Resolute Uprising (The War for Terra)

by James Prosser

  “Try and get somewhere safe, Jackal,” Lee called to the other ship. “We need to give Resolute some breathing room.”

  “I’ll try, sir,” Jackal responded. “Chang tore the place up pretty bad though.”

  “Do your best.” Lee said, signing off. He turned to Goldstein and cocked his head. The pilot began tapping away at the keys and the view on the projection changed again. Stars flashed by as the Diamond Sole rolled hard to starboard and angled back to the fight. The rogue destroyer was still wobbling in space as it made its way further from the freighter. Resolute was practically nose to nose with the big alien vessel. The battleship had taken some nasty hull damage along its flank. Hull plating on the destroyer was beginning to peel away into space.

  Lee took his seat again as the slave ship raced towards the battlefield. He was glad that the communications system was down. If Roy Booth could call to him, he was sure that the hull plating on Diamond Sole would be boiling off as well. He saw the flare of the shields as stray plasma bolts ricocheted off into space. Aztec began losing their own red-orange fire into the destroyer. The power of their weapons was negligible compared to Resolute, but Lee felt that they might be able to annoy the enemy away from his ship.

  The ship rocked as return fire from the destroyer glanced off their shields. Lee pushed his feet into the metal decking and tried to keep from falling off the stool. They were spinning through space, firing bolts across the plating of the larger ship. Resolute had apparently received the restored transponder signal and had stopped firing at the Diamond Sole.

  “Captain!” Aztec cried as his panel sputtered sparks. The shield grid appeared to have shut down and the ship faltered. “Incoming ships bearing forty-seven mark four by one-sixty-five. It’s the frigates. I think they brought little friends.”

  Lee leapt from his seat and over to the tactical consoles. A flickering screen showed the incoming Ch’Tauk ships and dozens of smaller vessels. They were blasting away at the battleship as they approached. The battleship tried to turn away from the alien vessels, but was quickly surrounded by the fighters. Diamond Sole tried to intercept several of the small ships, but was overwhelmed by plasma fire. Goldstein pulled the ship up and away from the attacking ship.

  “Can we launch the Demons?” Lee shouted over the sounds of straining engines.

  “Negative Captain.” Aztec responded. Even if we had Jackal and Baron over here, the hull is starting to twist. I don’t think we could get the doors open.”

  Lee cursed under his breath as the ship spun back into the battle. He could feel each plasma bolt as it impacted on the hull. The shields were flickering as engineering raced to restore their only defense. Aztec continued to fire into the fray as well, trying to reduce the number of fighters. The slave ship’s cannons were light duty but repeated hits began to show on the Ch’Tauk hulls.

  “Sir, Resolute is venting atmosphere!” Devereaux announced to the bridge. “I am not reading bodies, but I’d say decks six and seven are open to space.”

  “Where is Phanoi?” Lee asked across the bridge. “Can she get away?”

  “Phanoi has moved out of the direct line of battle,” Aztec replied, staring at his scanner. “She’s not moving very fast, though. I don’t think they can get away fast enough.”

  “Damn,” Lee said, feeling helpless. “Keep firing. Let’s try to stay in this until we can’t hold them off any longer.”

  “Captain,” Aztec responded. “I’ve got another destroyer moving in. It’s the one that Phanoi was attached to. She’s closing on Resolute.”

  Lee stared back out the projection. He had forgotten about the other ship in the heat of battle. The frigates had pulled away from the doomed battleship as the second vessel squared its trajectory and headed nose on towards Resolute. The battleship let out fire from its nose cannons, but the targeting system was obviously damaged. Plasma bolts were flung out into space below the attacking ship. Lee braced himself to see his beloved ship blasted to atoms.

  Plasma bolts lanced out from the bow of the Ch’Tauk ship. The red-orange fire blasted over the top of the battleship’s hull and beyond. The bolts slammed into the nearest frigate, painting scorch marks across the plating. Lee shook his head in disbelief as he saw the rogue ship attacking its own kind. Resolute dipped its bow below the line of fire and limped down and away from the battle.

