The four antimatter particle beams, traveling at point nine five c, struck after a point three five second flight time. Antimatter combined with matter with the predictable results, flashing with explosive power that blew out surface installations on the vessel. Installations that included close in defense systems, missile tubes, and electromagnetic shield projectors.
Twelve missiles left their tubes at the same instant as the beam weapons were fired. The latest design, accelerating at ten thousand gravities, the missiles headed straight toward the enemy battleship, jamming systems at full blast. Taking advantage of the damage being inflicted on the enemy ship, they stayed in the new sensor shadows being created by the beam weapons. Ten seconds behind them came another twelve missiles, then another twelve ten seconds behind those.
* * *
“What is that,” growled the ship Lord, his eyes darting to the tactical display. The beams were coming from a point in space, followed by a spread of missiles that had appeared from nowhere.
“It appears to be an advanced stealth craft, my Lord,” called out the tactical officer, while the ship shuddered under the strikes of the powerful beam weapons. “It does not show on our sensors. Not even infrared.”
“How can that be?” asked the Captain, looking at the damage figures appearing on his display. “We don't have such abilities. How can they?”
“They obviously are beyond us in at least one area,” said the tactical officer. “We cannot firm up a bearing on them.”
“Then fire at the origin point of the beams and missiles, you fool,” yelled the Captain, as his ship shuddered and lost two more missile tubes and a trio of laser domes.
“Yes, my Lord,” cried out the frantic officer, sending the commands through his board.
* *
“Incoming missile,” called out the tactical officer as the red arrow made it through the wave of interceptor missiles and drove for the battle cruiser.
“Brace for impact,” called out the Captain, grabbing the arms of her chair.
Laser ring A fired a tight beam at the missile, hitting it within ten thousand kilometers of the ship. Radiation and heat flooded into that section of the ship, taking out two missile tubes and a battery of close in weapons. Jean de Arc bucked as she sent out a volley of missiles. So far nothing had gotten through the enemy defenses, and Captain Mei Lei was wondering if they would hurt the enemy at all.
“Explosions on the port side of the enemy vessel,” called out the tactical officer, looking back at the Captain.
“From where?” asked Mei Lei, sitting up in her chair. “We're not hitting them with anything.”
“From somewhere to their port side,” said the tactical officer. “We're not sure what it is.”
“A stealth attack ship,” yelled out Jackson over the circuit. “There were supposed to be some in this area.”
“All weapons target the port bow of that ship,” yelled the Captain, slamming a gauntleted hand on the arm of her couch. “Fire at maximum rate.”
Laser rings A and B of the battle cruiser fired massive beams at the indicated area of the ship, while the ship shifted slightly to allow the Y ring to come to bear. The tubes continued to fire missiles at maximum cyclic rate, while the close in defensive weapons brought the incoming missiles under assault.
For the second unexpected time in days the forward plasma torpedo spoke as well, sending ten tons of superheated gas toward the enemy ship. The first torpedo exploded four hundred thousand kilometers out, taking a trio of enemy missiles with it. The second missed the incoming missiles that were still targeting the battle cruiser, the enemy having switched most of their fire the ship that was most galling them. It struck the forward section of the battleship, behind the ravaging lasers and particle beams from the battle cruiser. The battleship rocked with the fury of the attack. It redirected some of its lasers back at the battle cruiser, striking its bow and wrecking the plasma torpedo tube.
* * *
“We're taking fire sir,” said the tactical officer as the ship bucked from the laser strike vaporizing some of the outer hull.
“Do tell,” said Suttler, looking at the display. Seastag was continuing to hit the enemy ship with beam weapons, though doctrine called for them to break off the attack and slink off to obscurity. But the ship with the Emperor was still under attack by an enemy they could not avoid. And Seastag was the only help that ship and the Emperor had.
“Continue firing,” he ordered, his hands tight on the arms of his chair. “Maximum rate.”
“Aye, sir,” said the sweating tactical officer as the ship shook again from a hit. “Superconducting cables are sucking up some of that heat and pushing it through the heat sink.”
“Hope it's enough,” mumbled the Captain as he leaned forward in his seat. The ship bucked once again. Suttler smiled as he looked at the damage displays on the enemy ship. She was being savaged, though she still possessed fangs. For the moment.
* * *
“Incoming missiles,” yelled the tactical officer. “They have breached our defenses.”
“From which foe,” called out the Ca’cadasan Captain, seeing red arrows on the holo approaching from both sides.
“Both sides, sir,” screamed the tactical officer, his eyes wide.
