by Skyler Grant
As fleets went this was fair-sized but not massive, around fifty ships, almost all of retired Imperium military design. None bore any sort of markings or even the usual transponders.
"This was all that you could get?" Quinn asked Bravo.
"We don't even know what we're going into. If what you said is accurate, we've probably beaten Mahara to the punch. We just have to get you past some ancient remnants of a defensive force. We need to punch a hole so you can deliver Jinx where she needs to be," Bravo said.
"You're assuming an awful lot goes right."
Bravo shot him a wry smile. "You know us pretty well by now. We've always contingency plans. You've run circles around pretty much anyone you've met, but not us. Trust that we know what we're doing."
That cockiness was part of what made working with them such a problem. They weren't just confident they were right—they were confident they could handle anything. It was good to be reminded that there were things bigger and deadlier than you.
Bravo provided another set of coordinates and they set a fleet timer for five minutes.
Quinn opened a ship-wide comm. "We're five minutes from going in. None of us know what we're jumping into, it might be nothing and it might be the firefight of our lives. Our priority above anything else is to stay alive and get to whatever magical amplifier there is. Everybody check in and if you've words to say make them quick."
"Reporting in from engineering. You can do this, everybody! I believe in all of you," Melody said.
"This is Sand, also in engineering. I've taken genetic samples from all of you and even if you fall, you may one day rise again in a new universe of my creation."
"Dela on fire control, also really creeped out by Sand."
"Uhh ... this is Kat. Also in engineering, I guess. I hope you don't die, I want to know some of you better."
"Tamara and Tourmaline on comm monitoring. Remember, we're the best."
"Dela in the Tango, to the quick go the spoils."
"Silver in the Foxtrot. Screw clever things to say."
"Kara, locked and loaded, and ready to kick some major ass."
"Mara, signals intelligence. Be vigilant."
"Vess, hoping we get a ground assault. Fly well, swarm."
"Kalisa, shield control and ready to counter whatever nasty magic comes our way. We'll slaughter those who think us easy prey."
"Taki in the Whiskey. I believe in all of you. Just do what the captain says and he'll see us through this."
"Jinx on the runic sphere and locking in coordinates now. I know who I am, I know who we are. I won't let any of you down no matter what it takes."
It wasn't usual to have everyone report in quite like that, but they all knew the truth of this situation. Yes, they might be flying to an unknown, but nothing that they did know about the situation spoke in their favor. Through all of its adventures this family had never actually lost anyone. Today could be that day, but not if Quinn had anything to say about it. Quinn had felt some guilt about being the pilot before, but he was gaining a new way of thinking about that. Quinn might be the one who took his family into danger, but he was also the one who saw that everybody got out alive.
Bravo said, "This truly is the strangest of families. I don't wonder that you've managed to put together a group of the powerful, but you all seem to genuinely care about each other. Are intimate with each other. Do you ever find yourself pausing in the middle of lovemaking and wondering just what sort of monster you're getting your pleasure from?"
"Nobody on this ship except perhaps for Melody is pure. You're not. I may see only flickers of your other lives, but you are drenched in blood," Quinn said.
"Stained so deeply it will never come out," Bravo said with a brief flicker of a sad smile. "And I’m realistic enough to never expect anyone to love me, should they know it. If they did, they'd be a monster, and they'd need to be put down."
"And yet somewhere out there we are an item. I showed you that," Quinn said.
While it was true, in a lot more universes she stabbed him in the throat. Both were visuals Quinn had a hard time getting out of his head.
"You did. We both know the many ways this could go wrong. You know we've got surprises, as I am sure you do. Make the right choice, Quinn. When the time comes make sure that you and your family are on our side and we're all one big, happily family."
"One big, happy family with half of it caged?" Quinn asked.
"I'd visit. I'd even wear my knives and nothing else. I like this kind of flirtatious threatening of each other’s lives we have going on. Don't screw it up."
The timer hit zero and Quinn sent the signal to Jinx. Reality twisted as Jinx jumped the fleet.
41
It had seemed likely that they'd jump into dead space. They hadn't known how valid the coordinates provided to Jinx were and they thought a second jump would have to follow the first. It didn't. The system they appeared in couldn't even be called that, although Quinn wasn't sure what to call it.
A lone planet floated in the void. In orbit around it were what seemed to be three small suns and three larger moons. Each sun appeared equidistant from a moon and together they formed a ring around the planet, a tiny world that looked to be all land and had a faint pink color.
Of course, then there were the stations, and the ships.
What sort of force had the Emperor left behind? They'd discussed that, and it seemed likely a small fleet. It wasn't. There looked to be at least seven defensive stations in orbit around the planet and over two hundred capital ships. Whatever this planet was, it was almost as well-defended as Imperius.
Quinn was busy looking over the sensors. They hadn't come prepared to fight a force like this, but if the ships weren't manned they wouldn't need to. Unfortunately, there were a lot of life-signs out there. Ships were in motion, and comm traffic was going between them and the stations.
"We've got an incoming signal from one of those stations," Bravo said.
Quinn put it through to Jinx and opened the channel to watch.
