toward the edges of their protective formations. Some of the cruisers and destroyers are getting out of the way, but many of their captains are slow to react.”

  That’s fair enough, given how bizarre this is. But it also wasn’t acceptable. “Coms, get me on the fleetwide at once.”

  “You’re on, sir.”

  “Captains of the Eos, Artemis, Ceres, Ormenos, and Simon, please provide an immediate explanation for why you’re breaking formation.” That done, Husher waited, monitoring the tactical display to anticipate the moment he’d be forced to transition out. He’d intended his transmission to warn the fleet as well as get answers.

  “Incoming transmissions from all five capital starship captains, sir,” Ensign Fry said.

  “Accept them all, and put them on the main display.”

  All five captains appeared on the now-segmented display, in various states of panic. Unsurprisingly, Captain Katrina Norberg seemed the most composed. She spoke first.

  “Captain Husher, my Nav officer is experiencing what seems tantamount to a grand mal seizure, just as the one your Chief Noni experienced while in Gok space,” she said. “The Invigor Technologies rep assured me they’d ironed this out.”

  “Same here,” Captain Riggs said, his voice tremulous. “Exact same thing happening to mine.”

  “You all need to get your secondary Nav officers to the CIC at once,” Husher said, “as well as your chief engineers, to help you rip that tech out of your systems as fast as possible. Everyone on that planet is depending on you to make it happen inside of the next few minutes. Give the orders now, but don’t disconnect from this transmission. We need to figure this out. Clearly this was triggered somehow, and we need to make sure it can’t happen again.”

  On the tactical display, the capital starships continued to move toward the edges of the spherical formations protecting them. Most of those formations had responded quickly, moving with the rogue capital starships to keep them in the center. But the Artemis’ formation had failed to do that, and she now sailed past the destroyers and missile cruisers that comprised it.

  At once, a host of hundreds of Progenitor destroyers and carriers converged, targeting the Artemis with Ravagers and particle beams. It was far too much firepower to bear. Explosions tore the Artemis apart, and Captain Updike disappeared from the main display.

  Meanwhile, the Ceres was nearing the Vesta. In less than a minute, he’d be forced to give Noni the order to transition out.

  “Back in Gok space, my primary Nav officer’s seizure was triggered by the Vesta taking damage,” Husher told the four captains that remained on the display. “But the Progenitors couldn’t have damaged all of you at the same moment. In fact, unless I missed something, none of your ships took any damage during the last ten minutes. But something had to cause this. Think, Captains. What preceded your Nav officer’s seizures?”

  Norberg’s eyes narrowed in thought, and then she spoke up: “One of the Brotherhood ships sent us a transmission request. I thought that odd, but I ordered my Coms officer not to accept.”

  “We got the same thing,” Riggs said, and the other two captains echoed him.

  Something clicked for Husher, then, and he knew what had happened. “The Brotherhood must have access to some sort of backdoor into lucid tech. That means they can continue to control you until you rid your systems of it.”

  “Sir…” Winterton said, trailing off. Husher looked at the tactical display, a knot tightening at the base of his throat.

  All four of the affected capital starships that had survived till now remained protected by their formations, but the Simon’s defending ships had responded the slowest, and she was still positioned near the protective barrier of destroyers and missile cruisers.

  Progenitor ships descended on that part of the formation now, no doubt spotting that all they needed to do was break through in order to take down their target. She was too close to the edge for the other ships to rally around her in time.

  Ravagers rained on destroyer, missile cruiser, and capital starship alike, and particle beams struck home, warping and twisting hulls. Like dominoes, allied warships exploded one after another, until finally the Simon went up in an explosion that mimicked the Artemis’.

  Husher’s insides had turned to ice. Four capital starships. They’d begun this war with eight. The fleet’s spine, snapped in half.

  Chapter 50

  Target-Rich Environments

  The world seemed to contract, and the CIC’s usual noises quieted, till Husher could hear only the sound of his heart beating.

  “Tell the formations that were protecting Simon and Artemis to disperse and join those protecting the remaining capital starships, Coms,” he heard himself say, though he felt like he was running completely on autopilot.

  “Sir, the Ceres is going to crash into us,” Winterton said.

  With that, the world resumed its normal volume, snapping back into focus at the same time. “Transition out,” he barked.

  Noni did, just in time.

