By the time Tammy got there, the corpsmen had the CAG’s helmet off and their medical scanners out. “Broken arm,” one said. “Moderate blood loss. He’ll need some fluids.” Tammy exhaled in relief. If that was it, he’d live. A lot of Alliance pilots that day weren’t nearly so lucky.
The tall woman came up beside Brad as the corpsmen prepared the IV. “Any more wounded?” she asked. “Everybody in Swordfish is accounted for.” She distastefully flicked something off her uniform. “Even my gunner.”
Tammy made the connection immediately. Was that Lieutenant Marchenko? The one who saved Geun? He’d mentioned a close call and a crazy woman pilot from Swordfish Squadron who’d bailed him out.
“I haven’t checked,” Brad said. “I knew the CAG was hurt, but that’s it.” He turned to Tammy abruptly. “There’s not a lot of time for introductions, but Lieutenant Watson, this is Lieutenant Marchenko of Swordfish Squadron.” The shadow of a frown crossed his face. Tammy wondered if he'd just barely kept himself from saying, "What's left of it."
“Nice to meet you,” the taller woman said.
Before Tammy had time to even say hello or shake her hand, Brad was back to business. “All the Strikers from the attack are back in, with the reserve pilots on patrol now. We need to get everybody accounted for. Where’s your friend Geun?”
Tammy looked around. They’d flown back home together. Where…there! Geun and what looked a deckhand were carrying a pilot down from a damaged Striker. She pointed. “He’s over there, helping with a wounded man.”
Brad nodded. “Good. Go get him, tell him we need to see who’s hale and who’s not.” He pulled out a datapad. “This shows which fighters are the most damaged. They’re more likely to have wounded pilots.”
Tammy nodded. “Aye aye sir.”
***
Hours later, Wills was patched up enough to gather the pilots for a meeting. A much smaller and quieter group gathered before his podium than there’d been earlier that day. Tammy looked around, her green eyes wide. Over fifty pilots had gone out and it looked like thirty at most had returned. Perhaps fewer. She closed her eyes and shook her head. And unlike the battle with the Achilles and the Sarpedon, the Imperials had gotten away.
Wills took up his post behind the wooden podium, arm in sling and a head-wound bandaged. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, we won." His voice was steady, but his eyes were alive with pain. "Preliminary data indicates we destroyed two frigates outright, mission-killed a cruiser, and beat the hell out of the remaining frigate. All the Imperial ships looked to have taken some degree of damage. We gave the Imperials a bloody nose today, far bloodier than any convoy raid. And we defeated an attempt to destroy this base and kill us all."
He fell silent for a moment. Tammy swallowed. She knew what was coming. "We won a tactical victory. But make no mistake. This was a strategic defeat. We either make a stand here and die or flee. Either way, we can't harry Avalon Shipyards anymore." He fiddled with the notecards on his podium. "To that end, Admiral Banerjee has ordered the base evacuated. Fighters will gather in squadrons and screen the base until the transports are away. Most of the fighters will escort the transports to the rendezvous points, which the admiral will provide later. The best of you will form the rear-guard. If the Imperials have half a brain, they'll be back before we have time to bounce."
She looked around the assembled pilots. Who would the best be? She'd bet Alisa would be among them. She'd saved their asteroids from the Imperials when Dragon Squadron got its asteroid wrecked and Raptor Squadronwas about to go down. And in an obsolescent ship while she was at it. And Brad had commanded the shattered squadrons when Wills' fighter was damaged and he was incommunicado. Would she and Geun be part of the rear-guard too?
"Given our losses, here's the updated squadron roster..."
***
Geun watched the enormous flat screen behind Wills flash white. A flow chart appeared. Ten rows of five orange squares each snaked down from a bigger red square bearing the CAG's name. Each smaller square bore the name of one of the asteroid base's pilots. Geun squinted and could see his own name listed in the row marked Raptor Squadron. Maximus's name was still listed, even though he'd died that day. His name blacked out, as did the names of other pilots fallen in defense of the Alliance's hidden base. He checked the unenlightened urge to whistle. The wheel had turned for twenty-two pilots, just under half the Alliance air group, propelling them on to new lives as their karma dictated.
