by Dean Henegar
“After all, sir, I can’t leave Mr. Hidey. What would he do without me?” Private Long argued. The small rat was riding on his shoulder, which had become its favorite place. They had a point. Slater knew he couldn’t countermand the orders of the admiralty, and if he was honest with himself, he found that he craved some human company on his vessel. Something about their presence reminded him that he was more than just a freakish creation.
“Very well, Lieutenant Camden. It’s true I cannot override the admiralty’s commands. Doctor Cheng is not under any such compulsion to stay aboard, and in fact, her research will be invaluable in helping humanity. Doctor, I insist you head out with the rest of the task force,” Slater ordered.
“Sir, I . . . Well, I understand. Let me gather my research and I’ll join Captain Guzman aboard the Tiburon,” Cheng replied. Slater could see she was torn, wanting to stay but understanding the logic of his request.
“Don’t worry, Doctor. We’ll rejoin the task force once I’ve taken care of our pursuers,” Slater said with confidence he didn’t feel. The Tiburon docked, and Doctor Cheng stepped off with a few storage cases containing her research and a few possessions. Slater watched the task force race toward the jump point at the other end of the system.
As soon as the others were well on their way, Slater opened up the shielding on his core, allowing his core energy to spill out without any restriction. The signal his core gave off had diminished in strength but was hopefully still strong enough for what he had planned. He set a course in the opposite direction of the task force and proceeded at a modest pace.
The lead elements of the council fleet began transitioning into the system just over an hour after the Franklin had set its course. They had cut Slater’s lead on them, and it took little time for the kill teams to locate him. He could feel their core-based ships latching onto his now brightly burning signal. For several tense moments, he waited to see if they would take the bait. The rest of the task force was still far from the jump point, and if the enemy fleet turned in their direction to pursue, Slater would have no choice other than to engage the enemy on his own to slow them down.
Thankfully, the enemy did as he expected, turning toward the Franklin and continuing their pursuit. He was the prize, and a small group of human warships wasn’t worth risking the chance that he could slip away. The council would realize that humanity’s days were numbered with him out of the way, though Slater and his research intended to prove that their assumption was incorrect. Throughout the trip, he had been refining and improving the various research patterns he intended humanity to have, constantly transmitting updates to the other vessels.
“Sir, if you don’t mind, we’ll begin setting up our defense. I may need some of your construction drones to make a few changes,” Camden said.
“Roger that, Lieutenant. Just let me know what you need. You have free rein on the third deck to set it up how you want. I’ll be focusing most of my forces on the top two decks, so any boarders that make it to you should be cut up badly,” Slater said, tasking a half dozen of the construction drones to follow the lieutenant’s commands.
His upgraded core enabled him to produce many more MOBS than he could have previously, and he went to work printing up reapers and even a few squads of orcs with newly upgraded armor and weapons. His research in support of humanity also gave him the chance to do something he hadn’t been able to before: print up more defenders than he could directly control. Slater supplemented the reapers he could control with swarms of the autonomous versions he had designed for the humans to use on their ships.
His reapers had been upgraded since the last time they saw action. The body armor research he had done reduced the weight yet allowed the same level of protection for his MOBS. The weight savings allowed his reapers to mount the heavier-caliber crew-served weapons he had developed. With a more powerful round, the new weapons resembled an old heavy machine gun from times past. The weapon was belt-fed, allowing for high rates of suppressive fire or accurate single shots. A long bayonet could be automatically extended from the weapon, giving the reapers better close-quarters defense.
In addition to his greater number of defenders, Slater’s upgrades to the standard reactor gave him the ability to power more automated defenses. He sprinkled more—and deadlier—devices throughout chokepoints and critical locations, leaving nasty surprises everywhere he could. Eventually, he had to cease his efforts as his mind reached the limit of what it could control. He had done everything he could internally. Now it was time to see about thinning out the herd that was following him.
Sometimes the best ideas were the simplest ones. Slater took a page from the navies of old Earth and designed a variant of his current missiles to use as a makeshift mine. Mines had never caught on in space warfare; the areas involved were too vast and it was simply too easy to detect and avoid them. Jump points were variable, and ships exiting them could appear anywhere within an area that encompassed millions of cubic miles. For a defender to mine the most logical place—a jump point—with enough saturation to make a difference, they would be forced to place more mines than a developed system would be willing to sacrifice the resources to create.
For Slater, he had a feeling that the enemy would make his job much easier for him since they endeavored to close with the Franklin as quickly as possible. Slater had opted to use his camo tech on the new creations as well as a networked targeting system. Once something was detected in range, the missile’s acquisition scanner would go active and it would launch itself at the intended target. The acquisition range was short—for a space battle—allowing the target little time to activate point defenses against the weapons.
