Last Stand on Talos Seven

by Rodney Hartman

  Trinity prepared as best she could for what was to come. She’d managed to dodge the deadly beam twice. She wasn’t sure she could do it again. Forming a defensive shield to her front, she waited for the inevitable. It didn’t come.

  Boom!

  The Leviathan exploded in a blast of purple light. Pieces of broken brerellium steel armor mixed with plasma energy, smoke, and flames rose a hundred meters into the air. The ten-meter-long barrel of the cat’s disintegrator cannon came tumbling out of the smoke-filled sky. In a stroke of seemingly divine luck, the spinning barrel smashed into the left side of the pirates’ Marcon medium UHAAV. Rockets exploded in their launchers as the Macron’s legs buckled beneath it.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Secondary explosions tore the medium UHAAV in half as the metal behemoth fell to the ground.

  “The way is clear to the Wingbat,” said Jennifer. “Go. Go now before the pirates have time to react.”

  With rockets no longer raining down around her, and with the threat from the heavy and medium cats neutralized, Trinity ran around the burning wreckage that had been the Macron and made a beeline for the modified Wingbat. A pirate Tomcat scout UHAAV came out of the smoke and pointed its 40mm phase cannon at Trinity’s chest. Without bothering to put up a defensive shield, she reached into the chest of the light cat, found a round of 40mm phase ammo in the cat’s magazine, and squeezed hard with telekinesis.

  Boom!

  The Tomcat’s chest exploded outward as flames licked up the inside of the scout cat’s cockpit. A haunting image of the pirate’s face screaming in agony was forever etched in her mind. She shoved the memory aside and continued running.

  A Long Cat medium UHAAV broke away from the group of pirate cats that were concentrating their fire on the mine’s force field. The seven-meter-tall Long Cat fired its 200mm phase cannon as it ran. In the second and a half before the round got to her, an image appeared in Trinity’s mind as Jennifer formed a possible plan in their shared space. With her own idea of using the Macron to take out the Wingbat now impossible, Trinity jumped on her battle computer’s plan.

  “I’ll need help,” Trinity thought.

  “Compliance.”

  Pulling Power from her reserve, Trinity allowed Jennifer to take control with a speed too fast for a human mind to handle. She had a split-second sensation of her Power wrapping around the incoming phase round and angling the 200mm creallium shell away from her and toward the pirates’ Wingbat. The phase round connected with the medium cat’s upper torso.

  Boom!

  The exploding phase round sent pieces of burning wreckage flying out the Wingbat’s back.

  Boom!

  A second explosion of dark energy flew up and out as the anti-energy generator overloaded. The second explosion was more powerful than Trinity expected. A ring of billowing anti-matter washed over the battlefield. The force of the expanding anti-matter flung Trinity backwards. By using telekinesis she succeeded in slowing her velocity just before she made contact with the ground.

  Rolling to dissipate the remaining momentum, Trinity jumped to her feet and looked around. Dense smoke mixed with anti-energy prevented visual sight of her surroundings. Switching her visor to a thermal filter did little to improve her visibility. Reaching out with her passive scan, she took in the life forms around her. All of the medium and heavy cats that had been attacking the force field were either on their sides or had been shattered into burning pieces of metal. The smaller cats like the pirates’ Warcats and Tomcats had held up better. Apparently being lower to the ground had helped avoid the worst of the blast. Her passive scan indicated numerous life forms losing large amounts of life energy by the second.

  “The blast of anti-energy has decimated the first three waves of the pirates’ strike force,” said Jennifer.

  “Are you trying to say that we’ve won?” Trinity asked, hardly able to believe their luck.

  “Not hardly, Wizard Scout. The fourth wave was protected in the ravine. The assault shuttles have gone back to the pirates’ transports for another load. They will be returning shortly with a fifth and sixth wave.”

  Trinity began running for the pit mine. “I’ve got to pull our troops from the other side of the mine and strengthen the eastern defensive positions before the fourth wave attacks. If we can keep them from blowing a hole in the mine’s shield, it won’t matter how many cats they have. We knocked out their anti-energy generator. Those things are rare. What are the odds they’ve got another?”

