by Amy DuBoff
“We need to move,” Rey urged.
“I’m looking for the right opening.” Then, Tom spotted where they should go—a small pocket of open space between the main action and the edge of the shield around the asteroid. He sent a mental image of the location to his comrades.
“Got it,” they confirmed in unison.
The IT-1 jet purred in response to his telepathic commands, charging the jump drive with an instantaneous thought. In unison, the four jets winked through subspace and reemerged just at the edge of the battle raging in normal space.
A TSS cruiser—which Tom recognized as the Vanquish—was bombarding a Bakzen warship and four enemy cruisers in close quarters. The jump drives of the Bakzen vessels appeared to be damaged, based on his quick assessment of the scorch marks, but there wasn’t time to take it all in.
“You heard Wil, take out the transport!” Tom rallied the other pilots.
They looped around from their forward flight path toward the shield surrounding the facility on the asteroid, arcing up toward the transport ship at an impossible angle for any other craft. As they came to the relative vertical, Tom opened fire on the connection point between the conveyor and the transport ship. The end of the fragile column shattered instantly, causing the boxy transport ship to rock until the stabilizers compensated. As the ship drifted away from the asteroid, it became a prime target for the Primus Squad to destroy, with no risk of damaging the rest of the facility on the asteroid.
Following Tom’s lead, the four jets first unleashed a barrage of energy charges to disable the vessel’s propulsion. Since it was caught mid-materials transfer, the transport ship’s shield wasn’t deployed, and the blasts hit the engines hard and true. The rear of the ship exploded under the jets’ fire.
A dozen of the nearby Bakzen jets immediately changed course toward the Primus Squad after the explosion, launching globs of Detno toward the IT-1s.
The Primus Squad rolled to avoid the explosive goop.
Tom’s jet shuddered as the Detno exploded in open space behind him. “Now, another pass at the transport ship. Make it count,” he told his friends.
With trained precision, they released a second round of blasts along the key structural points of the Bakzen transport ship, buckling the hull. The ship depressurized in a brief explosion.
The Bakzen jets released their own energy weapon charges and another volley of Detno in retaliation for their destroyed asset, but the Primus Squad was too quick.
Tom and the other Primus pilots jumped to subspace. While in transition, he initiated the IT-1 jet’s trademark right-angle turn. I bet they haven’t seen it done like this. Before the enemy knew what happened, they’d be in his sights.
* * *
Wil watched as the Primus jets completed their seemingly impossible right-angle turn mid-jump. The Bakzen jets’ assaults met only empty space.
Without any time for the Bakzen ships to reorient, the Primus jets appeared behind them and opened fire on the entire Bakzen assault line. The shields staved off the initial blasts, but it was too much, too fast for the enemy vessels to counter.
“Finish them off,” Wil instructed Curtis, who relayed tactical orders to the TSS support ships based on his perception of the battle.
Wil held the precise battlefield movements across both the planes in his mind, relaying the visualization through the ship for his officers to observe. Their plan was working.
The Bakzen warship finally buckled under the relentless blasts from the TSS contingent, but the rest of the Bakzen were still fighting strong.
At the edge of his consciousness, Wil detected another Bakzen ship in the rift—heading straight for the Vanquish. “Jump!” he instructed his father, only a moment before imminent impact.
The Vanquish faded into a blue-green cloud just as the new Bakzen ship appeared behind the TSS ship’s former location, opening fire along its intended suicide course. Except, with the Vanquish gone, the Bakzen ship was now heading straight for one of the other Bakzen cruisers. The new ship initiated a jump away, but its weapons barrage had already been sent.
Blasts erupted along the length of the other Bakzen cruiser, breaking through the already compromised shields. Flames fanned out briefly from the breaches while the atmosphere vented, but soon the fire extinguished in the vacuum.
Wil waited for the new Bakzen ship to reemerge and then relayed jump coordinates to the Vanquish. The TSS flagship appeared behind the enemy vessel and launched a volley of hull-piercing missiles.
Almost there… Wil focused a broader view of the battlefield for his officers to assess the enemy positions.
On Michael’s order, the Nova and other TSS support vessels surrounded the remaining Bakzen forces. Within moments, the Bakzen ships were reduced to scrap floating through the vast battlefield.
Next to the ships, the ore processing facility on the surface of the asteroid appeared to be intact. Without a doubt, the extra materials would come in handy for fleet repairs after the coming battles. For once, the TSS salvage crew would receive good news.
Wil took a deep breath, overwhelmed with relief. We did it! “Damage report.”
Rianne projected battle statistics aggregated from the other ships’ reports. “Two jets from the Nova’s complement were destroyed by Detno, but otherwise only minor damage,” she concluded.
“Not too bad,” Wil said. Except there was a person in each of those jets, not just a computer simulation like in practice. “Good job, everyone. First battle down—and a solid victory.”
“Now we just have to do that a few dozen more times and we’ll be done,” Ian grinned.
“The Bakzen won’t make it that easy for us,” Wil cautioned. But that did go well. We really can do this.
“What are your orders?” Saera asked from the front station.
Wil took in the vast map of their enemy’s strongholds. “Now we plan our next battle.”