Four missiles detonated within kilometers of the battleship's port side, sending a hail of radiation and material particles into the ship. The battleship shuddered like a tortured beast as atmosphere and vapor jetted into space. Another missile bore in behind them, being hit at the last second by a close in weapon. The gigaton antimatter warhead blew a hundred meters off the port bow, pushing the bow around as the heat and radiation killed most of those manning that section of the ship.
Three missiles came in from the front, some of their velocity borrowed from the battle cruiser that was pushing point six c. They came in at an even greater velocity. The first two were detonated by close in system less than five hundred meters off the bow of the ship, adding to the destruction caused by the other missiles. The third plowed straight into the battleship, striking full on as an intact missile. In nanoseconds it and the bow were converted to plasma as an energy release to dwarf the warhead took place. Shock waves traveled up the body of the ship, overloading the inertial compensators and killing all aboard. The ship shattered, superhard materials liquefying and breaking apart. The gigaton warhead went off half a nanosecond after the impact, adding its energy to the destruction of the ship.
* * *
The Jean de Arc, damaged but still intact, passed through the debris field that was the remains of the enemy ship, heading outward into interstellar space. Lasers and counter missiles cleared the larger pieces from the path of the ship as she moved outward.
“Thank you, Commander,” said Captain Mei Lei over the com circuit to the stealth attack ship. “We owe our lives to you.”
“A pleasure, Captain,” said Suttler a couple of seconds later. The ships were separating at a terrific rate due to the velocity of the battle cruiser.
“Will you make it?” asked the Captain, concern in her voice. “I know you took damage.”
“We're translating to Hyper VI as soon as we get up to speed,” said Suttler. “We're too damaged to continue to hide here. But we'll make it back to base.”
“Good luck,” said Captain Mei. “We need to get rid of about point four light speed velocity before we can do the same, in about nine hours.”
“Even with your damage?” asked Suttler, fifteen seconds after he received Captain Mei's response. The time lag was increasing second by second.
“We were lucky,” said Mei Lei, looking over her ship's damage. “We have only light damage to our hyperdrive, thank God. We should be able to repair that in less than eight hours. A couple of grabber units gone, but all of our inertial compensators are working. Most of the damage was to weapons and defensive systems.”
“We'll translate out now,” said Suttler, nodding his head. “I don't think they have anything near en
ough to catch you before you get to the translation point.”
“We can hope,” said Mei, grimacing. “If another of their capital ships gets to us I don't think we can fight it off. Even one of their cruisers would probably be more than we can handle.”
“Bye then,” said Suttler. “And may God save the Emperor.” The sensors flooded with his signal as his ship opened a hole in space and pulled it in after itself.
“God speed, Commander,” whispered the Captain, as she looked once again to her holo of the system. “And may God save the Emperor.”
* * *
Captain Dame Mei Lei sat in her cabin chair, stroking her cat. Satin purred in her lap as he took what he felt was his due. The Captain reached for her glass of wine as she looked up at her guest.
“We should be at Conundrum III in four days, your Majesty,” she said to the Emperor. “Then they can get you back to Jewel, and you can be officially installed.”
“I'm not going back to the capital,” said Sean Ogden Lee Romanov, putting his own glass of the ship's best wine on the table to his front. He leaned back in his chair, relaxing in the comfortable robes he had been provided by the ship's nano-manufacturers.
“But your Majesty,” said Mei Lei, “you need to be crowned before Parliament and the people.”
“We have a war coming to our front door, Captain,” said Sean, leaning forward. “I refuse to retreat to the safety of the capital while the fleet fights for our racial survival.”
“But your Majesty...”
“No,” said the Emperor, waving a dismissive hand. “My mind is made up. Not even the Grand Fleet Admiral at the sector HQ will tell me what to do. He is under my command now, not I under his. I will stay here and organize our war effort, while I send my commands back to the capital through the relay.”
“Yours to command, your Majesty,” said Captain Lei, bowing her head.
“The ship is functioning well?” asked Sean, feeling the comforting thrum of machinery through the seat.
“Hyper VII all the way,” said the Captain. “We're a little beat up in other respects, though.”
“I'll make sure that the ship of our newest Imperial Knight is given priority repairs,” said Sean with a smile.
“About that, your Majesty,” said Mei Lei, opening her hands out to Sean.
“No arguments about being in the right place at the right time,” said Sean, smiling. “That is part of heroism. And I claim the right to reward you. I think Countess would be a fitting rank to go with Imperial Knight.”
Mei Lei shrugged her shoulders, giving up on the fight.