The squares shifted on the screen, the fallen pilots' names vanishing. New rows formed. His heart skipped a beat. Would Wills keep the arrangements made during the battle, or would Tammy be assigned to a separate squadron? If the base's air group dispersed, they might find themselves in different parts of the solar system. She had her copy of the Xerikesh and some books he'd given her, but without him, she might fall back on more pharmaceutical methods of seeking enlightenment. Drugs had ended her career in the Imperial Navy and nearly taken her life in the raid on the two cruisers. She'd tested negative for Rioters after the snafu with the torpedo, thank the Buddha. Wills had been a mess, but he’d been coherent enough to order that.
The new rows solidified. The sole survivor of Dragon Squadron and the six survivors of Raptor joined the more numerous remaining members of Swordfish in a new Bear Squadron, to be headed by — Buddha of the Three Suns be merciful — Tomich. Geun frowned. As far as he knew, Tomich had only raided convoys before today's battle, while he and Tammy had defeated the two cruisers. If anybody was to be rewarded for heroism displayed on the battlefield today, it should be Marchenko for breaking up the oncoming Imperial fighters all by herself. And, a voice Geun tried ignore added, Wills did entrust you with command of two broken squadrons.
He shook his head. Tomich was his comrade. Tomich had helped cover them during the retreat. You or Tammy might well owe him your lives. And Tomich had organized the surviving pilots into an impromptu rescue squad to assist the overwhelmed deckhands and mechanics with wounded pilots who’d made it back. He should be glad the man's heroism was rewarded. It wasn't like there wouldn't be future opportunities.
"These assignments will go into effect once the evacuation begins," Wills continued. The ghost of a smile crossed his face. "And although the details haven't been finalized yet, once we've found a new base, a couple squadrons will be transferred from garrisons to ships."
Geun leaned forward in his chair. In the month since the raid on the cruisers, he'd heard rumors of mutinies and defections among capital ships, and even seen while on patrol a converted civilian freighter with Strikers hanging from its sides like enormous bats. But nobody had ever confirmed those rumors, and a cargo ship converted into a carrier seemed like it'd be the worst of both worlds, not the best.
"Some ship assignments have already been made," Wills continued. "The squadron commanders will be receiving the assignments for themselves as their pilots. The rest of you, dismissed. We'll be evacuating within the next day, so gather your belongings and report to your squadron commanders for the next steps."
The pilots rose to their feet. Geun didn't really have much in his quarters, just a few changes of clothes, his religious books, a couple Pits and Perils modules, and his prayer wheel. It wouldn't take him long to stow his belongings aboard an evacuation ship and then he could make himself useful to others.
Chapter Eight
The asteroid fell away behind Tammy as her Striker shot out from a hangar now abandoned to the vacuum. The new Bear Squadron now served as the rear-guard for the Alliance flotilla as it abandoned its asteroid base.
Tammy watched the former Alliance base shrink behind her. She'd miss this place. Yes, it was always cold and dark owing to the need to conserve power and avoid Imperial attention. Yes, there weren't very many comforts. But this was her first home since she'd deserted the Imperial Navy. Here she'd learned more about the gods at the hearts of the suns, and made war on those who'd pervert their teachings to oppress their fellow humans. Here she'd made friends �
�� Jackie and Max, now lost to the fight against the Empire. Geun, who'd helped her along one of the many paths to the Suns Trinity. And Brad, already more than a friend.
"All right, Bear Squadron," Brad cut in. "The fleet's on course out of the Kir Belt. Once we reach the rendezvous point, we'll split up. We're slated for the Silver Striker, but others are going to help set up a new base elsewhere."
Brad was vague, as he should be. Although the transmissions were on a tightbeam, the Imperials could even now be gathering for a second attack or shadowing the fleeing rebels with drones or snooper ships. She frowned. She'd run down a stealthed Imperial ship during the attack on the two Imperial cruisers, but that one had made itself obvious by serving as a floating sensor platform. A more passive ship might not even be noticed. It'd slither after them like a serpent, spying on them and relaying their movements to its tyrannical masters.
