From the Black (Free Fleet Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  The Kalu would just light up their generators and collapse their escape.

  They needed time, and Yasu had one idea of how to do that.

  “Charles!” She barked, her second in command moving from the entrance of the bridge.

  “Commander?” He asked, probably wondering where they were going to fight off the next wave of Kalu.

  “Get on that communications console, get me the commanders of the worst wounded ships. I have a request to make of them and one hell of a gamble,” she said, looking to him with steel in her eyes.

  She hadn't told him a thing, but a glance to the planet and to her at least some recognition showed in his eyes.

  “Commander,” he said in confirmation, moving to the command console.

  Yasu felt her stomach drop out at what she was about to do, but she knew it was the only way she could think to save the fleet, James would've done the same.

  He seems to have rubbed off on me some, she thought. A sad smile played across her lips as she changed the ships navigation, opened her visor and looked into the visual pick-up, recording a message.

  ***

  “Alright you bastards, ready to show these Kalu fuckers what the hell we're about?” Heston asked every fighter that was under his command and currently holding formation with Fruit cup. Nearly every flying capable fighter was there, it was seventy percent of their original numbers but it was still impressive. There hadn't been anywhere else for the fighters to go, every ship capable of holding them was under attack by Star Warriors and would make them a damned easy target if they tried to resupply or fix their fighters.

  “Commanders,” Heston said, his commanders firing up their ships and talking to their individual wings as they sped off towards the still incoming wave of Star Warriors.

  Heston grinned as he powered up his own MEF,

  “ALRIGHT WING TWO-FOUR-ONE, YOU READY TO THROW THESE FUCKERS BACK INTO DEEP SPACE? THEN FOLLOW ME!” He applied full thrust, the wake-up adrenaline and the damned thrill of pushing a MEF to its limits making him whoop.

  A guitar started over his wing's comms. Heston was about to tell Mufti Diver to shut his music up when he figured out the tune and laughed.

  “Guess who just got back today? Those wild-eyed boys that had been away haven't changed, haven't much to say but man, I still think those cats are great,” Smith sung the boys are back in town as Heston's wing banked, coming in amongst the star-warriors closing in on friendly ships.

  Heston peppered the back end of the Star Warrior, using the same method Smith had to penetrate the armor with his rail guns, penetrators fired, the warrior flashing light as they wreaked havoc, the guns went silent and the warrior drifted as its engines stopped.

  One down, only another three thousand to go. Heston flipped his bird, Smith was next to him in seconds. Smith might have been unorthodox and a bit eccentric, but there was no one else that Heston would want on his wing.

  ***

  Heston's attack with Fruit cup and all the fighters he could rally was impressive, but Foshunti knew that it was only prolonging the existence of the Fleet. The Kalu were too damned fast, had too many ships and didn't think of losses like other sentient creature. The losses they sustained would only serve to push them to attack faster and harder than ever before. They had found a worthy enemy, and they would do anything to destroy them, or get their names placed into the stories of their clans in the attempt.

  He let none of his emotions get through his mask as Talhalla shook from laser's that cut into her hull, and missiles that ripped away her armor, or struck at her internals.

  His harness strained with a particularly nasty hit. Cries came out as someone that hadn't been secured went flying into a console.

  Foshunti could only grit his teeth as another hit rocked the ship.

  Thankfully someone was holding the injured person down to stop them from flying across the bridge again.

  His console beeped, alerting him that Bok Soo wanted his attention, and the man was somehow keeping the Kalu out of vital areas. Leading the damned charge against them.

  These Free Fleet people are damned crazy, Foshunti thought, proud to be one of those 'Free Fleet people'.

  “Commander, Yasu has an idea, its crazy, but it might just give the Fleet the time it needs to get out of here, and get themselves organized to bring the fight back to the Kalu,” Bok Soo said.

  “Go ahead,” Foshunti said, listening to the plan, it was damned risky, but if it worked then Salchar and most of the fleet would be able to escape, and the Kalu would be honour bound to let them go and wait.