CHAPTER 16
“It’s time we go after something bigger,” Wil commented after studying the map of their progress. With four skirmishes down, he was confident in his team’s ability to perform. They may as well try to gain more ground while they were still comparatively fresh. It would only become more difficult from there on out.
“But what?” Michael asked.
“A planet,” Wil replied. “Specifically, Raenor.” He projected a map on the domed viewscreen for illustrative purposes.
The planet was situated at the edge of the Kaldern sector, deep into what had become Bakzen territory. Before its capture, Raenor had served as a major trade post for the outer colonies, and it would offer an advantageous staging ground for TSS forces in the push toward the Bakzen homeworld.
His Captains, Saera, and Rianne assessed the map.
“That’s definitely a bigger target, all right,” Saera said on behalf of the group.
Ian raised an eyebrow. “Are we ready for that?”
“I don’t see why not. We’ll need more ships than we’ve brought to previous skirmishes, but the principles are the same,” Wil replied. “Besides, we went over plenty of planetary captures in practice.”
“Yeah, but those were fought against red dots, not people…” Ethan said.
Wil couldn’t let that reality hold them back. “It’s no different than what we’ve done over the last few days. Fortunately, the planet is fully Bakzen, so we don’t have to worry about civilians.”
“What about Bakzen civilians?” Curtis ventured.
I guess we never stopped to think if there was such a thing. Regardless, the Aesir said total elimination—no exceptions. “All Bakzen are the enemy.”
The officers nodded with grim understanding.
“Now,” Wil returned his attention to the map, “let’s plan out our strategy.”
They spent the next three hours going over various approaches to the attack. With such a large surface area to cover and numerous blind spots, their telepathic coordination and simultaneous observation would be more important tha
n ever. In the end, they decided that eight cruisers, three battleships, and a carrier with one-hundred-twenty combat jets would be sufficient to capture the planet while not drawing too many defensive units away from other TSS-controlled sites.
The more positions we win, the more we’ll have to defend, Wil realized. Resources might be even tighter by the end.
With the plan set, Wil’s officers went about making the necessary communications to the other Primus Elites and their contacts throughout the fleet.
While they worked, Wil scoped out the planet through simultaneous observation, making note of potential obstacles. Only a single space station was in geosynchronous orbit of the planet, situated above the largest city—which, to Wil’s eye, was little more than a small town. Two Bakzen cruisers were on patrol in orbit, though more ships would certainly come as soon as the Bakzen realized they were under attack. The planetary shield appeared to be the original Taran model from before the planet’s capture, powered by five generators situated at equidistant points around the planet’s circumference. It was a challenging target, but Wil was confident they could bring down the shield and level the city before too many enemy reinforcements arrived.
Should we really destroy it all? He dismissed the thought. The Bakzen had firebombed the original Taran colony when they captured the planet, so all current structures were of purely Bakzen design. Based on what he’d seen of Bakzen facilities as a teenager, there was nothing worth salvaging.
After an hour, all members of the attack fleet had reported their readiness to jump.
“This is more than I’m used to tracking at once,” Wil reminded his crew, “so you’ll be on your own with tactics. I’ll try to give you a heads up if I see anything major.”
“We have it under control, don’t worry,” Michael replied.
“One-hundred percent,” Ian agreed. “Well, at least ninety-nine point nine. Gotta leave a little room for the crazy—it’s what makes us so good.” He grinned.
“Yeah, yeah. Save the cockiness until after we win,” Wil shot back, but the hint of a smile broke through. “Let’s go.” He gripped his handholds and extended his consciousness outward through the ship.
Raenor came into focus, marbled with blue oceans, desert plains, and rocky mountain ranges throughout the southern hemisphere. The city, situated in one of the open expanses on the north continent, glowed with white light in the shadow of night. Lights in the windows of the space station were dimmed; perhaps the attack would come during the night watch.
Wil dove his consciousness through the dimensional layers to assess the Bakzen forces in the rift. The echo of the planet distorted the surrounding space, but no ships or structures were visible. It was quite unlike the Bakzen.
“How long have the Bakzen held Raenor?” Michael asked in response to Wil’s confusion.
“Several years,” Wil replied. “More than enough time to develop.”
“Maybe the planet didn’t have enough resources to make it worthwhile,” Michael offered.
Wil accepted the possibility; just because the planet held strategic importance to the TSS, there was no reason for it to carry the same weight in the Bakzen’s endeavors. “Regardless, this shouldn’t be too difficult. Commence when ready.”
He held the two planes in his mind, stretching his consciousness around the entire planet so his officers would have no blind spots. Saera steadied him from afar, a constant link to his physical self through the ship.
Orders swirled in his mind as his officers doled out commands across the distance. Cruisers and warships darted into place through subspace—surrounding the planet in a matter of seconds.
The Bakzen launched their defensive immediately, with their cruisers targeting the nearest TSS ships in sight. However, the space station was slow to respond. Lights flicked on, but soon the station was a mass of broken, twisted metal destroyed by precise shots from the Vanquish.
