by Tim Marquitz
She’d decided it was because he needed the manpower.
He could throw his soldiers at them because he had ships loaded with more gliding through space at the moment, but it was clear that Galforin was being careful with his pieces, not just throwing them away with the board.
That played to her advantage, but it certainly wasn’t winning them the war.
More of the Wyyvan fighters roared above, and Taj spared them a quick glance before looking at Dent.
“How much longer?” she asked.
He grinned. “Right about now,” he told her, pointing at the fight happening just above them.
Taj stiffened and called to the combined forces of rebels and crew, “Now would be a damn good time to run for cover. Back to the tunnels! Now, gack it!”
The words barely out, a shuttle barreled into the midst of a mass of Wyyvan fighters, exploding as it drew close, a great ball of fire enveloping it and the pack of enemy ships.
A second one barreled into the midst of the Wyyvan advance.
A wash of brilliance blotted out the sky.
XO Volg bolted upright at his station, cursing.
Galforin spun. “XO?”
“Sorry, sir,” he replied, salvaging his self-control, but there was no mistaking the paleness of his green cheeks as examined his console.
“What is it?” the admiral questioned.
“There were massive explosions on the planet,” Volg explained. “Both far beyond the capabilities of any of the forces positioned down there, friend or foe alike. They’ve temporarily blacked out our signals from the planet.”
Galforin’s heart sputtered and he tasted bile in the back of his throat. “Was it…”
Flashes of the worst-case scenario impaled his mind, and he felt a cold chill scamper down his spine.
“No, not that,” Volg told him, but that only made the admiral feel slightly better.
“Then what?” Galforin pushed.
“It appears the invaders set off loads of the Toradium-42, sir,” Volg answered, clearly disbelieving. “We lost five fighters in the blast, and untold foot soldiers.”
Galforin swallowed hard, fighting back the taste of disgust that had crept to his tongue.
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, Admiral,” Volg said, the barest of trembles in his voice. “The spotty transmission link is making it hard for me to get a clear image of what happened. All I know is that they set off an explosion with the ore somehow, and its impact was devastating.”
The admiral hissed, staring at his view screen, wishing he could compete with the technology of the cursed scum who’d invaded his planet. He had the numbers, but it was clear from the start that the enemy’s confidence was unending.
They just kept coming, and Galforin had no idea why or what they wanted other than to steal the Toradium-42 out from under him.
But even that didn’t make sense when laid alongside the fact that the enemy could hardly be called an invasion force. They’d brought a pittance of soldiers and armament, and even the advantage of their AI couldn’t overcome that kind of deficit.
Who are you, and what do you want?
“Scanners show eight shuttles returning to their command ship,” Volg reported.
“Any lifeforms?” Galforin asked.
Volg grunted. “They’re shielded, deflecting our scans. The ships are voids to our sensors.”
“Could they be retreating from the planet?” the admiral wondered aloud.
That would be too much to hope for.
These creatures infuriated him. He had no clear understanding of what they wanted or why they were doing what they were doing, and it was causing him to second-guess himself and his decisions.
He’d already deferred to the XO once, and he felt he might do so again, showing Volg a weakness he didn’t particularly want to reveal so plainly.
“Wait!” Volg cried out. “Not all of the shuttles returned to the command craft. They were using it for cover against our sensors. Four of them are following in the wake of a destroyer that’s coming straight toward the fleet, sir.”
Grand Admiral Galforin zoomed in on his screen, adjusting the angle to see the ship Volg was talking about. He saw one of the enemy destroyers hurtling straight toward the fleet. The four shuttles Volg mentioned advanced alongside it, flying in the shadows and using the larger ship’s armor and shields to protect themselves from enemy fire.
“What are they doing?” he asked, although he wasn’t sure if he was speaking to himself or his XO.
Volg swallowed so loudly that Galforin turned to look at the officer. “Sensors are picking up a concentration of Toradium-42 headed our direction. It’s too large for their blocks to suppress.”
“Where’s it coming from?” Galforin asked, then the answer became obvious. “The shuttles.”
Volg confirmed that a second later. “All four are carrying sufficient loads of the ore to—”
“Create the same kind of blackout that happened on the planet!” Galforin finished. “They’re using the shuttles as bombs.”
Volg barked a number of orders into the comm, but Galforin barely heard him.
“Retreat, Volg! Retreat,” Galforin screamed, his throat raw at the intensity.
The Stormfront pulled away in haste, splitting off from the fleet without warning. The ship maneuvered at an angle that kept as many of the fleet’s destroyers as possible between it and the incoming vessels.
The enemy destroyer struck first, driving its nose into the armored hull of a Wyyvan ship. The two crashed together, both firing as they tore apart at the impact. Debris and vented atmosphere obscured Galforin’s view of the wreckage, although he could imagine it.
That would have to do since the shuttles veered off at the last second and flew straight at the nearest ships under the admiral’s command. They reacted impressively, veering aside to avoid the shuttles, but maneuverability favored the smaller craft.
Worse still, they didn’t even need to collide with the ships to bring their deadly load to bear.