  “What the hell?” Lee said to the bridge. “Is it a mutiny?”

  The Ch’Tauk armada flew apart in disarray as the oncoming destroyer opened fire. Fighters disappeared in blazing puffs of burning atmosphere. The original destroyer tried to turn its attack towards the new enemy, but a fleeing frigate passed between the two ships and was ruptured down the middle by the twin attacks.

  “Sir, we’ve got more incoming!” Aztec yelled out.

  “Negative sir,” the pilot called back. “An M-space exit opened between us and the planet.”

  “Who?” Lee asked. “Did the Ch’Tauk get off a distress call?”

  “Negative, sir.” Devereaux called. “It’s the Alliance.”

  Lee looked as the projection spun to show an Alliance carrier shedding its fiery corona. Behind the ship were two battle cruisers and several smaller vessels. The carrier was already launching fighters into the battle. The Ch’Tauk ships scattered under the new assault. The two cruisers spread out and began to pepper the ships with plasma fire. Two of the remaining frigates were trying to escape the new assault but the rogue destroyer gave chase. Freed from the assault on the other destroyer, the rogue ship was able to concentrate fire. The slower of the two frigates began to burst under the bombardment. The other managed a hasty evasion and escaped its partner’s fate. Before it could go far, however, Resolute restored its attack and split away hull plating.

  Lee let out a whoop as he saw the battle unfold. The appearance of the carrier and the larger capital ships was like a dream that he was afraid to believe. A lurch under his fleet brought him back to reality. One of the Ch’Tauk fighters had broken away from the main force and was pursuing the slave ship. Aztec tapped his panel and targeted the stray insect. It burst under the concentrated plasma fire as if under a magnifier. Lee assumed it had already been damaged by the assault force.

  “Captain, Phanoi is signaling clear to jump to M-space!” Devereaux announced. “We’ve got our communications back!”

  Lee watched the battle. Ch’Tauk ships were fleeing into their own M-space portals, leaving the wreckage of dying ships behind. The Alliance fleet was chasing the ships to the edge of the portal, but not through. Whoever had ordered the rescue wanted some of the ships to escape. They were sending a message to the enemy.

  “Signal Jackal to stand down.” Lee said. “We’re going home together.”

  25

  Five Years Ago

  Earth - Wyoming

  A cool breeze was blowing in from the Wind River Mountains as Everett Pearce rode his dun mare across the open country. This time of year, the tourists had all but left the ranch and his hands were kept busy preparing the spread from winter. Ev loved to take the early evening hours to ride out to the corners of his two-hundred acre horse ranch and farm. The alfalfa fields had been harvested and bailed and were awaiting transport to the nearby processing site.

  Ev took a deep breath of the clean air and sighed. He was not a young man but as he was reminded by aching joints and weakening vision, but he had hoped to be able to go on ranching for at least a few more years. When the local doctor had told him of the cancer growing in his lymphatic system, he had known that his years were growing short. There were treatments and therapies that could eliminate the cancer but make him weak and less able to take care of his land and family. So he had called his two sons and one daughter back to Wyoming to tell them the news.

  His daughter was on Colony Six and would not be able to make it before winter fell. His eldest son, William, was back at the ranch house, preparing the horses for a long fall night. His youngest child, Lee, had gone away to space to be a
famous pilot. He had not heard a reply from Lee regarding whether he would be able to return. He had not heard much from his son in the years he had been gone. The rift between father and son had only deepened when Lee’s mother had died in a skimmer accident a few years ago. Ev had thought that things might improve after the funeral, but Lee was on a transport and off Earth almost before the music had stopped.

  Trotting his mare towards the setting sun, Ev looked out across the mountains that had been is home for six decades. If the doctors told him true, he would not live to see another summer. He wanted to die out here. The mountains were his family as much as his blood. This whole area had once belonged to a tribe who had long since faded into history. He counted his family as some of the last of their kind. He understood his daughter moving to the colony to try and start a new world. That kind of spirit was what allowed the Pearce’s to survive throughout the centuries. William was far too much like his father and would inherit the ranch after Ev’s death. It was Lee that he could not understand.

