by Ryk Brown
“Target damage assessments, when able,” Nathan urged his sensor officer.
“Working on it,” she replied.
“Jump is ready,” Mister Bickle reported.
“Ready all tubes and turrets,” Nathan ordered. “Jump.”
The jump flash, again, washed over the bridge. The planet grew in size, filling more of the view screen, as did both of the frigates since they, too, were now much closer than a few seconds ago.
“Firing all tubes and turrets!” Jessica announced.
Again, a stream of plasma torpedoes, departing in groups of four, mixed in with six streams of plasma bolts from the quad-barreled, plasma cannon turrets along the bow of the Aurora. Both frigates immediately turned away, their shields flashing with each impact of plasma. A split second later, the two frigates jumped to safety.
“Jump flash, directly astern,” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned. “The cruiser has moved in behind us.”
“Jump forward one light minute,” Nathan ordered. “Start a standard-rate turn to port, after we jump, and come about on a reciprocal heading.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Multiple contacts,” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned. “Now showing two Dusahn battleships, three cruisers, and four frigates,” she reported, feeling overwhelmed. “And that’s not including all the gunships and non-military traffic swarming about.”
“This place is a traffic controller’s nightmare,” Lieutenant Dinev commented under her breath as the next jump flash washed over them.
Six crawlers suddenly appeared only fifty meters beyond the orbital shipyard’s superstructure that surrounded the Teyentah. No jump flashes announced their presence; they simply came into existence, as if from nowhere. They coasted toward the Teyentah below them, firing thrusters to steer between the trusses that encompassed the massive battleship.
Lieutenant Rezhik immediately switched on his transponder, spoofing the identification codes provided by Suvan Navarro so that, to the shipyard controllers, they would appear as duplicates of existing crawlers, and would likely be attributed to a computer glitch. He checked his display, noting that his men had done likewise and that all six crawlers were now squawking expected ID codes.
The lieutenant carefully manipulated his controls, steering his crawler through the truss-work structure. Once past, he altered his course just enough to steer toward the section of the hull that lay directly over the main engineering portion of the warship.
The meters counted away quickly as he closed on the massive vessel. At the last moment, he fired his thrusters again and then slightly coiled the arms on his crawler to better absorb the impact of touchdown.
In near unison, all six crawlers touched down on the outer hull of the Takaran battleship. Three of the crawlers moved immediately into position and began cutting a circle through the hull in coordinated fashion, while the other three crawlers pointed their side-mounted, fixed, mini-plasma cannons outward, taking defensive postures.
Two Ranni jump shuttles appeared, as if from nowhere, and without any jump flashes, just outside of the shipyard, on collision courses with the Teyentah. They, too, steered through the truss-work surrounding the ship and then ducked into her starboard flight deck bay, dIsoppearing from sight.
Once inside the bay, the shuttles decelerated sharply, turning toward the large door which led from the bay into the starboard hangar deck.
Suvan Navarro powered up his crawler and immediately moved it to one side of the hangar door frame, activating his mag-locks at full power. He pressed the button on the remote detonator. There was a flash of light, and his crawler shook. A split second later, something hit one of his canopy windows, scaring the daylights out of him. He heard a hissing sound and looked to his right. Just above his right ear, something, probably a piece of the blast door, had slammed into the little window and cracked it.
He was now leaking air, likely having only minutes before he would be in full vacuum and would be dead. He immediately deactivated his mag-locks and crawled furiously through the, now, open bay doorway, seeking refuge inside. If he could just get to one of the crawler docks in the starboard hangar bay in time, he might still get out of the crawler and into the pressurized interior of the Teyentah, before it was too late.
One after another, each of the four Cobra gunships jumped into the Takar system. Upon arrival, they each turned toward different targets and jumped again, arriving near their intended targets, a split second later. The idea was to create the illusion of an all-out attack against the Dusahn fleet, and so far, it appeared to be working. One by one, the Dusahn warships began moving away from the shipyard to engage the Aurora and the newly arrived gunships.
“Dusahn battleship twenty degrees to port, slightly below us,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported.
“Turn into the battleship and jump us over her to a position thirty light seconds beyond, then come about to jump back and attack.”
“They’ll get a read on us before we finish the turn,” Lieutenant Dinev reminded her captain.
“Let’s hope so,” Nathan replied. “Just to make it look good, let’s first jump even with her, on our side, and slap her with our port broadsides,” Nathan suggested.
“Just to piss them off?” Jessica commented as her fingers danced across the tactical console, selecting targets for the Aurora’s weapons.
“Gotta put on a good show,” Nathan replied. “Lieutenant?”
“I’ve got it, sir.”
“Both jumps are plotted and ready,” Mister Bickle announced.
“Roll us onto our port side as you come out of your turn, Lieutenant,” Nathan ordered.
“Aye, sir.”
