The Nubl Wars (The Pattern Universe Book 3)

by Tobias Roote

  Zeke: No, it’s not my brightest day. I’m also just a spare wheel here on the bridge and need to be somewhere I can do some good. Please jump me to my ship.

  Arty: Consider it done, Zeke. I’ve advised Pod to expect you. Good hunting.

  Zeke disappeared off the bridge and reappeared sitting in his chair in a different, smaller, control room.

  “Thanks, Arty,” Zeke said out loud, chuckling at the fact that Arty had transferred him in a sitting position knowing it was becoming increasingly painful to stand.

  “Where do you want to go, Zeke?” Pod asked.

  “Let’s go join the fight – home in on the Reavers – let’s go give those boys some support,” Zeke responded. The fighting blood in him caused his head to buzz as the Alacite DNA sped up his reactions and dampened his pain. Reacting to its stimuli, he began to think more clearly as his body responded positively. If it kills me to feel better, then so be it, he thought.

  “Approaching location of Reaver attack,” Pod responded as the jump placed them in range of the ongoing battle.

  Zeke strapped himself in. His ship was much like the Reaver-class except his AI had many additional defences that would protect him from most direct hits from enemy lasers or missiles. Zeke had never decided if it was for his protection only, or for preservation of the AI, he was just happy it was there and never questioned the AIs attention to their mutual survival.

  “Okay Pod, you handle manoeuvring and I will select targets of opportunity,” Zeke suggested.

  “I will compete with you on reaction times. Yours against mine. We’ll keep a tally of hits,” Pod rallied.

  “Hah! This is a great time to get into the competitive spirit, Pod, well done,” Zeke laughed.

  Pod was confused. All she had suggested was that they compare his enhanced reaction speeds to hers to evaluate how much his had speeded up.

  ”Switching to implant-only connection,” Zeke confirmed as his mind interfaced directly with the weapons computer allowing him to select and fire multiple weapons at multiple targets synchronously. He had only been capable of doing this effectively in recent simulations. This would be the first time he had put it to use in a real fight.

  He started with two screens, port and starboard which both overlapped the bow, this gave him great visibility. The computer merged both cameras giving him a seamless overlap view of the front half of the ship. When he had adjusted to that, the rear cameras did the same until he had a completely unrestricted view of space around them. Zeke marvelled at the surround-vision and completely embraced the feeling it gave him, he didn’t feel at all agoraphobic. He understood how Pod must feel when controlling all of the sensors on the ship. The ship’s hull disappeared leaving him with the feeling of being suspended in Space.

  Mentally switching lasers onto narrow beams to conserve energy and increase range, he turned the dial on the plasma weapons to high; this would give him a slower rate of fire, but larger bolts with deadly payloads. Lastly, he activated the kinetic nail launchers in the bow and aft sections. These were small chunks of high-tensile alloys with a delayed internal charge that would explode a killer nanite population into the target ship. It was similar to the surprises that Pennington had just laid in the path of the approaching fleet, which was why Pennington had ordered the fleet to attack the rear and sides so they weren’t anywhere near the danger zone.

  Zeke: Small jumps, Pod. I want to carve a path to those Reavers in there and give them some relief.

  Pod: Affirmative. All Reaver-class vessels updated on our position and intent. Jumping now!

  As the ship jumped, Zeke had a momentary dizzy spell where he felt he was somewhere else, then as they completed the jump his mental agility leapt into action and all his weapons fired in different directions at the same time.

  Rather than trying to fly through large masses of ships to try to reach their attack force, Pod preferred to jump into spaces in-between, that were calculated precisely to give her and Zeke maximum fire effect. As soon as there was return fire, they would jump again leaving the enemy missiles and lasers hitting their own ships.

  On the fourth jump, Zeke detected a different type of ship within the cloud, well hidden and densely positioned.

  Zeke: Wait, Pod, we need to take a closer at these.

  Pod: They’re unmanned drones, Zeke. I cannot detect any high level communication on them, they’re just receivers.

