“Why aren’t they firing it then?”
“Because they need more quadrinium for it to work. We only have one shot. Make sure the transport that’s on its way to the landing bay arrives safely and load the quadrinium into the ship’s main generator. Then ask their engineer to fire the phantom cannon at four hundred percent capacity in a single burst.”
“Four hundred percent? Won’t that fry the gun?”
Chase nodded. “I would think so.”
“Dude, I hope you know what you’re doing.” Daniel shook his head.
“Yeah, me too, but trust me on this.”
“Alright. Daniel out.”
The second the connection terminated, Captain Saroudis turned to Chase on the bridge of the Destiny. “Mind explaining why we should destroy the only weapon that can actually damage this ship?”
“It’s a gamble, but I believe receiving an ultra-powerful blow to their shields will make whomever is kicking our asses right now reconsider their tactics. Clearly, they think they’re invulnerable; we need to shake that belief to the core and make sure they stop firing at the planet immediately. They must have killed hundreds of thousands of people already.”
“I agree and it will probably back off, but then what?”
“Then you make sure that the engineers from Earth are able to beam that damn EMP inside that ship.”
“Won’t we need the shields to be down for that to work?”
“That’s why Sarah and I must hurry and deliver that quadrinium to the satellite.”
The captain nodded. “I think I’m beginning to see what you’re doing.”
“Good, cause I don’t have time to stay any longer anyway.”
“Go! May the gods of Olympus be with you both.”
* * *
On the Dragon’s Claw, the man looked at his tactical display. Things had changed. Some bigger, stronger Alliance vessels had entered weapons range. They started firing at the Dragon’s Claw and, for the first time since the beginning of the engagement, the shields actually began to lower at a slow but steady pace. The man almost smiled.
“Divert all secondary power to the shields.”
“Yes, master.”
That would allow his ship to sustain more damage until it would be time to either attack the offending ships or, at the very least, change strategy. He looked at the images from the ground; he had leveled ten major cities on three different continents. The day was going well. Just as well as he’d hoped. Despite this new influx of ships, nothing could touch him…
Until now.
The man flew backwards into the wall as an impossibly powerful pulse came from the biggest new ship. It drained most of the shields in one hit and alarms began sounding all over indicating structural damage.
He gritted his teeth and sat back down in his throne. He’d have to change tactics sooner than he’d thought.
“Turn the ship around. Attack all Alliance ships. Target them in the order I’m tagging them now. Deploy all fighters from all bays. Have them engage any and all Alliance forces with everything they’ve got. Enough with the foreplay.”
“Yes, master. Turning about, deploying fighters and acquiring new targets.”
He turned the channel off and gazed at the screen.
“Now it gets interesting…”
* * *
Chase and Sarah departed the Destiny aboard their respective F-140s and headed towards the satellites.
“Sarah, we need to wait until the Droxian fleet arrives.”
“What if they attack us as well?”
“It doesn’t matter now. We just need the distraction. Hopefully the Zarlacks will think it’s still more reinforcements and start firing at them.”
Sarah gulped. “That’s a big if.”
“Yeah, well, something’s got to go our way today.”
“Yes it does. Chase…do we know which cities were destroyed?”
Chase hesitated. “I understand how you must feel, but right now is not the time to think about that. We must succeed in this mission or no human will survive the day.”
She exhaled slowly. “You’re right. Incoming!”
“Now, let’s blow up some Zarlack fighters.”
“With pleasure.”
They simultaneously engaged the fighters with two squadrons each in support. Multiple waves of enemy ships rose up in response, and soon, it was an all-out gun show.
Despite the lethal dance, Sarah felt better than she had in days. For all she knew, everyone she had ever known on Earth was dead. But with the neuro-link in her fighter, she was finally able to channel that rage into something good. Blowing her enemies out of the sky, one fiery explosion after another.
When they came to the designated place, she hit her comm. “Chase, I guess this is where we part ways.”
“For now, but I’ll see you soon. Be careful out there.”
“You too.”
Like clockwork, both their squadrons veered off on a different heading. She was assigned to the satellite orbiting above North America, while Chase had the one currently orbiting above Europe. The pursuing enemy fighters split equally to follow each target, but the supporting Alliance squadrons were doing a fine job of suppressing hostile fire.
* * *
Back on the Dragon’s Claw, the man stood up from the throne and closed his eyes as if trying to concentrate. After a moment’s focus, he smiled.
“Here you are. What are you up to?”
He fixed his eyes again on a ship whose signature didn’t match anything in the database. It had a strange design, but definitely emitted an Alliance energy signature. The ship was accompanied by a squadron of Alliance fighters who were being attacked by Zarlack vessels. While it was a chaotic skirmish, from back here, the man could clearly see that the squadron was covering for the strange ship as it headed towards one of the satellite defense platforms. Another ship of similar design was flying towards another satellite.
“They’re up to something, and I can feel your presence now.”