Electric sparks zagged along the shimmering surface of the planetary shield as the three warships tried to overwhelm the generators with energy feedback. There was nothing Wil could do but wait and watch as they slowly wore down the defenses.
At the edge of his mind, Wil perceived three new Bakzen cruisers en route through subspace. He sounded the mental alarm to his officers.
“Break through before they arrive!” Michael urged.
Two of the TSS cruisers halted their melee with the Bakzen ships to focus energy weapon’s fire on the shield—giving everything they could to bring it down before the enemy reinforcements arrived.
The shield sputtered and dissolved into silvery dust. The TSS had broken through.
With the path clear, all TSS ships targeted the inhabited areas of the planet. They needed to take the cities and reestablish the shields under their own occupation.
Explosions appeared around the planet as the Bakzen cities were leveled with single blasts. Black smoke dotted the atmosphere like signal fires of the destruction.
The TSS warship released six landing vessels embedded in the skeleton of its underbelly, each carrying Militia soldiers to take out any Bakzen foot soldiers. One ship headed for each of the shield generator sites, and another to the ruins of the main city.
Just as the landing party’s ships entered the atmosphere, the three Bakzen cruisers dropped out of subspace, triangulating the bulk of the TSS fleet near the former site of the space station. The landing ships were still exposed, vulnerable to a well-aimed attack.
“Hold the line!” Wil ordered, wishing he could do more, but he was too far away to act. He struggled to maintain the clarity his officers needed to fight back.
A flurry of commands flitted through Wil’s mind from his officers, relaying coordinates and targeting instructions. Four of the TSS cruisers disappeared for a split second before reappearing outside the triangle of enemy ships. The TSS fleet bombarded the Bakzen ships from both sides with energy weapons to overwhelm their shields. Just as the shields reached the point of collapse, four squads of TSS jets—each led by one of the Primus Squad’s members—darted into the combat zone. They made quick work of the Bakzen ships’ propulsion systems and left the stranded vessels for the larger ships to finish off.
The TSS transport ships touched down on the surface. Details were too small to see from his vantage, so Wil had to trust the landing parties’ commanders to see them through the capture of the former Bakzen facilities. The planetary shield needed to be restored as soon as possible.
An explosion drew Wil’s attention to the far side of the planet. Horrified, he realized he’d neglected to keep track of the enemy vessels outside of the main group.
“We lost the Triumph,” Michael revealed.
Scorched and barely recognizable, the Bakzen attack ships in the second wave no longer posed a threat. The Vanquish and one of the other cruisers jumped to the other side of the planet to take out the Bakzen vessel that had destroyed the Triumph. Wil pivoted his viewpoint to gain a better vantage as the TSS vessels unrelentingly tore into the enemy craft. A precision shot took out the propulsion system, leaving the ship to be battered into mangled scrap.
Eventually, nothing but twisted metal remained of the enemy forces.
“Anything else on the horizon?” Curtis asked.
Wil pulled back from the planet and fanned through the dimensional planes. No additional Bakzen ships were en route. “All clear,” he declared.
“Ground units have control of the shield generator sites,” Michael confirmed.
“How long until the shield is restored?”
“Twenty minutes.”
Wil checked the surrounding space again; still clear. “They still might come to reclaim the planet.”
“We’ll be waiting for them,” Michael replied.
Though exhausted, Wil wasn’t about to let them get surprised—losing one ship was enough. He maintained the state of simultaneous observation, keeping vigilant lookout for any approaching enemy units.
It wasn’t until the silvery shimme
r of the planetary shield once again encased the planet that he allowed himself to return fully to his physical body. His fingers and toes tingled—he’d never remained disconnected for so long before.
“That was quite a fight,” Michael said, letting go of his podium handholds.
“A whole planet!” Ian exclaimed. “That was some top-grade coordination there.”
Wil couldn’t share his same level of enthusiasm. We lost a cruiser. I should have been paying closer attention. Thirty-five people… “Damage report,” he requested from Rianne, hoping the Triumph was the only significant loss.
Rianne projected the report on the viewscreen. “One cruiser destroyed, three cruisers reporting hull damage and minor crew injuries, eleven jets destroyed,” she summarized.
Forty-six deaths. Wil couldn’t allow himself to dwell. “Good work.”
“Orders?” Michael asked.
“Send the cruisers needing repair back to H2 and leave two others here as lookouts in case the Bakzen return. The rest should prepare for another battle.”
“Acknowledged.” Michael prepared the necessary communications.
Wil took a deep breath. “On to the next.”
* * *
Banks smiled back at the other High Commander. “He’s really doing it.”
“We haven’t made this much headway in years,” Taelis said, awe audible in his voice. “In only a week, he’s managed to take out two of the supply lines and reclaim one of the most strategic outposts.”
“I told you to trust him.”
Taelis nodded. “Your faith was not misplaced.”
“However,” Banks began, searching for the best words to change the topic, “there is still the other matter.”
Taelis frowned. “I thought we agreed to put that issue to rest.”
“It was more of a declaration on your part, which I’m choosing to ignore.”
“I’ll have no further part in your investigation,” the other High Commander insisted. “Again, I’d caution you to move on.”
