Rhy’ll felt something tighten inside his body, a strange and foreign sensation that he had not felt in many decades, since perhaps his own youth in the ocean nurseries when he had been wronged by other infant Oassians, or mocked or threatened. The tight ball formed hard and cold and refused to fade away.
‘No Oassian has gone into combat in over a thousand years, general,’ he replied. ‘It is not our way, and our way has proven right every time since.’
‘There was no Legion before now,’ General Veer replied. ‘And besides, we’re not asking you to fight for the humans.’ Rhy’ll turned and looked at the General, who looked down at him with a sombre expression. ‘I will lead them.’
Rhy’ll’s light sensors widened as he looked back at the General. ‘You condemned them, and now you wish to stand by them?’
General Veer rose up, his chest thrust out.
‘We have a choice, councillor. Meekly accept the Legion’s demands and bow to their wishes, knowing not whether they will spare us, or open fire and go down fighting if we must. Never before has there been a reason to replace diplomacy with conflict, until now, and I don’t want to be the Morla’syn general who sought to appease an aggressor, only to have them destroy my people.’ Veer peered down at Rhy’ll. ‘Do you?’
Rhy’ll looked once more at the screen, and then he made his decision.
*
‘We’re breached! Decks twelve through nineteen!’ Lael yelled as alarm claxons shrieked through the bridge. ‘Fires across the plasma lines on the starboard quarter!’
Idris staggered against the guard rail as Atlantia shuddered beneath the blows of plasma salvos blazing from the cruisers surrounding her.
‘Shut off the plasma lines and direct shield power to the affected area!’ he bellowed above the din. ‘Deploy fire crews and bring us about, make sure they can’t hit us there again!’
Atlantia trembled again as another salvo smashed into her port bow and twisted the frigate sideways through a blaze of exploding plasma rounds coming from Defiance.
‘The cruisers are moving in!’ Lael warned. ‘They’re trying to surround us!’
Idris saw the bulky form of the two cruisers moving into flanking positions either side of Atlantia, boxing her in at close range. At such short distances plasma broadsides could be as dangerous to the attacking cruisers as they would be to Atlantia, and a fusion core breach would likely take out all three vessels. Idris felt the sweat on his brow turn cold as he whirled to the tactical officer.
‘Alert the Marines! Prepare to repel boarders on the starboard flank!’
The tactical officer relayed the command as Idris judged the distances between the three ships and pointed at the helmsman.
‘Dead stop! All power to port batteries!’
‘We’re too close!’ Lael cried out in horror. ‘If we take them down we’ll go down with them!’
‘We don’t have enough Marines to repel boarders on both flanks!’ Idris shot back. ‘We’ve got to even the odds!’ He turned to the communications console at his seat and spoke into it. ‘Reaper Squadron, hit the cruiser in quadrant oh–four–one on its port side, full attack!’
Idris heard Andaim’s reply crackle through the speakers on the bridge.
‘Copy Atlantia, in–bound.’
Idris glanced at the tactical display and saw a dozen or so Raythons rocket out of the dogfight raging between Defiance and the cruisers and accelerate toward the cruiser alongside Atlantia. A cloud of enemy Raythons followed, these marked with red boxes around them on the display to identify them as enemy fighters.
‘Your fighters could be caught in the blast,’ Lazarus warned.
Idris gripped the command rail more tightly as he watched the Raythons swarm in, their plasma cannons opening up in a flickering blaze of blue–white light as they hammered the cruiser’s far side and vanished from sight.
Idris closed his eyes, gauging the fighter’s velocities as they raced along the cruiser’s huge hull, firing as they went and with their enemy in hot pursuit. He clenched one fist by his side and raised it beside his head, then dropped it as he shouted.
‘Bow to stern batteries, in order, open fire now!’
Atlantia shuddered once more as deep booms reverberated through her hull, the plasma cannons firing in series all the way down her hull. Idris watched the main display screen and saw blast after blast hammer the cruiser at less than a thousand cubits’ range, so close that even the powerful shields generated by the ship’s fusion cores were unable to absorb or deflect the majority of the blasts’ power.