  “Get us back as soon as you can. Winterton, what did the trajectory of the surviving capital starships look like?”

  The sensor operator swallowed, clearly struggling to compose himself. Husher knew that he would get himself together. The ensign was among the most solid men he’d ever met, and Husher truly believed that nothing would break him down for long. But he needed the man to pull himself together right away.

  “The capital starships were moving with full speed toward the planet, sir,” Winterton said, his voice shaky. “If they’re allowed to get much farther, the defense platforms will interfere with the spherical formations of ships accompanying them. I suspect the Brotherhood’s aim is to crash our remaining supercarriers into the orbital platforms.”

  With an effort of will, Husher denied an urge to grip the command seat’s armrests. “The Progenitors will probably strike as the capital ships reach those platforms. Noni, I need you to get us near one of them, to help defend.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Minutes later, the Vesta appeared far above the planet Home. Below, rich greens and blues proclaimed the Kaithian homeworld’s lushness. Above, the Progenitor forces were converging on the out-of-control capital starships, just as Husher had foreseen.

  “Coms, put out a broadcast encoded to the Secret Service ships. The Progenitor forces guarding the Brotherhood ships appear to be breaking off to join the chase. If we can take out whatever ship is responsible for subverting the capital starships, maybe we can stop this. Tell the Secret Service captains to appear in formation behind the Brotherhood’s thirty ships and blast them all to hell.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Winterton, where’s our Air Group?”

  “They’re making their way toward us, sir. I think they see what we’re aiming to do.”

  “Excellent. Tremaine, see that dense cluster of oncoming enemy ships? I’m sharing the designation with you now.”

  “I see them, sir.”

  “I hope you like target-rich environments. Those ships are so tightly packed and focused on the compromised capital starships, my guess is that Hydras would pay off in dividends for us. Load every missile tube with them, except for the Gorgons you’ll scatter in.”

  “I like it, sir.”

  “So do I. Let’s even this thing up.”

  He knew they wouldn’t even up anything with this missile barrage, no matter how well it did, but he also knew an opportunity when he saw one.

  “Nav, set a course for the middle of the enemy fleet, and Helm, be ready for evasive maneuvers at a moment’s notice. Tremaine, fire only on my mark. In the meantime, answer any ships that oppose our advance with a dispersed spray of kinetic impactors, and ready tertiary lasers to supplement point defense. The impactors will k
eep the enemy off-balance, unable to train a particle beam on us, and laser-supplemented point defense should handle whatever Ravagers they throw at us.”

  On the tactical display, Progenitor ships sailed past the Vesta—above, below, and on both sides. Some did take potshots as they passed, but as Husher had predicted, they were hungry for the prey that had been made lame by the Brotherhood’s trickery. A few Ravagers were sent the Vesta’s way, and particle beams flickered toward her, but the countermeasures he’d ordered were enough to keep those paltry efforts at bay.

  “Mark,” Husher said to Tremaine.

  Missiles exploded from the Vesta in all directions. The closest Progenitor ships barely had time to react, and warhead-bearing Hydra segments slammed into hulls nearly unopposed, neutralizing twenty-three ships in spectacular explosions.

  Other targets had more time, their point defense systems coming online to fend off some of the incoming ordnance. But each Hydra that came under fire split into eight, and the barrage those segments formed soon proved overwhelming.

  Several Progenitor ships transitioned out, abandoning their pursuit of the crippled capital starships, but many remained, and the Vesta’s expanding barrage continued on. Hydra segments fell like hail on Progenitor hulls, and the missiles’ numbers effectively concealed the Gorgons peppered in, which took down still more ships.

  In response, enemy ships began transitioning out all around the Vesta, and others broke off, turning to head away from the planet. There were still plenty of Progenitors pursuing the wayward capital starships from other directions, but the Vesta had singlehandedly broken the largest, densest charge.

  Hopefully it will buy enough time.

  “Sir, the Secret Service ships have appeared behind the Brotherhood and are hitting them with everything they’ve got,” Winterton said, sounding as satisfied as Husher felt.

  Husher monitored the unfolding engagement on the tactical display. He might have been seeing things, but it seemed to him that two of the six ships capable of interdimensional travel were fighting with particular vigor: the ones whose capital starships had fallen because of the Brotherhood’s treachery.