  “Low,” admitted Jennifer. “The Crosoians are in a full-scale war with the Empire. I calculate the bats would not give the pirates a second generator. Still, the attackers may have something else up their sleeve.”

  “Like what?”

  “Insufficient data to cal... Incoming! Twelve o’clock high!”

  Trinity slowed down and looked up. She stopped dead in her tracks to stare at a streak of light entering the atmosphere. The streak slowed, revealing a two-hundred-meter long Type II Balorean destroyer. Jets of ion energy shot out the bottom of the starship, slowing its descent even more.

  “Are those fools trying to land?” Trinity asked genuinely perplexed. “What are they—” Then it hit her. “The mine’s shield is weaker closer to the ground. They’re going to use their anti-ship cannons to blast a hole in the force field once they land. Are they crazy? Their ship will be crushed by its own weight.”

  “It will not be completely crushed,” said Jennifer. “I calculate only the bottom third of the destroyer will be damaged. The ship’s eight one-hundred-gigawatt cannons on their main gun deck will still be operable. Based upon their current rate of descent, it will take two minutes and twelve seconds from now for them to land and blow a hole in the mine’s force field. If the fourth wave of the strike force gets through the opening, they’ll knock out our transport. Then the whole shield will come down. The remaining destroyer and light cruiser can then use their space-to-ground weapons to decimate the Talosians.”

  Trinity took off running for the nearest edge of the force field. “Contact the Donovan. Tell Ryan we need him here now. That destroyer’s got to be taken out of action.”

  “Unable to comply, Wizard Scout. The Donovan’s currently engaged with the other destroyer. Ryan and the others are not going to be able to help us.”

  Trintiy speeded up even more. She had no idea what to do. She only knew she had to get to the mine and fight. She was a wizard scout. She had to try. That’s what wizards scouts did.

  Chapter 29 – Sacrifice

  ____________________

  Four Balorean fighters came in fast from the portside firing plasma weapons at the Donovan as they flew by. Anna angled the shields on the survey ship’s portside to deflect the energy beams away from the ship. The Donovan shook and rattled as some of the plasma energy partially penetrated the starship’s shield and made contact with the hull.

  “You didn’t angle the portside shield enough!” said Ryan. He reached across from the pilot’s seat and punched the shield control on the copilot’s console. “I can’t fly and handle the shields all by my lonesome.”

  “I’m doing the best I can,” Anna snapped back. “If you’d get out of the fighters’ way, they wouldn’t be making so many gun runs on us.”

  Ryan jerked the pilot’s control stick hard to the right to avoid an incoming anti-ship missile. The Donovan’s portside anti-missile plasma guns opened up. The pirates’ missile exploded before making contact with the Donovan’s force field.

  “I can’t get away from the fighters,” said Ryan as he turned left, making straight for a group of the pirates’ short-range fighters. “They’re the only reason the destroyer and cruiser’s main guns aren’t firing at us.”

  Anna wanted to yell in frustration, but she was too busy angling the port and forward shields in an effort to deflect a flurry of plasma beams and phase rounds from the attacking fighters. The Donovan shuddered slightly, but none of the weapons’ fire penetrated the force field.
>
  “That’s better,” said Ryan. He turned his head to look at the tactical hologram located between the pilot and copilot’s seats. “McAvits,” he said, speaking into the microphone inside his helmet. “The destroyer’s changing course. She’s going to try and join the other destroyer on Talos. Trinity and the others might be able to hold off the one destroyer from blasting a hole in the mine’s shield, but if this one lands on the opposite side of the mine, they’ll have our people in a crossfire. You’ve got to keep that destroyer’s attention.”

  Two bright beams of red light flashed across the forward view screens as the Donovan’s twin 50 gigawatt plasma cannons opened up. They glanced off the destroyer’s force field doing little if any harm. Eight green beams of return fire from the destroyer were joined by a dozen more from the light cruiser. Ryan jerked the Donovan to the left as he accelerated forward. Most of the beams missed. Anna deflected four of the remaining five beams by angling the shields in sector six and seven. The fifth energy beam was only partially deflected. A sizeable part of the plasma energy made contact with the recon ship’s stern on the starboard side. Anna was thrown forward. Her seat harness cut into her shoulders as her helmet banged into the copilot’s console.

