“Gna, keep your cool,” Haki’s voice crackled through the comm, seemingly reading her thoughts. “I have no idea what that was, but we can’t risk losing any more ships. We’ll report these events to Skadi. I’m afraid Njord is on his own.”
* * *
Soon after Haki and Gna left, Skadi received harsh verification that she made the wrong call: HARPE picked up on an enemy ship approaching Earth from the far side. Shit.
Skadi scrambled her forces. Of her remaining 36 Nemesis fighters, she had 16 stay onboard as a last resort and deployed the other 20 to attack the enemy vessel speeding toward Earth. Ten fighters flew to intercept the ship, while two groups of five moved to flanking positions.
Skadi moved her own Storskip above the Earth to watch the unfolding battle on the far side, but remained out of enemy range. She had a live feed of the coming conflict piped into the communications room and used hand motions to zoom and manipulate angles as needed. Skadi focused in on the enemy vessel approaching Earth. That isn’t a ship I’ve ever seen…a smaller Storskip? It has so many facets on its hull…something seems off.
She grabbed her comm device. “Fire when you’re within in maximum range, but do not approach that ship.”
As soon as she finished giving her command a blur shot out from the enemy vessel. It was a smaller ship, with a cylindrical cockpit and giant, rotating spokes jutting out of the front. It appeared to be ensconced in a subtle, wispy shell.
Five of her Nemesis fighters broke off to give chase while the other fifteen stayed focused on the main ship. Good.
“Admiral! Our hull is being burned through!” her communications officer yelled.
Skadi saw one of the many ports open on the multifaceted Storskip and what appeared to be a cannon, with a concave lens, sticking out of it in her direction. They can’t possibly have an electromagnetic beam powerful enough to heat objects over this distance…
“Full speed to the other side of the Earth! We need to something between us and that ship!” she instructed her crew. Turning to her comm she spoke to her pilots. “Fire half of your anti-matter missiles and disengage with the main ship!”
* * *
Zetes flew to the coordinates that Dionysus provided, which indicated a random area of space near the Earth, apparently on the opposite side of its moon. One of his hands was on the controls and the other was fingering the spine of Dionysus’ notebook. He engaged autopilot and allowed the Helios to take over the flight. It wasn’t something he would normally do, but those were Dionysus’ instructions. Dionysus wanted Zetes to spend some time studying the journal before they reached their coordinates—he said it contained a series of guidelines for him.
Zetes noted the odd title scrawled across the front of the book, ‘In Vino Veritas.’ He flipped to page one and received his first written instruction from Dionysus: “As soon as I exit the ship, fire the long-range beam, SETHLANS, at the Storskip above the Earth.” What? This is oddly specific… Zetes turned the page. “Engage the anti-matter defense system and drop below the Earth to meet the Storskip on the other side. If Nemesis fighters follow, then slow your speed and engage the ARROW offensive system. If they do not, accelerate and, once the Storskip is in range, target it with SETHLANS again.”
Zetes read the page again with squinted eyes and furrowed eyebrows. Dionysus is either insane or psychic.
Alarms went off indicating ships rapidly enclosing on the Helios’s position. Zetes grabbed the controls and saw a swarm of Nemesis fighters emerge from behind the Earth. He checked his location and realized he was less than ten seconds from the coordinates. “Dionysus,” he radioed. “Deploy in three, two, one.”
Dionysus’ Thyrsus shot from the hanger and sped toward Earth. Zetes confirmed the successful launch and looked back at the Earth to find a new ship had entered the mix: a Storskip.
He was stunned motionless for a moment. How did Dionysus know…? His unconscious mind had utilized years of perseverated military training to propel his limbs forward and engage the SETHLANS weapon. His conscious mind quickly caught up with the rest of his body.
In less than a minute, the oval-shaped Storskip began its retreat. Zetes continued to follow the notebook’s orders and dove to meet it on the other side of the Earth. As he accelerated the experimental ship, he unleashed the anti-matter defense systems; not exactly sure what they were.