  At least until Yasu's diversion ended.

  “Alright, I'll pledge Talhalla to her plan, has she told Salchar?” Foshunti asked.

  “Not yet,” Bok Soo, sounding slightly nervous.

  “I will pledge my support on one term. That she tells him right away, he will not appreciate this shock and think that she and we have turned against him that we are making our own orders,” Foshunti said, keeping the nerves out of his voice, he did not want to deal with Salchar if he stopped listening to his inner circle.

  “I will pass that on,” Bok Soo cut the channel, probably doing just that.

  “Helm we will be getting new co-ordinates shortly. Carry them out to the letter,” Foshunti didn't know the new Syndicate helmsperson.

  “Commander,” it said, its voice a deep rumble, there was no question in that voice, just the understanding of another Free Fleet personnel.

  Lines of those that had been part of the Syndicate and those that had been trained by them had vanished. They were all fighting for survival.

  But maybe not our own today, Foshunti thought, his face grim as Talhalla moved towards her new coordinates.

  ***

  “Go,” I said, connecting to whatever channel Resilient, Rick or Vort was connecting to me. I dragged my sword across a Kalu, my pistol putting two rounds in their face from point-blank. The creature collapsed as a Commando blunted an oncoming attack. I slashed again, my blows and the Commando's disorientating the Kalu as it tried to slash me and them. It turned, facing the Commando to my right.

  “James?” Yasu's voice was sad as I used my pistol as an impromptu knuckle duster. No one makes my girl sad, I thought, viciously stabbing my sword into the Kalu.

  “I have a plan to get the Kalu off of the Fleet, it is risky and there is no guarantee that it will work,” she said, sounding relieved that she could get that off of her chest.

  “What's the plan?” I asked, reloading my pistol as me and the group of Commandos moved to the next grouping of Kalu. Carsickle was doing one hell of a job to keep Resilient our own, the Kalu were now charging right for the vital systems of the Dreadnought.

  “A group of Commandos and badly damaged ships go to the habitable planet, we mount a defence and issue a challenge to the Kalu. When a challenge is issued then the entire Kalu fleet will be held up, trying to destroy the Commando contingent. It will give the fleet time to get out of the system and rebuild itself.”

  Emotions coiled in my stomach as my world seemed to give way. She was going with them. I could hear it in her voice. She was going to lead my Commandos into a rearguard action to give the fleet the time it needed to get away. Then they would fight till they couldn't anymore.

  I closed my emotions away.

  “Yes,” I said, tears, unbidden filling my eyes and making my visor blurry.

  How goddamn cold am I? Filled with disgust at myself I heard the pain in Yasu's voice, she knew I knew she was going, and she knew the pain the decision took.

  “Look after the kids and get the fleet ready. The Commandos will be here waiting for a fleet that can crush these bastards,” she said. “Now go you brilliant man, and make this damned universe learn why they don't mess with us,” emotions and tears colouring her voice.

  “I love you,” I said, the words making me shake with emotion. I had stopped in a corridor, Krom and Shreesht covering me as always.

  “I love you to
o,” she said, neither of us willing to shut down the connection.

  “Kalu coming!” Krom said.

  “Forever and always yours,” Yasu said, closing the channel. I funnelled my emotions into the rage I felt. I through it at the damned universe, at the Syndicate, at the fucking Kalu, at the bastards that wanted to kill my people, my brothers and sisters, my fleet, my wife.

  I stopped being the Commander of the Free Fleet and became a Commando. I let my command staff deal with the fleet as I grabbed Shreesht's cannon. I walked through the corridor, I didn't think, I reacted. Kalu, fire, Kalu, fire, Kalu fire. I felt Resilient shifting underneath me. The fleet was splitting, an announcement was coming across the speakers. I didn't listen to it as I walked through the corridors of my home.