  The boy was a wild stallion running out among the stars. Ev supposed it must be some remnant of the tribal spirit of his people that kept Lee running, but Ev simply could not understand why the boy kept running. Ev watched the news every evening, looking for any mention of conflicts or battles that his son might have been a part of. He had received notification that Lee would be getting some kind of promotion soon, but had not heard from the boy directly. He just wanted one last chance to say goodbye before his son left Earth again.

  There was a small chirp at his wrist as the comm unit alerted him to an incoming message. He hated the little micro-communicator, but needed to know what was happening on the ranch. He held up the device to his lips and tapped the small dark pad implanted just under his skin. A small projection leapt from his wrist. It was William, the oldest of his children and ranch foreman.

  “Dad,” began the image. “We just got word from Lee.”

  Everett’s heart skipped. He had not expected any messages from his son. He had also not realized how happy the message would make him. He looked back at William’s face hovering over this wrist. The man looked almost exactly like his father. He had the straight nose of his family lineage and dark hair, kept long and tied back over his ears.

  “What does he say, Will?” Everett asked. “What’s his excuse this time?”

  “No excuses, dad. He said he was in orbit and coming down soon.” William said with a smile. “Dad, he’s really here. He wants to talk to you.”

  Everett Pearce took a moment to breathe the fresh air again. His son was coming home to see him. He decided to ride the long way home to visit his wife’s grave. He wanted to talk to her again. She was always Lee’s defender. She had been the one to drive the boy to the Confederate Combined Forces recruiting station in Jackson Hole when he said he wanted to enlist. She understood the wanderlust that Lee displayed better than Ev. In the early hours of the morning, she was the one that calmed Ev’s mind when he worried about his youngest son. She would be glad he was coming home.

  “Alright, Will,” Ev replied to the projection. “I’ll be heading back soon. I’m gonna stop by your mama’s place for a second. If Lee gets here before I get back, tie him up in the barn and don’t let him leave, alright?”

  “You got it, pop,” replied William. “I’ll get the lead ropes out.”

  Everett smiled at the joke. To break a stallion, Ev had always used a lead rope and signals to guide a horse into training. He would gallop the horse around the training pen until the animal acknowledged his presence. Over time, the stallion would come to respect and understand him until he was calm enough to respond to simple commands. The running joke between William and himself was that they should have used the lead ropes on the youngest Pearce.

  “Oh, dad, before I forget.” William added. “There’s something wrong with the ComNet. We were watching for the news service and it just blanked out. Do you want me to call someone?”

  “No, Will.” Ev replied. “Just let’s have an evening without the net. I think we should all just have supper and talk for a while. Your mother always loved nights like that.”

  “Sounds good, pop.” William replied. He smiled out to his father for another moment before the image began to break up.

  Ev tapped his wrist. The signal was not usually so full of interference. The signal popped out just as Ev saw William’s head turn away in confusion. The signal loss was unusual in this day of light speed communications and orbital communications networks. He tapped his wrist again to try to retrieve the signal but had no luck. After a moment of staring at his wrist, Ev decided to skip the trip to his wife’s grave and return to the ranch house directly.

  He kneed the mare under him into motion. The horse snickered as it sensed his agitation. The horse had been ridden lightly on the way out and had barely broken into more than a trot on the uneven lands surrounding the ranch. Now Ev kicked it into a full gallop. He was racing the sun now, trying to get back before nightfall. There was something in the look on William’s face as the image snapped off that had Ev on alert. William was not an emotional man, but Everett had seen the flickers of fear as the image flickered out.

  As Ev raced towards the farm house, he felt an unusual shudder in the ground. He pulled up the reins on the mare and halted the gallop. The horse was fully alert now wither her eyes rolling around and her head twitching. The ground was nearly rolling with vibration. Ev had been in California a few years ago when a massive Earthquake had rumbled under his feet. What he was feeling now was much more menacing. The rumbles felt less organic and even than the moving of the Earth. There was an element of chaos in the shuddering under him.