Zetes saw that multiple small, self-propelled objects left the ship. He flipped to the next page in the notebook and saw Dionysus had anticipated his curiosity with a quick description of the weapons. The anti-matter defense system was a series of spider-shaped probes that would delicately attach themselves to the top half of any missile, by wrapping their “legs” around it, engage a propulsion system that consisted of a single engine on its “body,” and push the missiles slightly off course. Once the tips of the missiles were pointed sufficiently far away from the Helios, the spider-shaped probes would detonate the explosive. Why do the tips of the missiles need to be pointed away from my ship?
Zetes’ radar picked up on a series of explosions behind him. Anti-matter explosions? They were pretty close…
* * *
Skadi received word that all of the missiles were detonated prior to making contact with the ship. None of the explosions inflicted noticeable damage, even with the pellets sitting in the head of the weapons.
Shit!
“Admiral, I’m receiving word that the ship that shot toward the Earth evaded our attack. Our fighters pulled back as it approached the Earth’s atmosphere,” Skadi’s comm officer said.
Skadi nodded in response. The way this battle is going I wouldn’t be surprised if that ship somehow makes it through our debris blanket.
“The enemy vessel is moving along the Earth in our direction, but coming from the opposite end,” the comm officer said.
“Tell our ships to stay completely disengaged, but to remain in flank positions and to be ready to attack when I give the signal.”
Skadi watched as the smaller “Storskip” crept over the edge of the Earth. As soon as it was completely visible, the ship opened its port and again fired its high-powered ray.
“Deploy automated fighters between us and that weapon! Have them fire continuously into that port!”
* * *
Zetes progressed around the Earth, into full view of the Storskip. He engaged the high-powered SETHLANS beam and followed an arrow on the notebook which indicated what he should do next, depending on the scenario he found himself in. In this case, it was the next step in the scenario in which he wasn’t engaged by the opposing fleet for a second time. “If automated fighters are moved to block SETHLANS, close the port and accelerate off the Earth-moon-star plane until you’re far enough to make the preprogrammed jump under THETA. If no fighters block the laser, close the distance between you and the Storskip.”
Zetes checked the distance needed to travel to escape the local gravity well to make the jump. Too far. He looked up and saw fighters blocking the path of his weapon. Here goes nothing…
He abruptly flipped the Helios around and headed perpendicular to the Earth-moon-star plane. He glanced at the next section of the notebook. “Immediately run THETA when it’s available. After the jump, pursue the Storskip and engage the SPEAR offensive system when you’re within range. If you face Nemesis fighters during the pursuit, engage the ARROW offensive system. Do not pursue the Storskip over the moon. If it makes it there before you can attack it then set a course for the host star.”
How am I supposed to deal with the fighters barreling down on me now? The Nemesis fighters that were keeping their distance came down hard on Zetes. He was forced to dodge and roll, sliding in and out of firing paths and allowing his automated short-range defense systems to kick in. This ship moves like a medical vessel—is that why Dionysus chose me for this mission?
Once Zetes reached a safe distance from the gravity well, his superluminal controls lit up, indicating he could jump. He engaged THETA.
; * * *
Skadi saw as her automated fighters worked as a shield against the beam, causing the smaller Storskip to retreat. Not as formidable as I thought…
“Order the fighters to flank, now.” she told her comm officer. “They look like they are retreating to jump, but I doubt they’ll be able to outrun our Nemesis ships before they get to a safe distance.”
She watched as her fighters closed their gap with the mystery ship and fired a salvo of weapons. The Aesir pilots stayed at maximum firing range while they allowed their automated ships to close in. The small Storskip ship showed a surprising amount of agility, but it was only a matter of time before the Nemesis fighters completely swarmed it.
The battle tide was beginning to turn, but then Skadi saw something that made her audibly gasp. The ship her fighters were pursuing was nowhere near a safe distance away from the gravity well when it blinked out of existence. The vessel had made a tiny jump—maybe only a few thousand kilometers—but it left a wake of destruction. The sudden and intense gravitational tidal waves generated by the smaller ship annihilated 17 of her 20 engaged craft.