  Zeke: Get in amongst them, let’s see if they’re armed.

  Pod waited until she found a large enough gap then moved to a position roughly central to the new ships. Zeke calculated there were at least a hundred thousand of these ‘drones’ being escorted by Shadowships. None of them fired at Pod and Zeke even when they remained within range. They detected no weapons at all. Strange? Why bring all of these without the means to do anything except get blown up.

  To prove his suspicions, Zeke opened fire using just lasers. The shields fell quickly. As the inferior hulls caved in under the laser beams, Zeke realised these had to be target drones, a means of diverting Pennington’s defences.

  Almost as if the Nubl heard his thinking, he detected a change in the drone fleet attitude. They were increasing speed and spreading out.

  Zeke: What’s up ahead, Pod? These drones are up to something.

  Pod: Pennington has laid ‘Shift mines’ in their path.

  Zeke: Shift Mines? Who came up with them, what do they do?

  Pod: Lang has been working on a project similar to the D-Field and had a breakthrough with a new technology. It nullifies local space and allows the mine to shift in and out of phase with everything around it. He designed it to stop the D-field from working when Kelly had to neutralise Arty.

  Zeke: Bloody hell-fire, that’s crazy tech! Why didn’t I know about it?

  Pod: Pennington is getting Lang to design everything in his secret base. It’s not for general release. We know of it, but he allows no AIs inside the base and hasn’t released the tech to anyone, not even Ossie.

  Zeke: Well, it looks like the Nubl are ready for him. These drones are going to activate the trap and neutralise Beta Station’s defence.

  Pod: I’m removing us from the range of the shift mines. They do not distinguish between ally and enemy.

  Zeke: Head us back into the rear of this dogfight. I detect Reavers not too far distant. Get a warning off to Beta Station regarding the drones. There’s nothing more we can do here.

  Pod: Affirmative, Zeke.

  As they jumped to the edge of the drone fleet, Zeke considered the Nubl’s strategy. Having obviously got wind of the possibility of a trap, they intended to use the drones to trip it and take the punishment. When the way was cleared, the main force would push through. This was why their second wave was holding back - in case the first fleet was wiped out.

  Zeke’s thoughts took a back-seat for the next hour as they attacked, jumped and attacked constantly, working their way around the invading fleet to the edge where the Reavers were attempting to make an impact on the Shadowships, but taking heavy casualties themselves.

  Then, a call came over the ‘stream’ between the tactical command responses.

  Jimmi: MAYDAY! MAYDAY! This is Scorpion Leader. I’m out of the game, my pod’s heading into the Shift Mines. If anyone out there can come and nudge me out of danger, feel free.

  Flapjack: I’m nowhere near you, Jimmi, I’m getting my ass burned by a pair of Mark III’s.

  In fact Flapjack was understating his position. He and Bendigo, his AI, were fighting to extricate themselves from a suicide tactic by the Shadowships of closing up and giving them nowhere to go. With no regard for their own safety, they would fire on the trapped Reaver. Flapjack was having to shoot his way out and was only just making it out of the deadly enclosure.

  Tango: Me too, Jimmi. I will try and get these off my back and get to you. Hold on pal.

  Jimmi: Thanks guys - don’t worry - be safe, we’ll take our chances.

  Zeke looked carefully at the locat
ion of the pilot’s pod and judged him to be seconds away from hitting the front edge of Pennington’s trap. He would be one of the first casualties unless they could do something.

  Zeke: Pod, alter course, intercept pilot. Jump him as soon as you have a lock.

  Pod: It’s going to be tight, Zeke. He’s at our extreme range and the enemy drones are saturating the area.

  Zeke: Let’s clear some space.

  As he resumed his three hundred and sixty degree view of their battle zone, both Zeke’s and Pod’s weapons flamed into use, creating a tunnel of carnage back into the drone pack as they attempted to get close enough for Pod to lock onto the escape pod and extricate pilot and AI from certain death.

