She scanned the area but no ship was flying. She extended her scans and saw three signatures on the ground, one of them faint. She hoped the ship hadn’t crashed. When she approached she saw two StarFuries, one without a cockpit, but nonetheless parked neatly next to Aphroditis’ ship.
What the hell?
She landed her ship next to the trio of craft, jumped out of her cockpit and ran towards the Olympian ship. Aphroditis was already getting out.
“Are you alright . . . uh.” She hesitated, and finally went with, “Ma’am?”
“I’m fine. Thanks for the assist. I didn’t catch your name.”
“Fillio, you can call me Fillio. What assist?”
“Well, stabilizing my ship with tractor beams and helping me land safely.”
“I had nothing to do with that. I just arrived myself.”
“Then who did?”
“Let’s find out.” Fillio walked towards the one StarFury with a cockpit. She climbed its side but saw no one on board.
“Now that’s really weird.”
“What is it?” shouted Aphroditis from the ground
“It’s empty, and that one”—she pointed at the other StarFury—“is empty as well. Heck, it’s missing its cockpit.”
“Thank you, Chase,” said Aphroditis.
“What did you just say?”
“Chase helped, then. It’s the only way.”
Fillio wore a look that was a cross between disbelief and consternation.
“I . . . I don’t see how. He’s not even on this planet.”
“It doesn’t matter, Fillio. I don’t suppose we’re anywhere near that bunker Commodore Saroudis told me to get to?”
“No, not really, but I’ll get you there fast. Let’s take my ship.”
Aphroditis nodded and followed Fillio.
10
On board the Destiny things were really heating up. The ship had suffered major damage. Most of the fleet had, in fact. Saroudis had just cut communications with Fillio, who reported she had Aphroditis safe and sound, even though she had nothing to do with her rescue. From what Aphroditis had told her, she thought Chase had saved her.
While Saroudis didn’t understand how this was even possible, he took it as a good omen and hoped he would arrive shortly. This was one of those fights where his talent as a pilot and outside-the-box thinker could tip the balance. He brushed the thought away. For now they needed to win this fight on their own. About a third of the invading fleet had been destroyed, but both Earth Alliance and the Droxians had lost so many ships.
Saroudis wondered if the admiral had received their distress call. Even using the jumpgate they wouldn’t be here for at least another three hours. Saroudis expected this fight to be well over by then, one way or the other.
But right now the Destiny had retreated a little outside the center of the action. The ship needed to recharge its shields. The loss of capital ships hadn’t been the most worrisome thing, though. It was the speed at which the StarFuries were being destroyed, and that new suicidal tactic of the Zarlacks.
He wondered how Argos had managed to convince his slave race to just accept suicide as a fighting strategy. Sure, every pilot knows the risk when they step into their craft. There’s as much chance they won’t return as there is of getting back to base alive. That was part of a pilot’s job. But to know they would have to crash their ship and lose their lives so they could take the Earth Alliance’s new starfighters down more efficiently . . . That baffled Saroudis.
From his chair he looked at his personal holo-display and saw the Hope engaging a ship with its main weapons. Thank the gods they had more Prometheus-class ships. The satellites had also helped a lot in the beginning of the fight, but the Zarlacks had decided to keep their distance and take the fight out of their firing range.
Saroudis made a mental note to equip them with engines so they could be repositioned in the middle of the fight. They already had engines, of course, but not nearly powerful enough to do anything more than basic, orbital repositioning. Perhaps even equip them with short-range jump engines, as they did the StarFuries. With that capability they could even be used as gigantic explosive devices, since they carried a lot of quadrinium on board, much more than fleet ships. He definitely needed to discuss all this with his chief engineers Yanis and Spiros, if they survived this fight.
Because now that the Zarlacks had nullified or at least balanced some of the technological advantage by sacrificing their own starfighters to take out StarFury wings, the fight had become increasingly difficult.
In answer, Saroudis had assigned three ships in his fleet to target smaller vessels, instead of focusing their energy and weapons fighting other capital ships. The Far Beyond, Euphoreon and the Axxis. Being of older design, they were more suited to thinning the Zarlack starfighter wings, rather than engaging far superior, behemoth-class Zarlack ships.
The Destiny’s shield was now back at seventy-three percent. Good enough to get back into the fight, Saroudis decided.
“Bring us about. Target the nearest Zarlack warship; maximum sub-light engines. Fire at will as soon as we’re back in range.”
“Understood, Commodore,” said Lieutenant Sakis.
Before the Destiny could enter firing range, bright spots of light lit up all around the ship. Hyperspace exit corridors.
“Now what? Report!”
“Multiple jump points forming, Commodore. About fifteen Obsidian capital ships.”
“What is the Obsidian doing here?” said the commodore, not really expecting an answer.
Before he could get one, an incoming transmission from the Obsidian flagship came in. It was the emperor.
“Hello, Commodore Saroudis, may we provide assistance?”
“You’re not part of the Earth Alliance just yet, but I’ll gladly accept your generous offer. Will you follow my orders?”
“That goes without question, Commodore. We’ll engage the Zarlacks at once. See you on the battlefield.”