All four of the shuttles exploded in unison and the Stormfront’s automatic dampeners blanked the screen, unable to deal with the intensity of the resulting blasts.
A shock wave washed over the Stormfront instants later, battering the dreadnought as Galforin struggled to remain seated within the tempest.
The ship listed and was carried off, its engines failing.
Chapter Twelve
Taj and the others wasted no time darting for the cover of the many gullies the Wyyvan mining venture had ripped in the surface of Krawlas.
Dent had assured her that the explosions were positioned well enough, their energies contained so as to not harm the rebels or the crew, but Taj wasn’t taking any chances.
She understood how powerful the mineral was, and when she had suggested using it as a weapon, she’d had a good idea of what she was asking for.
The reality, however, far exceeded the theory.
The sky had turned white for an instant, blacking out all communication and nearly blinding the crew. If they hadn’t been turned away from the blast, there might well have been permanent damage done to their eyes. As it was, the concussive shock sent those at the rear of their ranks tumbling.
There’d be a lot of bruised and sore people in the morning.
If they survive the night, Taj corrected.
Once they’d recovered from the blast, they slipped away, returning to the rebel tunnels. Taj sighed, grateful to crawl into the dark, deep cavern, as far from the Wyyvan soldiers as possible.
Given what they’d been through, a comforting sense of peace settled over her, and Taj reveled in it for the few seconds it lasted.
Malcolm ran up to them, wide-eyed and sweaty, grit and dirt clinging to his cheeks and filling the wrinkles in his forehead.
“What happened?”
“Later,” Jak said to Malcolm, still blinking away the aftereffects of the blast.
Taj could only imagine how uncom
fortable it must have been to not have solid eye protection while out there. He had to be seeing all sorts of dancing dots.
Malcolm seemed to take the dismissal in stride, choosing to say nothing.
“Is the work done?” Jak asked.
“It is,” he answered, wiping the dirt from his brow. “The tunnels extend all the way under the compound, coming up in all the locations you ordered. All that’s needed is to punch through the last few layers of ground, and we’re inside.”
Taj grunted her approval.
“Our people in place?” Jak asked with a grim smile.
“They are.”
“Then let’s get going,” he said. “Once those soldiers recover, they’re going to be out for blood.”
Taj didn’t argue.
They’d effectively set off a tactical nuke in the middle of Wyyvan fighters. She could only imagine the carnage they’d left behind on the field.
Actually, she didn’t want to imagine it.
Some things are better left as mysteries, she thought.
The crew and rebels raced into the tunnels that Jak’s people had dug while the rest battled in the desert above. Cabe caught up to Taj.
“That was one gack of a distraction,” he told her. “Remind me not to make you mad.”
“You need to worry about Dent, not me,” she said, laughing. “It was my idea, but he’s the one who made everything go boom.”
“It’s a surprisingly simply process, I have to admit,” the AI told them. “I’m truly amazed that the Wyyvans hadn’t yet figured it out and used their foothold here against us.”
“Let’s keep that secret to ourselves,” Krawg said, shaking his shaggy head. “I feel like I’ve got a sunburn despite my fur and the armor.”
“The blast had one gack of a kick,” Torbon admitted.
“Imagine what can be done with processed and refined Toradium-42,” Lina said, whistling.
“Not sure I want to,” Torbon answered. “To be honest, I’d be perfectly happy going back to a time when I’d never heard of the stuff. Life was pretty good before we were living on an energy source that could blow the planet up with enough of it.”
“That’s a scary thought,” Taj whispered, trying not to think about it.
The rebels and crew split between the tunnels. Taj, Cabe, Torbon, Lina, Dent, and Krawg, along with Jak and Rat, came to the end of their tunnel a short while later. A handful of rebels were there, hovering around one of the tunneling machines and pacing impatiently. Jak greeted them.
He turned back and looked at Taj once he was done. “Any reason for us to wait?”
“Best we don’t,” she advised. “The quicker we take advantage of the chaos above, the better our chances of pulling this off are.”
“Fair enough,” Jak replied, motioning to his people.
They pulled on masks to protect them from the dust and triggered the machine, moving it into position and digging away the last few feet of solid ground between them and the outpost above.
Artificial light shined down on them as the ground gave way, and Taj and the others bolted from the angled tunnel into the night.
They emerged just west of an artillery unit with two soldiers on duty there.
The lizards gaped at seeing them appear out of the ground and died immediately afterward.
Both collapsed in a heap, and two of the rebels set upon the cannon, familiarizing themselves with it as a small contingent of Jak’s people scattered down nearby alleys and streets to find and free workers. A group stuck with Taj.
“Next,” Torbon said, gesturing in a different direction. He started off without waiting for them.
Taj and the others followed him.
The rebels’ main mission was to gather the workers and lead them to the various tunnels, getting them ready to flee the compound while Taj and her outfit captured and converted as many of the artillery units to their own use as they could before the Wyyvan soldiers outside figured things out.
As had been the case from the start, the clock was against them.