  They didn’t waste time communicating with the pilot, either they made it and they could talk another time, or they didn’t.

  Zeke’s implant began to overheat in his head, something they had never experienced before. As a headache began to develop in reaction to the rising temperature, Zeke’s grip on reality began to phase in and out. He could feel sweat running down the back of his tunic and into his eyes from his forehead. He mentally blinked in an attempt to grip harder to his world, but it was a tenuous connection now.

  “Escape pod transferred to SAR ship. Pilot and AI rescued,“ Pod declared on open channel so all ships would hear. The whoops of congratulations from the other pilots sounded tinny and hollow as Zeke drifted into an unconscious no-mans land where he saw the complete region of space in his mind’s eye and registered every minute detail as if rendered in high definition.

  He mentally registered every speck, fragment of ship, each and every discharged weapon, drifting mine, and - ships - millions of ships. His mind recorded them all, position, trajectory, speed, mass and destination. He attempted to focus on returning to his own reality. He could see Pod and other Reaver ships. Two were hit and drifting aimlessly a third collided with a Shadowship. Both exploded causing a massive fireball.

  Pulling back, he saw further and further into the space around him as the Alacite expanded his consciousness beyond normal constraints. Zeke, convinced he wasn’t really there, that it was simply an aspect of the delirium caused by the Alacite distorting his all-round vision, fought to return to his physical body. But something was pulling him away from Pod as though they were in the grip of a raging storm.

  Unable to communicate with Pod either, Zeke was being dragged towards another sea of red, a larger one massing at the edge of the solar system. This one was big, as large as the first and second combined.

  This then, was the main fleet - and he was heading straight for it.

  - 25 -

  The Battle Turns

  Celnista, the first Supreme Queen of the Nubl drummed her metallic claws on the arms of her throne. Not one for feeling nervous, she studiously failed to acknowledge the state. No, she was excited and restless and the view of her ships enthralled her, the screens providing her with an overview of all three fleets.

  All she surveyed - she commanded. Her entire race. Her workers followed in specially crafted hive ships designed to continue the repair and manufacture of anything required. Their journey had just begun and the exodus stretched across multiple systems. It would not set foot on any base now until their journey’s end in some distant star system, not yet mapped by her patrols.

  The first fleet was all the old ships and drones. They knew well the trickery of humans and the constant forays into human space had taught her tacticians how they operated. Her scientific minds had built a model of their behaviour and had surmised they would try and trap the fleet with some advanced technology based on previous success.

  It had been an easy matter to provide gutted ships from the fleets they had overcome in the Haseels and press them into service with nothing more than the programmed heads of vanquished clones to operate them. Her software ensured their compliance. The humans would waste their surprises on her enemies while her fleet would remain intact, ready to wipe them from the universe.

  She chuckled wickedly, the sound oddly received by her clones that stood around her. Her ‘Ta hadn’t been the only one who had noticed her strange behaviour recently. All had wondered at the changes in her personality since the beginning of the wars that had wiped out a third of their population. Wars that had brought the whole Nubl race under a single banner.

  The programme of worker and clone building had been as industrious as the ship manufacture. It had only been this massive productivity that had kept things from spiralling out of control. Clones they may be, but there was still the matter of tradition, and much of that had been swept aside in recent months. There was considerable negativity that was being harboured that the Queen seemed oblivious to. Others had noticed the ‘Ta was often skating around the Queen while she seemed preoccupied. Many had wondered why that particular clone had not yet been dismantled and smelted for worker parts.

  “They are quite entertaining, aren’t they?” the Queen observed through close-up cameras as a squadron of human Reaver-class ships dived into her first fleet and began to fire on individual ships. The Shadowships were all Mark1 types. The enemy were familiar with them and would expend all their energy and weapons, leaving her elite force ready to pound them into space dust when they were defenceless and drained of laser energy.

  “Are we able to match these bigger ships coming up the flanks?” she asked Jabath who had been hovering close by since departing the hive. Her claw itched, the poisonous nanites that would dissolve Nubl flesh keen to do their work. Soon, she soothed... soon.