The Aurora came out of her turn to port, then rolled onto her port side, jumping ahead several kilometers as her roll completed, and coming out even with, and directly above, the enemy battleship. The much smaller ship’s weapons immediately began to fire. Rail guns, plasma cannon turrets, and, finally, the mark three broadside plasma cannons on her aft port side, all blasted away at the much larger ship’s shields as the Aurora slid over the enemy vessel.
The black and crimson battleship returned fire seconds later, pummeling the Aurora’s shields, as well, and with considerably greater firepower. Within seconds, the Aurora’s shields began to show signs of failing, a state made obvious by the prolonged flashes with each weapons impact against them.
Finally, before her shields could be breached, the Aurora jumped away in a brilliant blue-white flash of light, leaving the Dusahn battleship’s guns spewing into the void of space.
As the overhead shield flashed with the incoming weapons impacts, Sergeant Eliason’s squad of six ran across the compound toward the aboveground entrance to the prison’s subterranean levels. As the entire Delta group moved into position, Echo and Foxer groups also made their way to their planned points of entry.
Now, leaning against the structure, Sergeant Eliason watched as Corporal Mitchell and Specialist Parkett placed the entry charges on the heavy door leading to the levels below.
With the charges set, the two men moved clear of the door.
“Fire in the hole,” Specialist Parkett warned.
A moment later, the charges detonated. Within seconds, similar detonations occurred all over the compound as the other teams gained entry, as well.
Seconds after that, the smoke cleared, revealing a gaping, irregular hole in the door.
“Gazen! Inchin! With me!” the sergeant ordered. “Mitchell, you follow with Parkett and Prisk.”
“Got it,” Corporal Mitchell acknowledged.
Sergeant Eliason waited for Specialists Gazen and Inchin to enter the hole in the door and head down the stairs, then he followed them inside. “Delta Blue is going in,” he reported over comms.
“Delta Red has overwatch,” Master Serg
eant Anwar assured him.
Specialists Gazen and Inchin reached the doorway at the bottom of the stairs, followed a few seconds later by Sergeant Eliason, and a few seconds after him, by the rest of Delta Blue squad.
“Can’t blast our way in here,” Specialist Gazen told the sergeant. “No place to take cover.”
“We’ll have to cut our way through,” Sergeant Eliason realized.
“That’ll take a minute,” Gazen reminded him. “They’ll be waiting for us on the other side.”
“Can’t be helped,” the sergeant said. “Start cutting.”
Gazen and Inchin pulled out their laser torches and began cutting through the inner door at the bottom of the stairwell.
“This sucks,” Corporal Mitchell said, coming down to stand next to his friend, Sergeant Eliason.
“Pop some stunners, dive and roll firing, and scramble for the far side of the foyer for cover. Then, toss incendiaries in both directions.”
“You feeling like a hero today, Sarge?”
“Nope,” Sergeant Eliason said, grinning. “Like a kick-ass Ghatazhak.”
“Incendiaries and stunners,” Corporal Mitchell called back to his men behind him. “Pass them down.”
Vol Kaguchi pressed the jump button on his flight control stick, causing the pale blue light to spill out over his Gunyoki fighter’s hull. A second later, the view outside his canopy changed, and he found himself in the middle of a battle between the Aurora and three Dusahn frigates, with Cobra gunships jumping in and out, trying to help.
“Striker Three!” Captain Nash’s voice called over comms. “Target the frigate to your starboard side. Flip one, seven charlie, then back to rally four seven two.”
“Starboard frigate, flip one seven charlie, rally four seven two,” Kenji repeated.
Striker One’s jump flash filled Vol’s cockpit as the Cobra gunship jumped away, avoiding an incoming missile that now streaked past Vol’s fighter, nearly missing his port engine nacelle.
“That was close,” Tariq exclaimed over comms.
“Oh, you’re still with me,” Vol joked. “Pretty good, for someone who has never won a major heat,” he added as he turned toward the same frigate as Striker Three was targeting. “Follow me in, Two.”
“No way you can shake me, old man,” Tariq teased.
“As soon as the gunship breaks to jump, I’ll launch a full spread of shield busters. You follow with your main plasma cannons.”
“Got it,” Tariq replied, confidently.
“Striker Three, engaging,” Aiden’s voice announced over comms.
“Striker Three, Shenza One. Do me a favor, and break left after your attack run. That should set us up nicely.”
“Understood,” Aiden replied as he opened fire on the frigate before him.
Vol steered his Gunyoki fighter directly behind Aiden’s gunship, preparing his next jump as he followed the young pilot toward the target. “Buster’s ready?” he asked his weapons officer behind him.
“Eight of them set to launch,” Iso replied from the back of the cockpit. “Just give me a clear shot.”
“You should have one in…” Vol glanced at his console, quickly assessing the rate the gunship in front of him was closing on the frigate. “…six seconds.”
Five seconds later, the gunship in front of him ceased fire, rolled into a turn to port, and dIsoppeared in a blue-white flash of light that nearly blinded Vol. “Clear line of fire!” he told his weapons officer.
“Firing!” Iso announced.