The cruiser’s metallic hull flared with brilliant explosions as the barrage ripped into her, massive hull panels folding like paper as jagged rivers of flame and molten metal split the hull in savage gashes from which blasted gas and plasma in brutal jets. The blows slammed down the cruiser’s hull and then with a terrific blast her engine bays separated from the main hull, the explosion flaring like a new born sun and filling Atlantia’s bridge with light.
A grim cheer rose up across the bridge as the cruiser listed heavily under the asymmetric load of her failing engines and began descending below and away from Atlantia, explosions rippling across her hull and deep fissures splitting her superstructure like rivers of magma running across metallic mountains.
‘Her engines are gone!’ Lael called. ‘She’s out!’
Idris resisted the urge to smile as he looked at the other cruiser and then shouted a warning!
‘Brace for impact!’
The shockwaves from the damaged cruiser had shifted Atlantia laterally, and now she was barely fifty cubits from the hull of the smaller but still massive cruiser. Idris grabbed the guard rail and dropped down onto one knee as he heard a distant, wailing, keening sound screech through Atlantia as her hull slammed into and brushed alongside the cruiser.
More claxons began wailing across the ship, and this time he heard the sound of deep blasts from aft where the plasma lines, already damaged in the salvos from Defiance, were ripped from their mountings.
‘Hull breach, stern quarter, starboard!’ Lael cried out, managing to stay upright despite the frigate’s violent impact. ‘We’re open, too large a gap to seal and the shields won’t cover it!’
‘Seal the section off!’ Idris yelled.
‘We’ve got Bravo Company down there captain!’
Idris hauled himself to his feet as another salvo of shots crashed into the frigate from above as Defiance continued to attempt to engage her, and his weary old eyes took in the picture on the tactical display.
The cruiser was alongside Atlantia, while Arcadia was still hammering Defiance’s bow while manoeuvring to avoid being boarded by the other four cruisers still engaged with her. Arcadia’s hull was criss–crossed with lines of fire spilling from damaged hull panels, a trail of debris glistening behind her in the bitter cold of space. The cloud of fighters were still wheeling and firing all around them, Raythons rocketing at attack speed like glow flies around giant metal beasts wrestling in the night.
Despite Arcadia’s condition he could see that she was still fully engaged, but Idris knew that their cause was lost, the damage sustained too heavy for them to continue fighting much longer.
‘Arcadia’s signalling us,’ Lael said.
Idris looked up as Mikhain appeared on a display screen, and the captain looked back at him, sparks falling from Arcadia’s bridge displays, smoke filling the air. Mikhain’s face was sheened with sweat and grime, his features grim.
‘Mikhain,’ Idris said, almost relieved to see the captain back at his post, ‘we’re done for. It’s over.’
Mikhain nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off Idris’s. ‘I know.’
‘Get out of here,’ Idris advised. ‘We can’t win, Mikhain. Run, while you can.’
Mikhain’s shoulders sagged slightly and he shook his head.
‘I think that the time for running is over, captain, for all of us.’
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Mikhain’s
broad jaw twitched slightly and then the hard line of his lips curled into a grim smile, humourless and yet defiant to the last. Idris felt the same kind of smile spread across his face as he managed to stand briefly upright on the trembling bridge and threw a quick salute at Mikhain.
‘To the end,’ Idris said.
Mikhain returned the salute. ‘To the end.’
Idris turned as a screen filled with the image of Tyraeus Forge, his own ship’s bridge remaining clean and untroubled by the carnage occurring outside.
‘You are defeated, captain,’ he said simply, delight radiating from his inhuman features, the Infectors numerous enough to convey subtle expressions and emotions, if that they could be called. ‘It is time to surrender.’
Idris smiled back at Tyraeus. ‘There is never such a time.’
Tyraeus appeared confused. ‘There is nothing to gain by sacrificing yourselves. Join us, and you’ll never have to face or fear death again.’
‘We do not fear death,’ Idris replied, ‘and we only need face it the once.’