  “They call them ‘Bears’, Supremacy. They are formidable weapons platforms and we will lose many ships within the first fleet, but that is a tactical ploy to drain them of missiles. Our Mark III ships will match them in performance when the second wave engages,” Jabath explained patiently. He awaited his chance to make his move, but sensed also that his Queen was prepared for something. Her attention and animation suggested that there was more to her excitement than just the invasion. He would have to be quick when his chance came.

  ***

  Jimmi couldn’t believe it. One minute he was surrounded by enemy ships, a red sea on his readouts and the next he was bobbing comfortably in a SAR, Search and Rescue hangar with four uniformed workers handling his cocoon towards a storage cradle. As the lid popped open, Jimmi beamed at the technician that was leaning in to pull him from the habitation module that had kept him alive after the Reaver had been stripped by multiple fire from Shadowships.

  He knew he had been lucky.

  “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Tech,” he shouted over the din of the air pressure vents equalising.

  The worry on the man’s face was only slightly relieved by his smile.

  “You guys... you’re put in the best ships on the planet and all you can do is wreck them and leave us to pick up the pieces. Do you know how many of you we have pulled out of these eggs today?” He glanced over at the storage area and Jimmi could see as he was yanked out that there must be close to five hundred of them there. That’s a lot of lucky pilots, he thought.

  He looked back at him, realising that the guy must be wondering just how bad they were losing.

  “You think these are bad,” Jimmi answered hanging a thumb back into the war zone, “you should see the other side.” He laughed, appreciating the feel of a deck that felt good and solid under his feet.

  That brought a smile to the man’s face as his mood lightened a little.

  “Thanks for pulling me in though, I owe you one,” he said as he shook the tech’s hand, ‘Albion’, it said on his name tag.

  He shrugged. “It wasn’t us, Patterson, you just appeared on the deck.” He pulled on the AG sled to begin the trek to the storage unit.

  Jimmi looked at him strangely and Albion added, “the only other jump field around here is on Callaghan’s warship. He’s giving the enemy hell out there - he must have seen you and pulled you out.”

  One of the other techs came around from the front section with a b
right metal cylinder, handing it to him and grabbing his arm to push him off in another direction. “Here, this is your AI. I’ve orders to get you back to the station as soon as possible. If you go and stand in that circle along with the others, the next jump is due in about three minutes.”

  Jimmi thanked them, and holding his AI who was currently incommunicado until connected to an external source, joined the other pilots, most of whom he knew by sight, a few by name. All looked haggard and drawn. It’s never a good feeling to be in the blackness of space in nothing more than a shell and no means of propulsion or staying alive beyond a few hours. If you’re not picked up, you’re dead.

  “Hi, Brenda,” he nudged a comrade who was looking decidedly abject. “Bad hit?”

  “I lost Calypso,” was all she said. Her AI had taken a direct burst of laser fire just before they had pulled her capsule out of the melee.

  “Ah, I’m sorry Bren, you okay? When was he last backed up?” Jimmi asked.

  She looked at him in amazement, the glimmering of a smile tweaked her face at his remark.

  “Oh! I never thought... I was so wrapped up in the battle I forgot... and when I lost him, I didn’t think about the pre-flight routines.” She smiled as she looked at him, her sadness forgotten.

  “What? You forgot that all AIs are backed up as part of the pre-flight?” he admonished her gently. “Calypso’s backup will know most of what happened from the logs and your memories. It will be like you never lost him,” Jimmi reassured her gently.

  It hadn’t been designed that way. It had been expected that more pilots would be lost and the AIs would be assigned new partners. In fact the capsules worked so well that the recovery rate was in the ninety percent range. The exact figure was on the hangar scoreboard telling the techs just how well they were doing in plucking out the emergency pods from the battle with their short-range jump fields.

  “Oh Jimmi, thank you.” She placed a hand on his arm just as the hangar lights winked out and they reappeared in the flight bay of Alpha Station.