Tammy returned her attention to the departing Alliance fleet. A dozen blocky civilian transport ships of varying sizes, most with Imperial weaponry salvaged from the gutted Achilles bolted on. The Freedom's Fire and the other frigate, whose name she couldn't remember. And twenty-odd fighters flitted among the ships, ready to leap onto any Imperial daring to come too close. One was the strange Starseer craft Marchenko had used to access the stash of weapons they'd only barely finished looting before leaving; there simply hadn't been any time to remove the device that would kill any non-Starseer attempting to fly it, and so she was at the controls. Owing to its antiquated weapons, it wouldn't be of much use outside of knife-fighting range anyway. Beyond the fleet, several more fighters screened their advance.
The asteroid grew tiny behind her as she kicked her fighter forward. It wouldn't be long until the Imperials swarmed in to reclaim whatever the Alliance left behind, but that wouldn't be much. The rebels had stripped the place of everything not bolted down and most of what was. She hoped to the Suns Trinity they'd left an unpleasant surprise for the bastards.
"Bear Squadron, this is the Freedom's Fire," a male voice cut in. "Long-range sensors have detected oncoming Imperial warships."
Tammy drew a breath. Great. Just great. She'd hoped they'd bloodied the Imperials' noses so much that they'd be a long time coming, but either they'd spotted the evacuation and came running or they'd be lurking just outside the Alliance's sensors and awaiting this very opportunity. She looked to her console. Although there hadn't been enough torpedoes left to fully arm every fighter, the rear guard had been loaded for Octarian blood bear.
"What's their distance?" Brad asked.
"Far enough, but they're coming in pretty quickly. Feeding you LIDAR data now."
Something clicked inside Tammy's console and multiple contacts appeared on her LIDAR. The battlecruiser, another cruiser, and the Imperial frigate, with a few smaller contacts that looked to be fighters.The Imperial battle-group was back for more, and it had brought friends. She frowned. From the way the formation moved, it looked like they'd even fixed up that damn frigate.
"Stay close to the convoy," the man from Freedom's Fire ordered. "We can't afford to lose fighters."
"Yes sir."
Tammy allowed herself to smile. The old base lay between the oncoming Imperial forces and the retreating Alliance fleet. If Admiral Banerjee had left something unpleasant for the Imperials behind, it'd kick in well before the enemy got to them.
***
Geun watched the Imperials approach on his LIDAR. If they played asteroid billiards just right, Bear Squadron could probably bloody them enough to force them back, but it would be better not to fight in the first place. "When the enemy advances, we retreat." That was a maxim of the ancient Earth warlord Mao Zedong. From what he'd read the man was no friend of the Buddha, but even wicked people could be wise. The Alliance was not in a position to wage one-for-one battles with the Empire, or even three-for-one. He scowled. And considering the lack of lasting damage they'd done to the Imperial battle group, the Alliance hadn't even managed that.
He looked up. All around him Bear Squadron continued to follow the Alliance flotilla at a respectable distance. If the Imperials came too close it would simply be a matter of firing the thrusters in the Strikers' nose-cones and flipping back into battle.
He looked back to his LIDAR. The enemy formation kept coming. They weren't even watching the base. His hand clenched around his stick. His breath quickened in his nostrils. "Breathe," he whispered to himself. Calm settled over him. The Imperials were much weaker than the force they'd faced the other day. Their flak barrier would be much more permeable. Bear Squadron could avenge the dead pilots, the dead frigate crew...
No.
He looked back toward the retreating Alliance ships. They had thousands of Alliance personnel to protect. And even a pot-shot would be a torpedo wasted. He'd chided Tammy for that not long before.
"Enemy accelerating. They're heading our way." Geun focused anew on the LIDAR. The Imperial fleet was moving faster and faster. Matching our trajectory. Geun's hand tightened on his stick.
"Bear Squadron, keep an eye on them but don't engage," Tomich ordered. "Admiral Banerjee has left them a nice surprise."
Geun raised an eyebrow. What they'd done to the reactor had made sure the enemy wouldn't gain anything from the base once they took possession of it, but the Imperials were well away from the base itself. Need to know, I suppose.