Tyraeus shook his head. ‘Your propensity for pointless self–sacrifice is something I’ll never understand.’
‘That’s because you’re not a human being.’
Idris shut off the link himself and turned to Lael, suddenly feeling calm for the first time in years. ‘Seal off the affected sections of the hull, Lael. We’re not going to get out of this I’m afraid, so let’s take down as many of them as we can.’
The bridge crew all looked at Idris for a long moment, and the captain glanced at Lazarus. ‘Unless you have any objections, doctor?’
Lazarus shook his head.
‘You gave it your best shot, captain. Better to take them down than join them.’
***
XXXIX
‘Arcadia’s been hit!’
Evelyn turned in her seat as she hauled her Raython around in a tight turn, her targeting reticule buried in the engines of a fleeing Raython as she squeezed the trigger. A pair of plasma bursts shot from her cannons and smashed into the Raython’s stern, one engine and the attached wing severed completely by the blow in a cloud of flame, sparks and metallic debris as the fighter span about on its axis.
Evelyn fired one more shot as she pulled up and she saw the Raython’s cockpit vaporised by the direct hit as the fighter exploded in a brilliant fireball. She craned her neck over her shoulder as her Raython soared upward and saw Arcadia’s hull striped with jagged flaming lesions where plasma rounds had smashed through her hull plating and severed plasma lines across her starboard flank.
‘Atlantia’s taking a pounding too,’ Teera pointed out as their Raythons flew in formation toward a pair of Reapers engaged with four of the enemy. ‘She’s going to be boarded!’
‘Stay on target!’ Andaim snapped across the communications channel. ‘Keep those fighters under control!’
Evelyn swung in behind two of the enemy Raythons, their tails bearing the insignia of a long forgotten squadron known as the Ironsides that had been deployed aboard Defiance on her maiden voyage. She lined up on one of them and fired, but her shots missed as the fighter jinked right to avoid her attack.
Two plasma bursts rocketed past Evelyn’s right wing as Teera picked up the jinking Raython from her covering position on Evelyn’s wing, and her shots smashed into the fighter’s engine bays with a brilliant explosion that forced Evelyn to break off to port. Her fighter raced beneath the underside of the one of the cruiser’s hulls, and as she accelerated by she glanced up and her heart missed a beat as she saw the hull rippling with movement, as though it were covered in a sea of black waves.
‘The Legion’s coming out! Get clear of the capital ships!’
Evelyn pushed away from the cruiser as she saw clouds of Hunters surge in a wall like a gigantic black wave as they reached out for her Raython. The seething mass of machines flashed by overhead and as she turned hard right to clear the vessel she saw the cruiser alongside Atlantia, their hulls locked together and brilliant fires burning where the two massive ships had collided with the unstoppable force of millions of tonnes of metal.
Evelyn’s sharp eye picked out snaking black lines like boarding tethers streaking from the cruiser to Atlantia, and she knew immediately what she was witnessing.
‘Reaper One, Atlantia, the Legion is boarding, starboard hull!’
‘Copy Reaper One!’
‘They’re going for the hull breaches!’ Teera yelped as she saw the same thing as Evelyn. ‘They could infect the entire ship!’
Evelyn fought of a wave of despondency as she saw both of the frigates suffering crippling damage and above them all the massive super carrier Defiance, her hull flickering with many fires but still returning fire and still showing shield strength of some eighty per cent.
Though she dared not voice her resignation, for the first time she heard a note of regret in the CAG’s voice as he called down the communications channel.
‘All fighters, stay on target. Repeat, maintain combat status!’
Evelyn knew that it was useless, and she squeezed her trigger harder than was necessary as she locked onto an enemy Raython and blasted it from existence in a cloud of burning metal.
Before the fighter had even disintegrated she heard a blast from over her right shoulder and the Raython slammed to one side as Evelyn’s head was shaken this way and that under the impacts. She craned her neck and saw her starboard engine burst into flame as warning claxons blared in her cockpit. Panic flushed cold through her veins as she fought to keep the Raython under control.