  “And that’s why you always wear headgear during combat,” said Ryan. “Even wearing a helmet you’ve still got to learn to anticipate things like that. I locked my harness before the beam hit.”

  Anna shook her head, clearing it as best she could. “Sorry. I tried to stop the beams but—”

  “You did good,” Ryan said. He jerked the controls to the right and headed for another group of fighters. “It was my fault. I didn’t get close enough to the fighters. I gave those two line ships a shot.” He pushed the icon to fire the recon ship’s forward missile battery. Four anti-ship missiles shot out toward the enemy fighters. Six of the fighters managed to dodge. Two others didn’t. They exploded in twin blasts of yellow and red.

  A flashing red light on the console caught Anna’s attention. “We’ve got a fire in the engine compartment. We’re also losing air on deck two. Shields in sector three, seven, and eight are down.”

  Ryan glanced around the cabin before patting the pilot’s console. “Hold together, old girl. You’ve never lost a fight, and I ain’t going to let you start now.” He looked out the forward view screen at the destroyer. It was firing braking thrusters as it prepared to descend into the planet’s atmosphere. The old man turned and looked at Anna. “Transfer all remaining power to the forward shields. Then I want you to seal your helmet and eject.”

  “What?” Anna said. “I’m not leaving you. We’ve got to stop—”

  “I said seal your helmet.”

  Emphasizing the point, Ryan reached across and slapped Anna’s visor down. Air hissed as it automatically sealed.

  Ryan turned away and looked out the pilot’s view screen. “Now transfer all power to the forward shields. All I’ll need is maneuvering thrusters.”

  Anna moved an icon on her seat arm to transfer power from the engine to the forward shields. When the icon turned green, she turned to the survey ship’s captain. “All power is now being diverted to the forward shields. But I’m not going to lea—”

  Ryan pressed a red button on the left arm of his pilot’s chair. A clear tube of energy lowered from the ceiling above the copilot’s seat.

  “No!” Anna said as she reached for the ‘ABORT EJECT’ button. “I’m not going to—”

  Whoosh!

  The hatch above the copilot’s chair blew open as a jet of air shot Anna into the emptiness of space.

  Ryan touched the icon for the ship-wide intercom. “This is the captain. Abandon ship. It’s been a pleasure serving with you.” He waited for the icons denoting the other crewmembers to turn green. Six of them did. Five icons remained red. Ryan didn’t need to look to know which members of the Donovan’s crew were choosing to stay onboard and which had chosen to leave. “Are you sure this is the way you want it?” he asked.

  McAvits spoke for the five remaining members of the Donovan’s original crew. “The Donovan’s stuck with us through the years with nary a complaint, Captain. We ain’t gonna desert her now.”

  Ryan nodded. He wiped something from the corner of his eyes with his left hand. “Very well then. Fire everything we’ve got at the light cruiser as we pass by. Keep her off me long enough to get to that destroyer. We’re going to give Trinity and the others a chance. If I know Trinity, it’ll be enough. It’ll have to be enough.”

  The Donovan shuddered as every weapon on the recon ship fired in unison. Ryan shoved the thruster controls all the way forward. The destroyer grew larger in the view screen as every weapon on the pirate vessel returned fire. The Donovan rattled and shook, but the forward shields held for three, four, five seconds, then they began to crack. Ryan laughed as he aimed for the destroyer’s bridge.

  “You shoulda stayed away from Talos when you had the chance. No one messes with the Donovan and gets away with it.”

  * * *

  Anna’s view from space was a tumbling mass of stars. She activated her suit’s gyros. The spinning slowed and then stopped. With a small burst of ion energy out the side maneuvering thruster of the suit, she spun to the right until the brown and blue of Talos came into sight. Flashes of light from dozens of beams of plasma energy drew her attention to the pirate destroyer and the Donovan. Energy beams glanced off the front shields of the old survey ship as anti-ship missiles shot out from the destroyer and the light cruiser. Two missiles hit the rear of the Donovon. Fire, smoke, and debris shot out into space as the survey ship’s cargo bay door ruptured. Still the Donovan pressed onward. More beams of plasma energy reached out from the destroyer, raking across the front shields.