The best way to avoid this type of weapon was to vary the approach angle to the ship you were chasing, giving up a little bit of time to prevent nasty surprises like Slater was planning. His pursuers weren’t taking any such precautions; this would likely be the first time they had encountered something of this design. The mine-missiles were dumped behind his ship in batches. Eight at a time were spat from the launchers, and a small burn of the missiles’ engines positioned the weapons into the path of the pursuing ships. The small bursts of power used for this maneuver were masked by the glow of the Franklin’s main drives.
His pursuers began to slow their rate of advance, still closing on the Franklin but also giving the other ships continuously emerging from the jump point a chance to catch up. Slater made it easy for them, keeping his speed down as he headed deeper into the fringes of the system. The enemy spread out, positioning groups to hem him in, cutting off the approach to either jump point. More and more ships emerged, larger vessels now adding to the mix as the count of enemies jumped to over one hundred.
The nearest ships approached Slater’s minefield. Thirty-two missiles waited for their targets to close, which was all the salvage he was willing to spend on the project. Slater wanted to keep an ample reserve on hand to replace losses and repair the inevitable damage that would occur when the enemy reached weapons range. The lead vessels proved to be the swarm of small orcish corvettes and light cruisers, as well as one of the kill teams—x974b2, he believed. The enemy’s course took them right through the mass of mines, nearly all of which activated at the same time.
Thirty-two mines lit off their drives and streaked toward the nearest targets. Simple-decision engines allowed them to disperse and target multiple vessels instead of all racing toward the same victim. At first, Slater watched as the enemy continued on course, surprised at the sudden appearance of a swarm of missiles appearing out of nowhere in their formation. Point defenses came up and laser beams began to reach out at the deadly weapons approaching the council ships. Only two missiles were taken out before the others reached their targets.
In most cases, one missile was enough to punch through the shielding and explode against the hull of the small pursuit ships. Fifteen of the orcish corvette-sized vessels were blotted from space under the barrage. Another four were critically damaged and
drifting in space, unable to continue the pursuit. The heavier shielding on the light cruisers protected them from the single hits they took, leaving only minor damage.
The kill team’s ship took three hits. Its shields proved powerful, even for such a small craft, shrugging off the first blast. The second missile dropped the shields and allowed the third to explode against the hull. Having a core-reinforced hull left the kill team’s craft undamaged, save for having a point-defense weapon burned off it. Illissa’s ship had been based on a core fragment, and Slater assumed these kill teams’ ships were as well, explaining their ability to track him and the strength of the hull on such small vessels.
He had drawn first blood, but more than enough ships had jumped into the system during the mine ambush to replace the losses the council had taken. The total count of ships was over 150 and rising. The newest additions were also larger vessels, the first of many gnomish motherships.
Slater watched the countdown timer he had set for himself. He needed to buy the task force enough time to make it to the jump point and activate their camouflage systems. Once they arrived in the next system, their camouflage would make it extremely difficult for an enemy to pick them out since they had no derelict core to give them away to the kill teams. Still, the enemy was focused on him, and he doubted they would continue the pursuit as long as he was in the fight. He didn’t plan to be caught, and in fact, a fresh contact on his scanners told him the second part of his plan was about to commence.
— 27 —
Slater ordered his construction drones to rebuild the shielding over his core. His signal had done its job, and with what he hoped was a dragon inbound, he didn’t want the extra attention. With a thought, Slater brought the main drives to full power. Distance from the approaching contact was what he needed—distance and the chance to put the council ships between him and the dragon that was even now bearing down on the fleet.
“Looks like you attracted the thing, sir. What’s the plan now?” Lieutenant Camden asked, taking a moment from his defensive preparations to watch the space battle unfold.
“I’m shielding my core signal once again. By keeping the council ships between us and the dragon, the two should tear into each other and give us the opening we need to escape,” Slater added.
“If we shake them, do we try and catch up with the task force?” Camden asked. As much as he desired to, Slater understood that the only way to protect the task force was to stay away from them. Of course, if he didn’t answer any future core-to-core communications from Administrator, he couldn’t be detected unless a kill team or other core-enhanced council ship was in the same system as the Franklin.
“I think we’re best off finding our own way home. We can’t take the chance our presence might give away the others. I’m confident that their camo systems, as well as the enhanced firepower they’re packing, will get them back safely. As for the Franklin, we’ll be taking a more roundabout path, causing mayhem and destruction along the way,” Slater answered.
“Can I make a request for five combat drones to join us here in the shooting range? The three of us are packing some serious firepower, but I need more trigger pullers to have maximum effect,” Camden asked. It was a valid request, but Slater had already placed all his reapers where they would do the most good. But he did have something else that could help.
“The reapers and other combat drones are already where I need them, but I can send over the fake gnomish bridge crew to help if you’d like,” Slater offered.
“Better than a kick in the head, I suppose. They can fight pretty well from the protection of the bunkers,” Camden said.
“Sir, can we get some blast rats? Mr. Hidey would like some company in the coming fight,” Private Long asked.
“Sure, I can spare a few of those,” Slater agreed. He peeled off four of the creatures from their many hiding places around the ship, giving all the soldiers command privileges over them as well as the gnomish team. Slater took a final look at his layers of anti-boarding defense and was pleased with what he had. With any luck, they wouldn’t be needed and his ship’s firepower would keep any enemy at bay.