‘I’m hit!’ she called.
‘I’ve got your wing,’ Teera replied, this time the calmer of their partnership. ‘Head for Atlantia!’
Evelyn turned toward the frigate, but she could see that she was leaking fuel and coolants that were leaving a bright and sparkling trail of debris behind her, perfect for the enemy Raythons to track her and achieve a guns solution on her wounded fighter.
Teera’s Raython stuck closely to her wing, making every attempt to draw fire, but as Evelyn watched four enemy Raythons peeled off from a larger formation and began diving toward them.
‘Enemy, five o’clock high!’ she warned as the Raythons rocketed down.
‘Get to Atlantia!’ Teera insisted.
‘Break off!’ Evelyn yelled. ‘Before we’re both hit!’
Teera hesitated and for a brief moment Evelyn could see her eyes looking out from beneath her flight helmet, staring into Evelyn’s as certain death soared out of the blackness behind her.
‘Go,’ Evelyn said, barely a whisper, ‘now!’
Teera cursed something and then her Raython rolled and pulled away from its position on her wing as Teera began a defensive break to come round behind their attackers. Evelyn could see that Teera would never make it around in time to defend her, and instead she began jinking left and right in the hope of spoiling the enemy’s aim.
Blasts of plasma rocketed by her cockpit as the enemy opened fire, flashes of blue–white light illuminating her cockpit as she rolled through a complete revolution and pulled hard to the right to try to break across the Raythons’ bows and get out of guns range.
A shot hit her wing and the Raython rocked violently and rolled out of control. Evelyn let out a howl of fright as she tried to gather the Raython together and make it to Atlantia. The big frigate’s landing bays beckoned invitingly with a soft orange glow, but she was still too far out and she had to slow down to land.
I’m not going to make it.
The sound of a gun–lock warning buzzed in her earphones as one of the pursuing Raythons locked onto her, and she reached for her ejection handles and closed her eyes.
‘Splash one!’
A massive blast shook the little fighter and Evelyn blinked her eyes open as she saw a stream of cannon fire streak past over her head and heard the pursuing Raythons blasted into fireballs.
The Phoenix rushed into view on a near head–on course and raced by in the opposite direction
, and to Evelyn’s amazement it was followed by an endless stream of battered freighters, a flotilla of pirate vessels bursting into the fray with their cannons blazing.
‘Forge?!’ Evelyn gasped.
Taron’s cocky voice chortled back to her over the communications channel.
‘I’d forgotten how much fun dogfighting was! Stop messing about and get back in here!’
Evelyn almost laughed as she saw the Phoenix blaze through a formation of enemy Raythons, both its shields and cannons too strong for the smaller fighters to defend against. Behind the Phoenix she saw Ishira Morle’s freighter, Valiant, plunge into the fray as the governor called out.
‘The more the merrier, let’s give ‘em hell!’
Teera’s Raython arced around and repositioned on Evelyn’s wing as Captain Sansin’s voice echoed across the channel.
‘Any available fighters, hit Atlantia, quadrant oh four, repeat, hit Atlantia at quadrant oh four!’
Evelyn looked at her fuel and her weapons and then glanced up at the frigate before her. Whatever the captain wanted to hit his own ship for she could not imagine, but she was in the perfect position to do it.
‘Copy Atlantia, Reaper One, will comply!’
*
‘They’re coming through!’
General Bra’hiv squatted in the corridor that ran along Atlantia’s starboard hull and peered ahead though clouds of acrid smoke illuminated by weakly flickering ceiling lights. A series of flashing red warning beacons signalled the hull breach ahead, the atmosphere escaping from the hull in a howling rush of air that screeched past them.
Flames fluttered like glowing banners from electrical fires burning further down the corridor, and the entire ship was shaking periodically as it was engaged on the far side by both the enemy cruisers and fighters.
‘Hold the line,’ Bra’hiv replied, trying to keep his voice calm. ‘Stand firm.’
Defiance (Atlantia Series Book 5) Page 26