Jinx was sending a visual. She was standing before the runic sphere and in her Queen of Thieves outfit that showed every rune upon her flesh, all glowing with a dull blue.
The signal from the other side showed an older-looking man with heavy sideburns, and in an antiquated Imperium uniform.
"This is Grand Admiral Harwell of the Vigilant Legion. This world is under Imperium interdiction. All vessels are ordered to turn away or we will use force," Harwell said.
"This is Jinx, Queen of Thieves. Descendant of Empress Opalia and heir to the Emperor's power. You have hostile Chaosian forces on the way, Admiral, and it is imperative that I reach the planet's surface before they arrive."
"Your Majesty. It may be that all you say is true, but it doesn't matter. We are under orders to kill even the Emperor himself if he tries to approach the world below. We will fight to the last to assure that none ever set foot there again. If your intentions are good and honorable, leave this system and never return."
"The Chaosians who are coming intend to use the planet to destroy all non-Chaosian life in the galaxy. We cannot in good conscience withdraw. Let us at least meet to discuss this," Jinx said.
"Approach any closer and we will engage. You have your answer, Your Majesty. Go and do not return," Harwell said, and killed the connection.
"So much for the diplomatic approach," Quinn said.
"Couldn't have said it better," Bravo said, pulling a knife. "What happens next isn't an attack on you. Keep your ship out of it and hold back."
Space rippled and distorted as more ships arrived. Each had no more than four ships coming along. They didn't have any mages as strong in Order magic as Jinx, but what they lacked in power they made up for in quantity. Over one hundred blips—at least one hundred runic spheres out there and the Imperial heirs capable of using them.
Bravo gasped in pain, her spine arching as the knife slipped out of her hands and clattered to the deck.
"I'm sorry, Bravo. W
e've had a lot of opportunity to study Mara's implants and the way they can be used to control her. Yours are of the same generation. Think of the effect controlling you as like the drug Penny once shot into me. You can't hurt, disobey, or lie to me. Do you understand?" Quinn asked.
"I understand. We thought you'd try something like this. That was why they sent me, I'm already compromised and no great loss if our countermeasures failed," Bravo said, strained.
There were now over three hundred warships out there, all marked with the symbol of the Imperium navy. They made no attempts at diplomacy, they simply began to close on the fleet defending the planet.
Quinn hit the ship-wide comm. "Bravo just pulled a knife on me and an Imperium fleet has arrived. She's under control. We're going to see if we can't skip the line."
Quinn sent a set of updated coordinates to Jinx, ones that were actually within the planet’s atmosphere. They'd done something similar to invade Imperius, jumping straight past the planetary defenses.
"I'm not able to get a lock. It's not like when we were being blocked. It is more like when I try to set the coordinates they keep changing to random ones. If I tried to force a jump I think we'd wind up halfway across the galaxy," Jinx said.
The Imperium vessels closed on those of the Vigilant Legion. Of more modern designs, ranged against them every Legion ship was marked with rune-work upon the armor. The Imperium had numbers on their side, but especially with the defensive stations in place Quinn didn't like their odds.
"You shouldn't have brought them here. The Imperium doesn't have much strength left. You are going to burn the last of it off futilely," Quinn told Bravo.
"Are you going to pretend to still care what happens to the Imperium? You've betrayed it totally," Bravo said.
There was another ripple in space, a single prolonged one that, when it faded, had brought somewhere close to one hundred and fifty clan ships into the system too.
Mahara had made her arrival faster than any of them predicted.
Or was it?
"You picked our timing for this. Is it chance, or did you plan this?" Quinn asked.
"We were never going to be able to take Mahara on alone, and we had faith that any defenses the Emperor left would be formidable. We brought a war. Don't waste it, and do avoid the clan ships, we've plans for the Unshackled," Bravo said.
42
"Mahara is here," Quinn called over the comm.
"So what are you going to do?" Bravo asked.
So far the fleet that came with them hadn't moved. They were holding position.
"Do your people know what I've done to you?" Quinn asked.
"I haven't told them. I can't, really, because Mara did good work with this routine. But I'm pretty sure they know anyway. It doesn't make a difference. This isn't about attacking you, we didn't tell you about the Imperium ships because you wouldn't have approved," Bravo said.
"Why are your ships holding back?" Quinn asked.
"Not all are. We've got stealth vessels which should already be on their way. Don't count out the Imperium ships either. Kadello had a lot of weapons programs too extreme even for the Emperor and is now bringing them online. These ships are yours though, to make sure you get to the planet alive."
"Do you know how he found so many Imperial heirs?"
"You can owe that to the one you call Sand. When she left, she didn't destroy all of her research. They're now growing heirs. Brainless husks really, but they've managed to train them to operate spheres."
Every new thing that Quinn heard about the Imperium kept giving him more of a pause on what was happening there. Kadello had always been a terrifying figure, the man the Emperor turned against the greatest foes of the Imperium. When the family had fought so many vying for the throne they'd never come up against him. Quinn was really starting to wish they had—and had put the man in the ground.
The comm crackled. "This is Jinx. It's hard to describe, but I'm pretty sure Mahara knows I'm here. I just felt her."