Metallic and carbon-based flotsam meandered aimlessly in the area of space’s abrupt contraction and expansion. The unique cosmic upheaval sapped the momentum from the newly deceased, forcing the remnants of Skadi’s fighters into a coherent galactic graveyard. Only a few straggling Nemesis vessels were spared the carnage.
Years of experience had tempered Skadi’s reactions and trained her mind to think logically and quickly in battle, but she needed a moment to comprehend the advanced technology that was now heading back toward the Thrymheim. She grasped the platform in front of her with both hands and leaned over it, trying to catch her breath. This shouldn’t be possible.
Skadi’s eyes followed the impossible ship as it crawled closer to her position. We can’t get near it, at least, not unless we are sitting directly on top of a gravity well. She checked the distance to the moon. I can use my Storskip as bait…
Finding a new wind, Skadi erected herself to proper posture and began barking orders.
“Release 8 of the 16 remaining Nemesis ships onboard. Have them remain in this sector of space until the few fighters that survived can rendezvous. Once the enemy vessel is within range, engage it and force it to flee over the moon!
“Once we are out of visual range of the enemy vessel, the rest of the fighters onboard need to deploy and hide in craters. Make sure at least one of the ships hiding has anti-matter weapons.” Skadi planned to knowingly sacrifice a couple of her remaining automated fighters at the chance of taking down the mystery ship.
* * *
Zetes dropped out of his short jump to the sound of alarms ringing through the halls. Any other ship would have been ripped to pieces jumping that close to a planet, but the Helios merely suffered moderate damage expected in a dogfight with a handful of Nemesis fighters. His jump drive was damaged though, leaving him unnervingly stranded in Earth’s system until—or if—automated systems could repair the engines.
The notebook was clearly giving Zetes a blueprint to engage the opposing fleet, but he didn’t dedicate any of his energy to understanding how it seemed to predict his enemies’ every move. Even Zetes’ tactical battle mind had hollowed out, making room for the instructions from the notebook. Subconsciously, it became clear he was missing a large piece to this puzzle. His mind briefly danced about the idea that the Chronos Passage might somehow be involved, before it instinctively abandoned such reverie and refocused its attention on the task at hand.
Zetes turned toward the Storskip hanging between the Earth and moon. He began his pursuit. The thought of using the SETHLANS weapon again didn’t cross his mind because his actions were now completely correlated with the notebook. His next threat would be the few Nemesis fighters that survived his subtle attack, but they were too far to demand immediate consideration.
He watched as the Aesirian vessel deployed more fighters and then fled over the moon. Those fighters are in my path toward the host star… Zetes checked the notebook again and realized the text wasn’t quite reflecting reality. It’s saying I only need to engage the Nemesis fighters if I pursue the Storskip over the moon…
Zetes shook off the hesitation he felt to take command of his actions and slightly adjusted course, hoping to avoid the fighters on the way to the host star. The other fleet had anti-matter weapons—I’ll keep a safe distance. I’ll only engage if they attack, but I’ll stay on my course. He prepped the ARROW protocol in the event he was forced to deploy it to defend himself.
As soon as the Helios was within ten thousand kilometers of the fighters, they broke into an odd attack formation. The eight ships fell into two groups of four and flew in a straight line, always facing away from Zetes’ vessel; as if they were comets and the Helios was a star. The Nemesis fighters elegantly twisted, rotated, and accelerated all without breaking the line.
When they were within two thousand kilometers Zetes engaged his ARROW system. Zetes quickly glanced at the notes Dionysus left for him on the weapon. Ports on the outside of his multifaceted ship opened and prepped to fire extremely dense rods at incredible speeds. He realized they were nothing fancy, but very difficult to contend with. These pieces of metal—black and lacking a heat signature—won’t register as more than a blur, at best, on HARPE. The pilots won’t be able to spot them visually…and they’ll pass right through any moderately armored vessel. I just need to wait until the Nemesis fighters are within…300 kilometers? That’s doable.