  I only stopped when I ran out of targets, or found a group of my people. I was beyond reason or talking to. I moved, killing anything Kalu I could find.

  The Cannon ran out of rounds. I slung it, freeing my sword and pistol again. I let out a yell, the likes of which gave even the Kalu pause as I let out the pain of a tortured man that had just sent his wife to die.

  I shouldered bashed the first Kalu, striking a second as I shot the first. I rolled, putting my pistol in another's face, shooting and jumping over a Kalu. I lowered my sword, the Kalu cutting itself apart. I landed, Krom and Shreesht acting like armored bowling balls as they smashed through the lines of Kalu. The Commandos we had found killed the tossed Kalu.

  “Kill them all,” I said, my voice as cold and deadly as Marhtu's.

  I forgot the world and lived for the death. I didn't allow myself a breath, tossing myself back into the fight whenever I was free.

  Krom pulled his sword free from the neck and body joint of the Kalu.

  He opened his visor.

  “We are leaving the system and heading for Bregend, from there we will send word to the rest of the fleet to support us and claim this system,” he said, obviously someone had been relaying what was happening to him.

  “We will not leave them behind,” I said, hope playing in my chest. You know war, you know that hope can go both ways. “For now we clear our ships,” I checked my pistol, my sword and powered armor.

  I injected wake-up, it numbed my feelings as my body tingled with what felt like artificial adrenaline. Before this had been another battle to try and hold onto some style of control and understand the Kalu. Now I understood the Kalu.

  Nothing would stop them, unless we ended them all. They would pay for every Free Fleet life they had taken.

  ***

  Eddie slumped into a chair, looking at the readings of the console in front of him blankly. His brother was heading towards Heija now, Resilient's upgrades and overhaul hadn't been enough to save her from a mauling. Twenty percent of the ship was open to vaccuum. Whole sections were irradiated, a third of Eddie's engineering crew were dead. He remembered the Kalu as they raced through his ship, ripping apart all the work he had done to protect the people inside her hull.

  He sat there, his manipulator's shaking in what would have been a human equivalent of crying.

  Stop that now, you still have your ship and you still have the rest of your engineering crew. Being recruited didn't kill you and the Kalu haven't yet. He put his cowboy hat back on his head.

  His Data pad was beeping angrily with priority alerts.

  He opened the top priority and moved towards the fluctuating power-lines.

  ***

  Smith didn't listen to music as he boarded Flasher, his carrier, Finn had been one of the few ships that had kept clear of the Star-warriors, only to be hammered by swarm after swarm of Kalu fighters. Floater was headed for the unnamed inhabitable planet, Fruit cup was the main Battle-Carrier left and it was full. Smith was lucky that he was even getting a berth. A lot of ships were clamping onto the hulls of the fleeing Free Fleet vessels.

  The Kalu would catch up with the Free Fleet shortly, though because it splitting into two formations the Kalu were also splitting in an unorganized manner.

  “This is Commander Yasu, I offer War Leader battle for this system with battle between our forces on the unnamed planet we are heading for. Prepare your forces for battle in the time it takes this planet to rotate its primary sun,” Yasu's voice came over every single channel.

  “We accept your challenge,” came the voice that must have been of the Kalu War Leader. “You will have a tenth of the planet's rotation,”

  With that it ended its transmission. The Kalu following the Fleet heading for the jump limit shifted to follow Yasu's group.

  Smith watched the plot on his fighter's screens as he saw people he'd trained with, those that he'd taught and flown with. People he'd drunk with at bars or seen in the corridors, even a man that he'd call his best friend would be fighting on that planet for their survival, and the Fleet's escape.

  “We'll be back,” he said, remembering the reunion of the Marines and assault pilots he'd gone to with Connolly.

  Smith got out of his fighter numbly, he didn't know how long he was sitting there looking at his screens.

  The deck was a mess of recent combat, fighters being repaired, and people being pulled from their fighters with wounds.