The Imperial ships continued accelerating. LIDAR pings began bouncing off Geun's fighter. That had to be one of the heavies, or at least the frigate. If the Imperial fighters had LIDAR that could reach that far, the Alliance was in trouble. He watched the enemy ships draw closer and closer. The LIDAR pinging grew more intense. Geun began calculating possible trajectories the enemy could use to attack them. It wouldn't be that long now...
"Flip and lock on when they get in range, but nothing else," Tomich ordered. Geun frowned. Was he suicidal on top of being a lecher? The enemy LIDAR pinging grew more intense. Geun's fingers reached for the controls that would flip his Striker back into battle. "Steady," Tomich continued. The Imperials grew closer. One by one the Bear Squadron rear-guard flipped. Geun found himself looking down his sights at the oncoming enemy arrowheads. He began forming a torpedo lock on the cruiser.
Then things started happening very fast. Rockets flared on the surface of a smaller asteroid relatively close to the old base. Slowly at first, but growing faster every second, the asteroid floated toward the oncoming Imperials. The mass of brown stone began to fray as it moved — like most asteroids it was more a floating gravel pile than a solid mountain of stone — but it had enough mass to ruin the day of any ship caught in its path.
The Imperial approach began to slow. Geun's fears began flitting away. The best victory was one that didn't involve any fighting. Even if the Imperials retreated just enough to get out of the way, they wouldn't be able to catch up. He let out a breath. Thank you, bloody-eyed Begtse. Thank you, Buddha of the Three Suns. He looked in the general direction of Tomich's fighter. He probably should thank Tomich too. He frowned. Probably.
The retro-rockets flared bright on the Imperial prows. Faster than he would have liked but probably too slow for the Imperial crews, the ships began turning away. Turning their flanks toward the Alliance rear-guard. His thumb quivered on his stick. The frigate was closer than the cruiser now, and a single torpedo would finish it. Taking it out would go a ways to paying back the Empire for the pilots who'd died and send the wheel turning for those whose karma had earned a reincarnation as a tapeworm if not a spell in one of the million hells.
He shook his head. Even trading a torpedo for a frigate was a bad deal for the Alliance now.
The asteroid continued its path toward the former Alliance redoubt. At this point it started spreading out, a fist growing ever broader as it accelerated. Anything in its path would be absolutely shredded. His gaze returned to the Imperial fleet. They were pretty close to 180 degrees away from their original path. Now instead of watching them to make sure they didn't pursue, he watch
ed them to see how many of them escaped.
The big ships will escape, damn it. But the fighters are a different story.
The attrited flying rubble pile finally slammed into the old base. At first the wave of oncoming gravel spread out around the solid asteroid, but bit by bit, it started to pour through. The escaped plasma from the fusion reactors they'd set to overload hadn't been enough to breach the stone, but it had hollowed out the inside and made it nice and vulnerable. The second asteroid obscured the first from view as it broke up around it. Bits of it where already shooting through where the Imperials had been.
Had been, except for one. One fighter brought up the rear of the retreating Imperial battle group. Slowly but surely, it was falling behind.
Right into the path of what was left of the asteroid. Geun got a brief glimpse of the fighter's engines flaring as the pilot desperately tried to add speed and then the oncoming rock swallowed it whole. Shields flashed briefly and then it was gone.
"Bear Squadron, I don't think we need to worry about those Imperials anymore."
"Good," Tomich replied. "Let's get going. We fell a bit behind and I don't want some Imperials we don't know about getting between us and the transports."
Geun looked back toward the fleet. All he could see now were the bright glowing drives. On his LIDAR they were well on their way toward the outer edge of his sensor envelope. He accelerated his fighter. Now that the immediate danger was gone, it wouldn't do to get too far away from the fleet Bear Squadron was guarding.
"Aye aye sir."
Epilogue
Alvarez stood at parade rest before the screen dominating the Kir's Fall CIC. Her cyborg bodyguard stood beside her, as did the thin, weasel-like Carver. They were to receive her rebuke alongside her — or execute her, if that was her superior's sentence.
Fallen Empire: Discovery and Flight (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Choi and Watson Book 2) Page 5