  A flash of light told Anna the portside forward shield had given out. The portside thrusters of the Donovan activated as the survey ship’s twin 50 gigawatt cannons fired a continuous burst of energy at the destroyer’s bridge. Anna knew the Donovan’s plasma cannons would burn out if McAvits didn’t give the weapons a break. She also knew it wasn’t going to matter in a few seconds anyway. The Donovan drew ever closer to the destroyer. The pirate ship’s maneuvering thrusters shot out as her captain desperately tried to avoid the oncoming collision, but it was too late. The Donovan’s bow hit the destroyer’s force field in front of the pirate’s bridge. The nose and cockpit of the Donovan collapsed and exploded outward. Momentum continued carrying the bulk of the survey ship forward as the destroyer’s force field gave way. The two ships made contact. The bridge of the pirates’ ship crushed inward as the mass of burning wreckage that had been the Donovan tore deep into the destroyer’s hull.

  A flash of light filled the space around Anna, activating the auto-filter of her helmet. After three seconds the filter returned to normal. The blazing form of the pirates’ destroyer was diving toward the planet’s surface. Flaming pieces of its hull broke off as she entered the atmosphere. Within seconds the pirate ship broke into a dozen pieces of fiery wreckage. Plasma and phase weapons exploded in multi-colored bursts of energy as the destroyer became unrecognizable balls of flaming metal. If it wasn’t so terrible, Anna would’ve thought it was beautiful. Then the last of the wreckage burned into nothing, and the sky above Talos was clear again.

  Anna looked around. She saw the pirates’ light cruiser. Flickers of light in the distance told her the positions of the pirates’ transports. The battle was far from over.

  Activating her suit’s homing beacon, Anna noted the locations of six pings coming from the suits of other Donovan survivors. They were six short. She didn’t need to wonder who those six were. She knew as sure as if she’d remained onboard the old survey ship herself.

  Raising her right arm, Anna gave a salute. “Rest easy, my friends,” whispered Anna. “You’re with the rest of your crew now. We’ll never forget you.”

  Chapter 30 – Breach

  ____________________

  “Trinity needs us on the east side of the mine,”
said Janet. “The destroyer’s trying to blow a hole in the force field. We’ve got to get there before any of their cats make it through.”

  Connor was already running the Wingbat at max throttle. The danger of tangling its legs at such a high rate of speed was significant, but he pressed on anyway. The certain death that would follow if any of the pirates’ cats made it inside the mine’s force field far outweighed any danger of tripping. A hundred meters shy of the cliff face, bright flashes of light overhead drew his attention. He glanced upward through the forward view screens long enough to make out dozens of fiery streaks heading toward the ground.

  “What are those?” Connor asked. “Are more assault shuttles coming in already? They just dropped the last wave off. How could they get back so soon?”

  As Connor maneuvered the Wingbat up the side of the cliff, Janet punched some icons on her control panel.

  “It’s what’s left of the second destroyer,” said Janet. “Trinity says the Donovan took it out. That means we’ve still got a chance.”

  An image of Anna appeared in Connor’s mind. “Is the Donovan all right? Maybe they can take out some of those transports. That would take the pressure off of—”

  “The Donovan’s gone,” said Janet.

  The Wingbat missed a foothold on the cliff’s stairs. Connor activated a jump thruster long enough to compensate. With a final leap, the confiscated pirate UHAAV cleared the top of the cliff. The pirate destroyer was visible on the far side of the ravine. The lower third of the pirates’ ship was crushed almost flat, but the top third, the part containing its main gun deck, was nearly intact. Beams of green light shot out from the destroyer, concentrating on a single point on the mine’s force field. The shimmering wall of energy forming the mine’s defensive shield had taken on a greenish glow.

  “What do you mean the Donovan’s gone?” Connor asked. “I don’t—”