  Rick looked across the deck, seeing Heston in his fighter. They shared a look, nodding to one another, they understood what their brothers and sisters were doing for them, and they were going to do their best to help them.

  “All fighters secured, prepare for jump,” Flasher's Captain said numbly. Generators powered up, starting their charge. It would still be another few hours. Smith checked over his fighter, trying to keep himself occupied so he didn't have to think of the fate of those that were travelling to the planet.

  His hands glided over the rents in his armor, the holes in his wings the burns of lasers and peppering of shrapnel.

  He tapped the teeth he'd painted onto the front of the craft.

  You'll be feeding on Kalu again soon enough.

  ***

  I moved through the back end of the Kalu, no yells or crashes as I stabbed into the nearest creature. I kept going with the Commandos and my security detail following. The group at the bridge parted as I walked through.

  Rick rose as I entered, moving his rail gun away from the entrance.

  “Get me the command staff,” I said, knowing that Bok Soo was now gone with Yasu, and half of my fleet.

  “Vort, In Sook, I want every damned piece of ammunition and usable supplies we have sent to the planet. Every shuttle crew is to be made up of volunteers,” I barked, my voice raw as I unsealed my helmet, my visor clanking open.

  “How long until jump,” I asked.

  “Two and a half hours,” Milra said. We'd gotten faster at being able to generate a wormhole, but it was still a timely process.

  I hid my pain as I stormed to the conference room, Rick was there moments later.

  “James,” the sorrow in his voice palpable.

  “She isn't dead. Neither are those crews, and I intend to keep them alive,” I said with my eyes cutting into his, emotion slipped away from his gaze all that remained was steel.

  The Commanders came on through holographic projectors, some of them working well, others making them appear fuzzy, or their image distorted.

  “As you know, this detachment of the Fleet is going to escape this system,” rumbles went through them all. A look silenced them.

  “We need to have more ships online and people trained to use them before we can free those that will hopefully roadblock the Kalu here. We will be back. We will get our people back,” there was no room for question in my eyes or voice.

  “Now look to those in your care, I want them fighting ready and these ships repaired. We will move to Bregend's fleet, joining up with Cheerleader, hopefully Commander Boot will have contacted the Free Fleet and we can add his forces to our own,” I said, giving them a rough sketch, I didn't know if even that kind of forces would be enough to fight.

  “In Sook, get our least damaged corvett
es and send them to the nearest relays with the battles information,” I said in clipped tones.

  Well you know what the Kalu are capable of now. Was it worth the price? My mind savagely turned against me.

  No, but I'll make sure those losses are never forgotten, and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave them to die off on Heija. I tried to not think of the number of personnel that would die on Heija to give me and the Fleet the time we needed to escape, and figure out how to fight the Kalu and the Syndicate.

  Anger, regret, self-pity, and James could wait, the Fleet, those that we protected and went home to, needed Salchar. I needed Salchar.

  The mask that I had worn so many times before descended as I looked to my armrests. Before those corvettes left I needed to prepare the fleet for whatever might come next.

  ***

  Evelyn Sparks was buried in her tablet, making possibly one of the most important stories she had ever written, she and the three other reporters had sat at the back of Resilient's bridge and watched it all.

  She watched as the Free Fleet grew with every system it passed through.

  She thought that Salchar's actions were reckless to attack the Kalu, yet she also knew he had to find out what the Kalu's abilities were. They Kalu had ravaged the hearts of everyone in the Free Fleet, yet as painful as it was for them they had hardened themselves and worked like the devil himself was riding them. The bridge, all three floors of it had worked in concert to get the fleet organized and do whatever they could to help their brothers and sisters in arms.

  She had seen outside the bridge when Salchar had come in, his armor torn and bloodied by the Kalu. Krom and Shreesht were similarly covered. For a novice reporter it would've been hard to keep their eyes off of the massive Avarians and their armor which looked to have gone through a buzz saw.