  He kicked the horse back into a gallop and let out a sharp whoop. He began to see a plume of smoke rising from the direction of the ranch. His mind raced as he tried to think of anything that could have exploded. He had a natural gas tank on the site that kept some of the land heated in winter, but the tank was insulated and buried. Modern tank construction virtually guaranteed no accidents.

  A new sound penetrated Ev’s racing mind. There was a roar as a flight of ships flew past him, heading for the sunset. The ships were unlike anything Ev had ever seen. They were copper colored and resembled elongated insects with banded armor. There were red projections extending from the underside of the ships and they seemed to be wobbling slightly as they flew away. Ev kicked the mare again, trying to will the animal to fly toward the ranch. He heard a change in the sound of the ships. One of them had turned away from the rest and was heading back towards him.

  Veering the horse towards a copse of trees, Ev felt his heart beating hard in his chest. In the last few months, he had begun to think he would never be able to feel alive again. Now, with a strange enemy approaching and his family in danger, he regretted the depression that he had sunk into. It had seemed the natural thing to do but now he saw it as wasted opportunities.

  He felt the horse tense as they leapt a small stream and made for the trees. The ship had slowed and was now nearly hovering behind him. Ev could practically feel the crosshairs on his back as they galloped closer to cover. Just as the rider and mount entered the stand, an explosion ripped the ground behind them. Ev felt that he would never be able to hold on to the horse with the bucking of the ground under them. The horse bucked under the force of the explosion, but kept it’s hooves under her. Ev held on tight as they raced further into the trees.

  A series of explosions lit up the small forest as the enemy blasted the trees around Ev. The mare staggered to a halt as a flaming tree fell from the forest canopy. The force of the explosions had apparently uprooted the entire thing and launched it above the canopy. Ev was nearly launched over the horse’s head as they came to a sudden stop. He held on as the mare bucked from fright. Ev tried calming words and a hand stroking the neck of the animal seemed to calm her enough that she stopped jumping. He heard the sound of enemy engines powering up above the forest burning. The sound moved away from the trees unt
il it faded away entirely.

  Searching the surrounding area, Ev tried to remember how the trees were arranged. He had ridden through this area countless times over the years and should know the way out. Unfortunately, the fire and the headlong gallop into the copse had confused his bearings. He could not identify the trail that should have been nearby. The burning trees were producing an overwhelming noise now, confusing him further.

  It was the mare that finally began to move through the smoke and chaos. She was scared, but had better senses then Everett did. The horses tread carefully away from the flames and back the way they came. Ev thought the animal was just retracing its steps but the horse turned away from their entry. The blazing trees were beginning to snap now and Ev grew frightened that he would be overcome by the smoke. The mare bolted quickly, causing Ev to hang on to the reins tight. She seemed to be galloping headlong into the fire and he tried to pull her out of the suicidal run. She refused to stop and increased speed towards the fire. Ev closed his eyes as the horse leapt up and into the fire.

  As Everett opened his eyes, he was surprised to see the clear grasslands. He had expected to land in the fire but now he saw that the mare had charged through the line and into the open. The animal slowed and turned to look back. The trees were a bonfire on the darkening hillside. Ev quickly scanned the sky, looking for the attacking ships. There were none. He breathed in a long breath but coughed out the smoke in his lungs. It took several minutes before he felt strong enough to kick the horse into motion. He turned the mare back to where he saw the outline of smoke in the dark sky.

  The ride back to the ranch house seemed like an eternity as he and the mare tried to take easy breaths. As he came over the low rise that separated the house property from the ranch itself, he braced himself for what he knew he would see. The house was gone. In its place was a smoking crater that still glowed red with plasma fire. Even the barn and skimmer garage were nothing but ash. There was a single body lying several meters from the crater. Ev dismounted from the mare and walked carefully down to the body. He dreaded what he would find as he approached the blackened corpse. He wondered if Lee had made it down before the attack or if he was still up there, fighting the enemy.