Taj and the others raced through the outpost, following the pseudo-map she’d drawn up after riding along on the automated vehicle and the intel of the rebels. While she was sure they’d missed some of the artillery units, they had a good idea where most of them were.
Better still, the Wyyvans’ confidence in their reconnection with Galforin and the push outside of the walls had unintentionally benefited Taj’s mission.
With fewer soldiers at each weapon, the majority out on the plains hunting the cats and rebels, the units were easier to take over. The number of soldiers guarding the workers had been reduced too, and they’d been corralled in fewer areas to maximize the effectiveness of the guards who remained.
That made the Wyyvans easier targets.
Taj came across another artillery station and ran straight at it. Communications down, they had no clue that a half-dozen of the weapons had already been commandeered. The lizards hung around their post almost causally, awaiting an order to start firing that would never come.
Taj shot the first lizard in the back of the head, driving him face-first into the artillery mount. Stunned, he growled and tried to regain his senses.
The other Wyyvan soldier spun around, raising his weapon only to meet the full force of the others. He was gunned down by the crew, stumbling back and only falling once they’d stopped pulling their triggers.
As the other scrambled to his feet, Taj came up behind him and blew a hole in his back from point-blank range. He died without a sound, having never fully regained his wits.
Taj hopped on the comm once they took another of the artillery positions.
“All gun units, turn your fire on the killing field just outside the outpost’s walls and slowly expand from there,” she ordered.
Torbon looked at the night sky, eyes narrow. “Now’s the moment of truth, huh?”
Taj nodded as the various artillery units under their control began to fire, filling the darkness with blazing fury.
“The Wyyvan fleet has pulled back, although they’ve yet to break off hostilities,” Dent reported. “Our stunt with the Toradium-42 caught them off-guard, just as it did down here. They lost four ships to the explosion, and the blast has scrambled communications.”
“That still leaves us at a deficit up there.” Taj sighed. “Can the Wyyvans still hit us from where they are?”
“Unfortunately, they can,” Dent admitted. “They are still within firing range of the planet.”
“So once they figure out that we’re using their artillery against their own people…” Torbon let his sentence fade.
Everyone knew the consequences of dropping straight into the middle of the contained target that was the outpost. It was why the rebels needed to move fast to get the workers into the tunnels and away from the outpost before Galforin’s restraint surrendered to his fury.
It was a balancing act.
“Jak!” Taj called over the comm. “How’s it going?”
The rebel leader’s voice came back quickly. “We’ve recovered most of the workers and are moving them to the tunnel entrances. Waiting for more cover fire from the artillery units before we start moving.”
Taj nodded although she knew Jak couldn’t see her. “Keep doing what you’re doing, but if you could do it quicker, that’d be a good idea.”
“Roger that!” Jak replied and cut the call.
Taj expected a rain of ship’s fire on her head any moment, and the longer it took to arrive, the more worried she became.
They took down another three artillery units while they waited.
The Wyyvan soldiers at the first unit put up a perfunctory fight, but those at the others had apparently figured out where their fellow units had started dropping their munitions and realized they were on the losing side of a battle they hadn’t even known was going on.
When the crew approached the units, the Wyyvan soldiers were retreating or had already fled, trying to escape the enemy
they knew were inside the walls now.
“This is too easy,” Cabe complained. “I thought they’d put up a more determined fight to keep their positions.”
“We got lucky,” Taj said, and she felt that was truly the case.
She hadn’t been as prepared to fight a war as she’d thought; working off old intel, not knowing the lay of the land; she’d come in blind, and she’d had to think on the fly.
Fortunately, the pieces had fallen into place after the Toradium-42 explosions. She’d sent the Wyyvans reeling, and they’d yet to recover.
They would eventually, though.
She and the crew had to be gone by then.
“Get those guns firing so we can clear a perimeter around the outpost, then we’re out of here,” she ordered.
“The troops on the field are moving back and taking cover where they can,” Dent reported, using the remaining shuttles to keep an eye on the battle.
The Wyyvan fighter squadron had mostly been destroyed in the blast and the resulting confusion, Dent’s automated shuttles unaffected by the explosion they had known was coming.
They’d cleaned up the majority of the fighters and were hunting down the last of the them while the Wyyvan artillery swept through the rank-and-file soldiers on the ground.
Taj glanced at the sky, something she and the others had done regularly since they’d started trying to take the outpost.
“Not that I mind, but why the gack hasn’t Galforin started pelting us?” she asked.
Dent didn’t have an answer.
“Is this place that important?” Lina wondered.
“How important could it be if he’s lost it?” Cabe countered.
“Fleet status,” Taj asked the AI.
“Still fighting us and holding strong,” he reported. “The Wyyvans on the field are moving out of artillery range and reforming their lines.”
“We’re all in position,” Jak told her over the comm. “Moving the workers through the tunnels now.”
“Be careful,” she answered. “See you soon.”
Outside of the blast of the artillery units and the occasional flurry of small-arms fire as the rebels came across pockets of Wyyvan resistance, the outpost was eerily quiet.