He marked both fighters as targets, but with the lowest priority. While there was no doubt they were up to something, it seemed pointless. These satellites didn’t have enough firepower to be a real threat, so why go towards them?”
In the meantime the new Alliance battleships were engaging the rest of the fleet and doing a sizeable amount of damage. That seemed to be the real threat. The largest ship had managed to inflict improbably sizable damage to his own ship already, so that was the one that needed to be dealt with. He tagged it as the main priority and ordered most of the fleet to concentrate their fire. It was more heavily shielded and armored than any of the remaining ships but, strangely enough, it had not fired a second salvo at the Dragon’s Claw.
“And why is that?” the man murmured to himself.
Perhaps the weapon needed recharging. If so, the man wouldn’t give it the opportunity to fire again. He entered a course at maximum thrust to intercept and destroy. The ship maneuvered out of the way, but he was closing the distance fast.
“You can run,” he smiled, “but you can’t hide.”
He was less than a minute away and was already plotting a firing solution, when his tactical officer suddenly called, “Master! Multiple jump points forming to the starboard!”
“WHAT?!”
He ran back to his throne and looked at the holo-display. Several more ships had entered the battlefield, carrying a signature he recognized well.
“Droxians?! What the hell are Droxians doing here?!”
He leaned back in his chair and absorbed this new turn of events. So, the Alliance had somehow struck a deal with the Droxians… That changed things. Droxians were known to be formidable at war with heavily armored ships that were armed to the teeth.
“Your orders, master? Do we engage?”
“Stand by.”
The battle was starting to get more complicated, but that did not displease him. It had been way too easy up until now. He was almost pleased the Allian
ce had something up their sleeves. He only wished it wasn’t the Droxians…
* * *
“This is Captain Saroudis to the Droxian fleet. We mean you no harm; in fact, we are requesting your assistance.”
A Droxian general appeared on the main screen of the Destiny. He was huge, even by Droxian standards, with big red hair arranged in decorative warrior locks, a huge scar, and yellow teeth. Unfortunately, he also looked furious.
“We did not come here to help; we are in pursuit of Alliance ships that illegally trespassed Droxian space.”
The captain held up his hands peaceably. “We are aware of this incident; it was an accident. They didn’t know they had trespassed on your territory.”
“Ignorance is no excuse.”
“Look, we’re in the middle of a battle right now, as you can no doubt see. We will gladly surrender and face the consequences of our mistake if we survive, but for now, either help us or leave.”
“I do not take orders from Alliance scum.”
“Very well then, maybe you’d like to join the Obsidian Empire instead.”
“We join with nobody! The Droxian people are independent.”
“General, it’s been nice talking with you, but I have a battle to fight. Saroudis out!”
The communications officer turned to Captain Saroudis once the transmission had ended. “Sir, we have an incoming transmission from a fighter en route towards the Droxian Fleet. It’s Wing Commander Tharraleos.”
“On screen.”
Daniel’s face appeared. “Captain?”
“Daniel, what is it?”
“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Doesn’t look like the Droxians will willingly take part in this conflict, so I thought I’d press the issue.”
“Wait, if you attack them now, they’ll start firing at us for certain.”
“That’s not what I had in mind. Look at your telemetry.”
Captain Saroudis glanced down and saw that Daniel’s ship and escort was being followed by multiple squadrons of Zarlack fighters.
“What in the hell…how did you…?”
“It’s a long story. Let’s just say I pissed off some of their pilots with some fancy flying. They did not seem amused.”
“I thought you were supposed to be on the Far Beyond?”
“I was, but since my mission was over and there’s a war going on out here, I thought I’d make myself more useful than just looking at it from a tactical display. Hang on…I’m entering firing range of the Droxian Fleet; let’s hope my plan works.”
As he flew within range, he started a fast spin, causing the enemy laser fire to fly past him and hit the Droxian battleships. The Droxian’s response was immediate. They launched fighters and started firing their main guns at the rest of the Zarlack Fleet.
Captain Saroudis looked at the tactical display with bewildered amusement. “I’ll be damned. Welcome to the fight.”
* * *
A new alert started blinking on the holographic display of the Dragon’s Claw. The Droxians had started firing upon the Zarlack ships. The man watched this with impassive eyes. So they really did ally themselves with the Droxians. So be it.
“Return fire towards the Droxian ships,” he commanded. “Maximum firepower.”
“Retuning fire, yes master.”
This battle was getting more interesting by the minute. Annihilating both the Alliance and this Droxian Fleet would prove a worthy challenge.
The doors of the throne room opened and a Zarlack officer ran in and knelt before the throne. The man growled, clearly angered by the interruption.
“I apologize, master, but security just discovered the Emperor has collapsed in his chambers.”
The man slowly rose from his chair. His eyes started to glow a vivid red as he lifted a closed fist towards the officer. “Who said you could enter this room?”