A group of the clan ships had broken off and were headed in their direction. Thirty sleek-looking vessels surrounded by energy shields.
Quinn sent the scans of them to Kalisa.
Kalisa said, "You're about to face an Unshackled. Urluan the Hammer. If I am our greatest scientist, he is our greatest engineer. He was always a close ally of our Mahara."
"Permission to relay that particular bit of news to my associates," Bravo said.
"Allowed," Quinn said.
Like all of the clan ships, these did have shields, although the designs were very different than any others Quinn had seen. They were beautiful to behold.
"Be prepared to move. We hit on a ten count," Bravo said.
Quinn powered up engines and shields, and readied the Centauri Bliss. At exactly ten seconds brilliant blooms of light detonated from within the approaching ships. Three bombs, and for just an instant small stealth fighters were revealed before they tore themselves apart.
"I hope those were unmanned," Quinn said.
"We don't throw lives away for nothing. When we die, we make it count," Bravo said.
Quinn hit the engines to full power and headed for the planet where Legion and Imperium vessels were already fighting. Mahara and her fleet were moving that way as well—everyone coming together in a battle that was growing increasingly intense. So far there didn't seem to be any winners. The most noteworthy thing was how well the Vigilant forces were holding up.
Unfortunately, also among things holding up surprisingly well were the approaching clan ships. It looks like the blasts had destroyed four, but sixteen were still on the way.
Bravo frowned. "Each of those was an enhanced, high-yield nuclear detonation. Even clan shielding shouldn't have held up against them. Just one should have taken out all those ships, three bombs was for the purposes of overkill."
"You and your sisters are good. You scare me as much as Mahara, if I'm being honest, and the trouble with you is that as good as you are you think, you're even better," Quinn said. Even with all the upgrades the Centauri Bliss had to the engines, the intercepting ships weren't falling back far.
"I'd say something clever here, but failure took the words away. I'll save them for later. We're not there yet," Bravo said.
Indeed they were not. Quinn was detecting other blasts, unique in their signatures, amongst the clan fleet. They were doing their best to kill all of the Unshackled. They were at least succeeding in weakening their shields.
The fleet they'd brought with them was engaging Urluan's remaining vessels and giving the Centauri Bliss time to pull away. It left them on their own now. Space was alight with weapons discharges. The Vigilant ships were exclusively using standard ammunition. The fire from their ships mixed with the occasional tracer round. The Imperium had at least some energy weapons while the clan ships were using all energy weapons.
Their shields were running at as much power as they could take, but Quinn didn't intend to rely on them. There were just too many ships, and this battle was likely to be too long. A closing Vigilant fighter forced Quinn to execute a roll, slowing the engines coming out of the maneuver so he could return fire. A blast caught the fighter on a wing and runes flared as the metal exploded into fragments, the fighter spiraling away.
"I've got good infiltration on the Vigilant ships. I can blind most of their sensors," Mara called.
Given that another wing of clan ships was quickly closing on them, Quinn was glad for the possible shelter. The bulk of the clan ships had headed straight for a Vigilant station and against them the Legion were falling. Mahara was going as direct a route for the planet as she could and it was working.
Quinn plotted his own, right through the bulk of the Vigilant forces.
43
Sensor blindness could only offer so much shelter in a battle like this. While it might keep you from being fired upon by capital ships, or any automated drones, most fighters had a human pilot. Quinn soon found himself dodging and weaving as four fighters wer
e all trying to get a lock. Elsewhere the Imperium was repositioning, exploiting the breach the clan ships had opened up, for all that it then brought them into direct conflict with the clan rearguard.
Quinn needed to start drawing on his abilities. Even with his piloting skills there were just too many ships, too much fire being exchanged. Their shields were starting to deplete. They needed every bit of those they could manage. To get to the planet would mean going past a station, and if it got a visual on them the fire would be withering. With shields they might make it down, they didn't stand a chance otherwise.
"Mana," Quinn said.
Bravo slipped a gloved hand into a box of mana crystals and press one against Quinn's skin. It shimmered and vanished at once as it was absorbed, and Quinn felt the power blooming within him. This much was almost uncomfortable and made him feel like an over-inflated balloon. That was fine, he'd be burning it off in short order.
Quinn picked the station they'd pass. It was already in the fight, using long-range cannons to take shots at Imperium vessels that were just barely in range.
That was precision fire, intense enough the human operators would be too involved and wouldn't be checking visuals for anything their sensors were missing.
Of course, that was provided nobody was calling them, telling them to take a shot. Quinn needed to get rid of the fighters.
Quinn pulled an Immelmann that escaped fire from two of the fighters, but left him vulnerable to one of the others. As he hoped, it pulled a burn of their reverse thrusters, holding them in position to pour rounds into the shields. Quinn hit full thrust and rammed it.
The shields flickered but held as the fighter exploded around them. The fighter hull held together pretty well, considering the enchantments on it really were great, but the pilot compartment was still a flattened mess.
Two more fighters were closing and Quinn executed a hard stop with a reverse burn, letting them overshoot before firing off targeted shots. One target evaded in time, but the other exploded as their fuel ignited.