Eight stubby missiles leapt from the big, square pods on either side of the Gunyoki fighter’s fuselage and streaked ahead of them toward the frigate. The missiles slammed into the frigate’s shields, causing them to overload. Emitters on the frigates starboard side overheated and exploded, causing her shields to collapse.
Vol pitched up, not wanting to take the same escape jump line as Striker Three, and pressed his jump button before the enemy frigate could open fire on him. A split second later, he was in the clear and continued pitching up, to come over and back, toward the same target. As he came around, Shenza Two appeared just above him.
“Son of a bitch!” Tariq exclaimed over comms.
“Did you get him?” Vol asked excitedly.
“No! The pussy jumped away as soon as you took out his shields!”
“These guys aren’t stupid,” Vol pointed out.
“I still say they’re pussies!” Tariq insisted.
Vol chuckled to himself as he came out onto his return heading and tapped his jump button again.
Both Ranni shuttles flew through the gaping hole in the blast doors and into the transfer tunnel. With only seconds to react, both ships fired their strapped-on plasma cannons, blowing holes, not quite big enough for their ships to fit through, into the inner doors at the end of the transfer tunnel.
The ships continued down the short tunnel, diving into the holes they had just created. Both ships came to a sudden stop when the front half of their shuttles jammed into the holes.
General Telles quickly shook off the startling effects of the sudden stop as his pilot activated the explosive bolts holding their forward windows in place. The window panels blew outward, flying into the pressurized hangar deck in front of them.
General Telles stood up, climbed over the console, and squeezed through the opening. He then slid down the nose of the shuttle, landing on the hangar deck in front of the ship. He looked to his right as Master Sergeant Willem slid out through the forward windows of his shuttle in the same fashion, and then down to the deck, as well.
General Telles brought his weapon up to a ready position, immediately sweeping the massive hangar bay for threats but found none. He signaled the master sergeant to move to the right, while he went left. “Alpha, disembark, fan left,” he ordered quietly over comms.
“Bravo, disembark, fan right,” the master sergeant ordered his men in the other shuttle.
As the other Ghatazhak climbed out of their shuttles and followed, General Telles moved quickly toward the far bulkhead, staying in a low crouch as he moved his weapon back and forth.
He made his way to the wall and moved forward toward the far hatch. The hatch, itself, had undoubtedly sealed automatically when the inner doors had been breached. He glanced at the environmental display on the inside of his visor, noting that, although it was lower than normal, the hangar bay was still pressurized, and the pressure was slowly sealing. As expected, the inner doors were the type which automatically sealed around any object that penetrated them.
General Telles looked back toward the shuttles, noting that all twelve Ghatazhak, including himself, as well as their two pilots, had made it out of the shuttles and had found safe cover. He reached up and tapped the comms controls on the side of his combat helmet, changing comms channels. “Alpha and Bravo teams are inside.”
Sergeant Eliason attached the extra grenades to his body armor as Specialists Gazen and Inchin finished cutting through the door at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as they finished, the men stowed their laser torches and readied their assault rifles in preparation to enter with their squad leader.
The sergeant looked back at Corporal Mitchell, who was standing a few steps up, along with the other two members of the squad. The corporal nodded to Eliason, signaling that they were ready, as well.
Sergeant Eliason looked at Gazen and Inchin, both of whom had grenades in hand, ready to deploy. The sergeant kicked the door, causing the cutout to fall inward. Gazen and Inchin tossed their stunner grenades through the door, in opposite directions, after which the sergeant tossed his incendiary grenades, as well.
Four flashes of blinding light and sensory-deafening sound went off in the corridor beyond the door, followed by four explosions that sent burning gases expanding in all directions,
filling the corridor. The sergeant waited several seconds for the flashover to finish, then dove headfirst through the doorway. He landed in a tuck and roll, coming up firing with his assault rifle, first left and then right.
Four more grenades came flying through the doorway, again to the left and right. The sergeant spun around to face the wall as he activated the sensory-protection fields in his combat helmet. The room flashed again, and Gazen and Inchin entered as well, stepping quickly through the door as they opened fire; Gazen to the left, and Inchin to the right. It was a classic Ghatazhak entry maneuver, practiced countless times over their years of training together on Burgess.
The process repeated two more times, allowing the other three members of the team to enter, and for Eliason and his men to move down the corridor, pushing the Dusahn defenders back.
Section by section, Sergeant Eliason and his men advanced in the face of heavy resistance. Energy weapons fire ricocheted in all directions as red and yellow energy bolts were exchanged by both sides. Multiple times, the sergeant felt bolts of energy slamming into his body armor, threatening to knock him off his feet. Had he not been wearing it, he surely would have been dead by now.
The sergeant moved to the next doorway, crouching down low to avoid the heavy weapons fire coming from the next section. A Dusahn grenade bounced past him, rolling further down the corridor toward his men. “Grenade!” he yelled in warning as he jumped up, running toward the bouncing grenade. Leaning over as he ran, he grabbed the grenade, twisted around in the air, and tossed it back in the direction it had come. The grenade detonated as it passed through the doorway, wrecking the door frame and the wall in the blast.