Zetes looked up from the notebook and saw, in response to his opened ports, the Nemesis fighters broke their line formation from two lines of four ships to four lines of two ships. He also picked up eight additional heat signatures, but didn’t know if they were separate craft or merely over-charged engines on the fighters. Something doesn’t feel right…
Dionysus’ words suddenly rang through Zetes head *“…there comes a time to act…it’s a feeling, not logic…*”
Zetes quickly programmed his onboard HARPE to take detailed readings of one of the pairs and jerked the Helios off course to get a glimpse of what might be causing the heat signature. Helios had the briefest instant to collect data before the pair corrected their formation. Zetes inspected the data. There’s something clearly stationed between the two fighters…it almost looks like…a missile? Anti-matter missiles! They must be controlling them remotely!
Zetes realized that the formation—one fighter in front and the other behind, both matching the speed of the bomb—not only concealed the weapon, but reduced his ability to prematurely detonate the missile. The fighters can simply act as defense turrets.
I need to open up these formations and take out those missiles! Zetes engaged his short-range guns to defend against fighters. They wouldn’t destroy the fighters, but it would force them into more complicated maneuvers as they smuggled their warheads closer to the Helios. The slow down would give Zetes time to engage his ARROW system once the fighters were within range.
* * *
Skadi had ordered the Nemesis pilots to release their anti-matter weapons and sneak them as close as they could to the mystery ship. She thought it was likely the rockets would be spotted long before they were close enough to make impact on the hull, but that’s why her plan didn’t rely on getting too close. Instead, her plan was to get within range for the pellets sitting in the head of the missiles to do the damage.
She told her pilots to get within at least 100 kilometers before detonating the payload. Given the acceleration she had observed of the mystery vessel, 100 kilometers was close enough to guarantee a hit, albeit not necessarily a lethal one. Any closer than 25 kilometers and Skadi was certain it would be a fatal blow.
The pilots executed her plan to perfection. Even with the small Storskip using short-range guns, her fighters maintained their formations and closed the distance from 2,000 kilometers to 1,000 and then 500. The Nemesis fighters dodged every shot; Skadi could sense the confidence that was building amo
ng her pilots. The end of this multifaceted mystery vessel was near.
* * *
Perspiration began to accumulate in the small of Zetes’ back and roll down his temples as he fought back the uneasiness engulfing him. If I can’t get an opening soon then I’m not sure I can deploy my anti-matter defense system…just a little closer…
One of the pairs passed the 300 kilometer threshold needed to engage ARROW, but Zetes didn’t fire right away. He waited until two more pairs crossed and then unleashed both the ARROW system and the anti-matter defense system at once. All the while still allowing his automated short-range guns to lay down salvos on the fighters.
The closest fighter pair started to break formation and both were taken out by the dense cylinders. One of the spider probes adjusted the course of the anti-matter missile and detonated it.
Another pair of fighters faced a similar fate, but there were still two pairs left: one within 200 kilometers and one within 100 kilometers. The closest pair’s front Nemesis fighter went down from the cylinders, which opened the missile up to fire from the short-range guns. Projectiles rained down on the missile, causing detonation and the destruction of the Nemesis fighter flying too close behind it, but the warheads shrapnel still, somehow, injured the Helios.
Alarms went off indicating minor systems failures and hull breaches, but nothing more serious than that. Those are modified missiles! It’s why the defense system points the warhead away from its intended target before discharging it.
Zetes realized he needed more cushioning between him and the missiles if he wanted to prematurely detonate them. He reversed course and unleashed everything he had on the last pair. The fighter suddenly broke their line, detonated their missile, just outside of 100 kilometers, and accelerated toward the moon. Pellets sprung forth from the explosion and ripped through the Helios. Zetes assessed his craft: a third of the weapon ports are offline, and it doesn’t appear that the damage sustained by the superluminal engines can be fixed by automated systems…I need to land somewhere secure.
The Gods Who Chose Us Page 34