Before the Zarlack could answer, the man’s fist opened and the officer literally exploded. His limbs and head hit the surrounding walls, and dark blood splashed all over the floor, soaking the bits of his dismembered body.
Without a second glance, the man projected the gruesome image over the holographic monitors throughout the entire ship.
“This is what will happen to any of you who either disobeys my orders, or takes unwanted initiative.”
Then he flicked a stray piece of bone from his shoulder and returned to the throne.
* * *
Chase landed his ship quickly on the satellite docking bay and was immediately joined by Alliance and Earth personnel who began unloading the quadrinium.
Pausing for breath, he clicked on his comm. “Sarah, status report?”
“Landed a few minutes ago. Quadrinium has been delivered. I’m about to leave the landing bay and get back into the fight. What about you?”
“I...” he hesitated. “Quadrinium is being unloaded as we speak.”
There was a distinct gloat in her voice. “I beat you to it then?”
“This wasn’t a race and, technically, my satellite was the farthest.”
“You’re a sore loser, you know that?” she said with a chuckle.
He couldn’t help but grin. “Very funny. I see the Droxians have started shooting at the Zarlack ships; I told you something finally had to go our way.”
“Well you can thank Daniel for that. He taunted them somehow.”
“Good for him, and good for us.”
“Indeed. I’m leaving the bay. See you in space in a few.”
“Be careful, Sarah.”
“You too.”
Chase tapped his feet impatiently as the quadrinium was carried out of his cargo bay. Standing here with nothing to do, he pictured Sarah engaged in the heat of battle. Ryonna’s warning echoed again in his head and he clenched his fists.
He had to get out there. He couldn’t lose her. Not now, not ever.
“We’re done, sir. You’re good to go.”
He sighed in relief. “Thanks. I take it you know what to do with it?”
“Yes, we’ll have the modifications ready within minutes.”
He nodded and climbed back into his fighter, downing two more enemy craft the second he left the shielding range, and heading for Sarah.
* * *
The shadowy man walked out to the bridge of the Dragon’s Claw. Every Zarlack stood up and saluted in unison. He didn’t salute in return, but looked towards the second in command. “Commander, who is your best pilot?”
“That would be me.”
“Then by all means, come with me.”
“Yes, master.” The Zarlack turned towards one of his officers. “You have the bridge.”
They walked towards the nearest lift and headed down to the fighter bay. A few seconds later, they were in front of a magnificent, black fighter, at least three times bigger than the average Zarlack craft.
The hooded man turned to his companion. “You will do as I say at all times.”
“Yes, master.”
“See you in space in a minute.”
Without another word, a door on the ship opened and the hooded man climbed aboard. The Zarlack commander ran to the first available fighter and ran his pre-flight check. Fear was coursing through his veins, but there was something else too, an aching excitement. He had been chosen to be on the master’s wing. Clearly that was an honor.
A moment later, both ships launched off from the Dragon’s Claw.
Chapter XXIII
Chase checked his radar to see several ships vectoring towards Sarah’s position. It was nothing she couldn’t handle, except that one of the fighters carried a strange signature. It was something he had never seen before, and the ship itself was much larger than usual. He quickly adjusted his vector to join her.
“Sarah, you’ve got a strange bogie vectoring towards your position.”
“I see it. What is it?”
“Damned if I know. But let’s keep an eye on it; I don’t like this one bit. Make sure it never locks onto yo
ur six okay?”
“Roger that.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Worrying about me, baby? That’s so sweet.”
Chase didn’t answer. He wished he could take it so lightly, but every time he tried to relax and focus Ryonna’s warning shot through his mind. Was this the moment he had been dreading? And why hadn’t Aphroditis appeared to him? He would think that she’d be heavily interested in the outcome of this battle…She couldn’t check in and help?
“All good, Chase? Did I make you uncomfortable with my last transmission?”
“Sorry, Sarah, no you didn’t. Don’t worry. I just got lost in my thoughts.”
“Not to be a bitch, but weren’t you the one who told me to stay focused?”
He laughed shortly. “Roger that, and you’re right. Head in the game!”
“That’s better. Sarah out.”
Checking his instruments, it was clear now that the strange ship was interested in the fighters that had delivered the quadrinium to the satellite. Chase hoped that didn’t mean they were countering against his plan, but how could they? Space was in chaos. The Droxians had engaged the Zarlack Fleet and the playing field had been leveled. If they could only find a way to destroy or at the very least disable that seemingly indestructible behemoth of a ship, they might have a chance to win this thing.
A warning signaled and Chase glanced at his controls to see that the strange fighter was picking off ships from Sarah’s escort at an alarming rate. He was less than a minute out of range and he clenched his fists out of frustration.
Another thirty seconds and Sarah’s ship was the only one left.
“Sarah?” he called anxiously.
She sounded out of breath. “I don’t know why it hasn’t fired on me yet.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just be evasive. Do not engage until I join your wing.”
“I can take it.”
Earth Last Sanctuary (Universe in Flames Book 1) Page 26