“Thanks for the assist. It won’t be forgotten. Please concentrate half your force on destroying their smaller craft, and let your starfighter pilots know that they are sacrificing their craft in exchange for kills.”
“Very well. As you command.”
The communication ended and all fifteen capital ships added their firepower to those of the current fleet. Seven ships concentrated their effort on attacking enemy starfighter wings.
While Saroudis wasn’t a big fan of the Obsidian, even after their help destroying the Gatos Nebula shipyard and protecting the Damocles-3 space station, he had to admit that their arrival in the fold was welcome.
The Destiny entered firing range and started firing everything it had towards the nearest behemoth-class warship. After five minutes of heavy fire exchange, its shields were down to twenty percent, and it jumped just when the Destiny’s main guns were about to deliver the final blow.
But it wasn’t just the Destiny’s target. Every warship with low shields jumped, one after the other.
It looked as if the arrival of Obsidian finally made them rethink their strategy: they were outnumbered again. After twenty minutes of fighting, two more behemoth ships were destroyed and another seven ships jumped away.
Soon, only starfighters remained. It was time to clear out the trash, thought Saroudis; but before he could give his next order, ten hyperspace windows opened nearer to Earth. The ships were at full burn and heading . . . towards the planet!
“Every ship, maximum speed. Destroy these ships at all cost! Earth defense systems, fire at will!”
The satellite network started firing, but their impact on the fleet’s shields was not enough to prevent their entering the atmosphere. Saroudis understood what the enemy was about to do. Like their smaller fighters before, the Zarlacks were perfectly willing to bury their behemoth warships upon Earth’s surface.
“This is a nightmare.”
“Commodore! What are your orders?”
But the commodore didn�
��t know what to do. His mind raced and he wondered if jumping inside the ships could help lessen the damage, but that seemed unlikely. If the quadrinium engines exploded that close to Earth, the damage could be similar or worse. Not to mention that anyone in the jumped ship would die in the process as well.
He brought up a tactical holo-display and saw that seven satellites were in firing range. Instead of firing at full power, he could overload some of them as Chase had done in the past. There weren’t enough satellites left to destroy all targets, but at least he could take a few of these ships out. He also saw that one satellite was in the path of the ships.
Not having time to relay orders by voice he took firing control from his holo-console. He organized six satellites into pairs and painted three targets. He increased the firing power output of those with the lower shields to three hundred percent, knowing full well that would fry them with one shot; but it was the only way in the time he had. He then opened a channel.
“Orbital Satellite Six, set your quadrinium chamber to overload and evacuate now!”
“Commander Takis here. Can you please confirm your last order, Commodore?”
“Overload the quadrinium chambers at once and evacuate every satellite this instant!”
“Very well, Commodore. Setting overload. Evacuation order sent.”
He hoped it would pay off. He then fired the other satellites. All three targeted ships were obliterated by the twin, overloaded plasma shots. Three of the satellites exploded; the rest were disabled. It was unlikely that most of the crew in those destroyed had enough time to escape, but he had no other choice. The remaining seven Zarlack ships continued towards their target. Earth. Just when they were upon the last satellite that hadn’t fired, its quadrinium chambers exploded as planned. There was a massive explosion. Bright green and orange flames spewed forth and engulfed most of the enemy fleet.
When the fireworks settled, there were still three ships advancing towards the beautiful blue marble. Most of the debris was vaporized in the massive explosion, but half a behemoth warship was spinning uncontrollably and would enter the atmosphere as well.
Impact with Earth was now inevitable . . .
On Earth, Fillio had just accompanied Aphroditis into the protected bunker a few miles underground.
Aphroditis fell to the ground.
“You alright, ma’am?”
“Something is happening. I . . . I can feel a tremendous amount of fear on this planet. People are praying, calling upon the Olympians for help.”
Fillio raised an eyebrow, wondering if Aphroditis was losing it; but just in case she wasn’t she went towards the nearest console and brought up a status on the battle in space. There were no Zarlack ships in orbit, but then she saw it. Three strong Zarlack signatures inside the atmosphere, on a collision course with the ground. From their trajectory, they would hit near New York, Dallas and Toronto.
“This isn’t happening!” said Fillio.
“What is it?”
“Three Zarlack capital ships are about to hit three major cities. At these velocities . . .”
“What?”
“These cities will be leveled!”
Tears formed in Aphroditis’ eyes.
There was a morbid silence for the next few moments, and then it happened. The ground started shaking.
Aphroditis put her hands over her ears, fell to her knees and screamed.
“Are you alright, ma’am?”
No answer. She seemed in utter pain, as though whatever loss of life occurred at this moment was channeled into her.
Fillio crouched beside her and took her into her arms. She was crying uncontrollably.
The Iron Fire exited hyperspace near Earth’s orbit. Argos was in the captain’s chair and looked satisfied with what he saw.
At that moment the lift to the bridge opened and Daniel, Ryonna and Tar’Lock stepped in. Daniel was the first to speak. “What is this? What did you do?”
Argos smiled but didn’t look their way.