Turning back to the scanner display, he watched the fight with the dragon unfold. In addition to transforming all but one reload of missiles into makeshift mines, Slater had also dropped several drones outfitted with passive scanners, enabling him to get a better view of the system. He could see that the dragon had accelerated in its approach. The strange scanner returns the creature gave off made it easy to track as it approached the first of the enemy ships between it and the Franklin. A formation of council vessels that had been placed to cut off the Franklin from performing an end-run back into the system was the first to engage the monster. His board showed that the council formation comprised a squadron of orcish light cruisers and a formation of similarly sized vessels he recognized as being kobold in origin. A half dozen larger—and slower—gnomish motherships had joined them as well, launching swarms of raiders that were moving out to engage the dragon.
Eighty-four raiders detached from their motherships and accelerated to place themselves between the larger ships and the rapidly approaching dragon. As the range closed, all the raiders began to fire, beams reaching out to hit the gigantic beast that was twice the size of a battleship. This dragon was huge, much larger than the beast that had attacked them before. Just as he thought that, a second contact appeared, the return matching a dragon the size of the one that had so badly damaged the Franklin in his earlier encounter. Just how many dragons are there in the system?
The larger dragon ignored the fire from the raiders, giving no indication it was injured by the attack. As it careened through the formation of raiders, it swatted down three with its claws while its breath weapon accounted for another pair. The monster didn’t stop to engage, just continued toward its target. Plotting the course that the dragon was taking, Slater saw that it was heading toward the kill team closest to the jump point. That team had stayed behind and was only now shepherding the latest arrivals into useful formations to pursue the Franklin.
The line of orcish and kobold light cruisers entered range and began to fire upon the dragon, the gnomish raiders frantically flipping over and trying to overcome their momentum and return to the fight. As before, the dragon made no deviation in its course, and the heavier but less numerous blasts of laser fire from the light cruisers had no effect. Slater was curious as to just how much firepower was needed to destroy the mythical beast.
When it passed through the council formation, the dragon tore into an orcish cruiser and blasted a kobold ship with its breath before continuing on its course. The kobold ship had melted to slag and the orcish cruiser had its hull ripped open from stem to stern, atmosphere venting at an alarming rate. Like the raiders, the cruiser squadrons turned to pursue the dragon. Any ships pulled from pursuing Slater to fight off dragons was a win as far as he was concerned. The kill team the dragon was targeting had gathered two dozen ships and had been just about to start its pursuit of the Franklin. Turning toward the new threat, the kill team placed its smaller vessel behind the others. These latest arrivals were all larger ships around the size of a heavy cruiser.
For the first time, the dragon’s pace seemed to slow as the broadside of fire from the two dozen heavy cruisers burned into it. The heavier weapons were damaging and melting off the monster’s foot-thick scales, causing it pain for the first time. Reacting about how you’d think an angry dragon would, it plunged into the formation, eager to tear apart and burn the attackers that had hurt it.
Smaller secondary weapons and point-defense lasers added their fire to the mix as the formation of cruisers began to break up, each taking individual evasive maneuvers to try and escape the agile monster in their midst. The dragon stopped to breathe fire into the center section of what Slater’s databanks showed as a gnoll heavy cruiser. The ship’s shields flared as the massive power of the attack overloaded them. The hull melted, and the ship began to flex as the str
ucture supporting it was burned away. After only five seconds of fire, the ship had been melted in half, both sections drifting off into space.
He didn’t have time to watch the battle between the council and the dragons; the ships still pursuing him were about to enter main gun range. Mines had thinned their numbers, but more and more of the smaller vessels had caught up to the Franklin while Slater waited for the dragons to appear. The concept of a battlecruiser being able to outfight anything that could catch it was going to be put to the test as over fifty ships entered range. Adjusting the attitude of the ship slightly to bring all his weapons to bear, Slater unleashed his first main gun broadside of the battle.
Each turret targeted a different ship; the first railgun turret’s fire hit an unsuspecting corvette-sized kobold craft that was in the lead. A pair of fifteen-inch shells crashed through the vessel’s shielding and burrowed deep. The ship lost acceleration and fell out of formation. His main laser battery also had good results, burning through the shields and melting the bow of its target. That ship was still in the fight but drifting toward the back of the formation. The aft battery hit an orcish scout with a single glancing round, taking down the shields and tearing off a small section of the hull.
His main guns continued to fire, their accuracy improving as the enemy continued to close. After five volleys from the main guns, the secondaries entered range and added their fire to the mix. The Franklin’s next combined volley took out three more attackers. Unfortunately, the number of attackers increased steadily as swarms of raiders launched from the various gnomish motherships and began to arrive alongside the last of the smaller warships in the council fleet. The motherships themselves couldn’t keep pace with the Franklin, but most enemies of light cruiser size and smaller seemed to have enough thrust to catch him.