“I told you my fleet was on its way. Looks like they did a pretty good job, too.”
Daniel could see a lot of debris around the planet, though many of the Earth Alliance ships were still there. Many were damaged; some had been destroyed. Then other ships caught his eye. Obsidian. The fact that no Earth Alliance ship was firing on them probably meant they had joined the fight on the side of the Alliance.
There were three burning spots on the surface of the planet, all on the American continent. The damage seemed as significant as the first time Argos’ fleet had attacked Earth, when he used mass drivers to level many cities.
“You’re gonna pay for this,” said Daniel.
“We’ll see. For the time being, let me admire that glorious view.”
Ryonna’s look was a mixture of hate and revenge, but Tar’Lock was holding her and gave her an unmistakable look of warning.
Argos got up.
“What now?” asked Daniel.
“Now we wait for Chase.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes, just like that.”
There was an incoming transmission from the Destiny.
Argos raised a hand and Daniel flew next to him from where he stood.
“You could have just asked me to come over.”
Argos shot him a look.
“What do you want?”
“Answer the call. If you even hint at my presence on this ship, I will kill these two. Are we clear?”
Daniel nodded.
Part of him wanted to tell Commodore Saroudis to shoot them down, but it seemed that Argos’ fleet had already done its damage; plus, he wasn’t ready to miss the day their nemesis would die, and if Chase was on his way, then today was that day.
Argos moved out of the way.
“Hello, Commodore, what happened?”
“The Zarlacks attacked Earth. We had everything under control, more or less, until they sacrificed their armada and plunged their ships towards the surface. We . . . we managed to destroy seven of them but three got through. Other large debris fell towards the planet but fortunately it missed heavily inhabited regions and impacted near the North Pole.”
“Do we know how many . . .” Daniel couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.
“Not yet, but the targeted cities were most likely leveled upon impact. We don’t think there will be many survivors there.”
“This is . . .” He glared at Argos, a look of murder in his eyes.
Argos gestured towards Ryonna and Tar’Lock, clearly prepared to execute his previous threat.
“A nightmare,” completed Saroudis.
“Yes . . .”
“What about you? Did you manage to locate Chase?”
“No, but we believe he might be on his way back to Earth.”
“That’s what I thought too. We could have used him today. I could have used you as well.”
“I’m sorry, Commodore. I shouldn’t have left to look for Chase.”
“I gave you my blessing for this mission, Daniel. You shouldn’t blame yourself. None of this could have been prevented by your presence anyway.”
On board the Valken Chase stepped into the cockpit. Keera was sleeping, so he sat without making too much noise. They were not far from their destination now.
He felt a mixture of emotions, the very fact of being back, generating good but also painful memories. Still, he longed to see his friend Daniel, and hoped he would find the courage to apologize for how he left things between them. He was now the only family left. In his heart, at least. His only real blood family member, Argos, would die soon after their next meeting; that was the only certainty within Chase’s heart and soul at the moment.
That last thought brought hate back to the center of Chase’s mind. Never before had he felt so much anger, hate and the will to kill someone. But the fact that his mind could project so much violence, imagining that moment, so much brutality, worried him for a brief instant. Perhaps all Furies had this hate
hardcoded in them, he thought. Before meeting Argos, though, he never felt like that. At least not in the last ten years. He couldn’t remember anything before then anyway.
There had been some strange dreams and nightmares, in which Argos was present as well, but he didn’t appear as an enemy in these. Chase had most of these dreams before he’d even learned he had a twin brother. So he always assumed he was seeing himself in them.
Keera opened her eyes and produced a very long and noisy yawn.
“Hello, sleepyhead.”
“Hey, Chase, how long was I asleep?”
“Quite a while. We should arrive on Earth shortly.”
“Alright,” she said, still yawning. “Did you sleep as well?”
“Not so much.”
The Valken jumped out of hyperspace not far from Mars. Chase checked the sensors to assess the situation, to see if they could approach or if the battle was still raging. While the starfighter pilot in him tingled at the opportunity to engage in some dogfighting, that was not why he was here. Unless, of course, Argos was on board one of the enemy ships.
The scans revealed the battle was over. Only Earth Alliance and Obsidian ships were now in orbit. Chase activated the Valken’s engines at max burn. Soon they received a hail.
“This is Commodore Saroudis of the Earth Alliance to unknown ship. Please identify and state your intentions.”
Chase turned on video.
“Hello, Commodore.”
“Chase! It . . . it’s good to see you, boy. Wish you’d arrived earlier.”
“I know.”
“So it was true. You intervened to help Aphroditis?”
Chase nodded.
“Your powers are really impressive. How far away were you? Never mind that. Daniel just arrived on board the Iron Fire less than an hour ago. He went looking for you.”
Daniel. Of course he did.
“Can you give me a status on Aphroditis, Commodore? She’s the only reason for my visit today.” Chase cursed himself the moment he uttered the words. He didn’t need to be so cold. “But now that I’m here I’d love to have a drink with my friends as well, if that’s possible?”
Universe in Flames – Ultimate 10 Book Box Set: An Epic Space Opera Adventure Page 101