Satin meowed, then jumped onto the table and took a running leap into the lap of the Emperor. Mei Lei's eyes widened as her mouth dropped open at the social disaster.
Sean put his hand on the head of the cat and rubbed the soft fur. Satin purred deep in his chest, pushing his own head against the hand of the man.
“See,” said Sean, looking down at the animal. “Even your kitty agrees. Don't you boo boo. And you can't argue with such a sensitive animal.”
“I guess not, your Majesty,” agreed the Captain, wondering what she would do as a Countess and Knight of the Imperium. And she felt sorry for those who opposed this Emperor. He was truly the son of his father, and a scion of his line.
The End
Excerpt from Exodus: Empires at War: The Rising Storm.
“What is the status of the followers,” said Captain Dame Mei Lei, sitting in her command chair on the bridge. She cast a worried glance at her precious cargo, the once High Prince Sean Romanov, who was in the guest chair to the side of hers. Once High Prince in that the murder of his father, mother and oldest brother had left him the heir to the empty thrown of the Empire, and the defacto Emperor. Until yesterday he was just another Lieutenant JG in the fleet, though a very well know one with powerful connections. Now he was her commander in chief as well as someone that she would give every life in her small command to protect. It was what they were all sworn to do, and the infuriating jackass wouldn’t allow them to do it. He wanted to participate in every danger with them, like he was still a junior officer and a spare heir.
“We still have four contacts on our tail,” said the sensory tech over the com link. “Definitions have firmed. All are four million ton vessels.”
Four of their damned heavy cruisers, she thought with a scowl. Two of them were about the same mass as her vessel, and more than a match for her in firepower. Four of them would handle the hyper VII battle cruiser with ease. And the only help she had was the Hyper VII destroyer Dot McArthur, cruising alongside in hyper. I could send the destroyer at them and hope he delayed them somewhat, she thought, dismissing it as she had it. The destroyer and its young Captain had stuck around the system and rendezvoused with Jean de Arc, and she had been glad to see him. And all sending him back would accomplish was his death, for probably no purpose. They would just blow past him and continue after us, and he wouldn’t even slow them down.
“What is their closure?” she asked, still staring intently at the screen.
“They will come into known weapons range in thirty one hours, fourteen minutes,” called out the navigation officer.
“So I need to come up with a solution before then,” she said out loud, then glanced at the Emperor with an embarrassed reaction as she realized he had overheard her.
“What are you going to do, Captain?” said the young man she had outranked a week ago, who now outranked her astronomically.
“I’m not sure,” she said, thinking over the possibilities. Her ship had been built to be a heavily armed scout, to go searching for information, to fight for it if need be. But not to go slugging it out like a battleship. And there were battleships out here as well, somewhere.
“What was the enemy’s velocity when they came after us into hyper?” she asked her navigator.
“About point one nine nine light speed, ma’am,” answered the young man.
So they probably have similar limits for entering and exiting hyper, she thought. Imperial ships could only enter and leave hyper at twenty percent of light or less. That was about the limit that the hyperdrive could project an opening ahead of them. Any faster and they would be past the opening before it was ready for their transit. At best they would just miss it and have to try again further on down the line. At worst they would hit the turbulence field of the nascent opening, which could cause damage to the ship. So the enemy couldn’t do any better it seemed. Now she just had to do the math and see what they could pull out of their asses.
After a couple of minutes of thought Mei huffed in frustration. She couldn’t find a way out that rescued both ships under her command. No matter what they did to slow down the enemy, they would still be on their heels. They would either continue on and catch the Imperial ships before they could transition, pounding them with weapons in passing. Or they would slow to transition near to the pair and pound them in normal space. Only two solutions presented themselves, and neither were what she would call attractive.
“Your Majesty,” said the Captain, looking over at the Emperor.
Sean took a moment to realize he was being addressed, not surprising since he had been a Lieutenant JG the day before. He finally realized he was being addressed and turned his attention toward the Captain with a bemused look.
“Sorry, Captain,” said Sean, a smile crossing his face. “It will take some time getting used to that title.”
“I understand,” she said, returning the smile with a feeling of true sympathy for the young man. She had been raised in a middle class family herself. Her exploits in the service had earned her a small patent of nobility. But it had taken several years before the mantel felt comfortable on her shoulders. She wondered if Countess and Imperial knight would ever feel comfortable. “I have several solutions, neither of which makes me happy.”
“So I’m sure they won’t make me happy either,” he said, his boyish smile looking strained on his tired face. “So what are they?”
>
“One,” she said, ticking off a finger. “We send Dot McArthur back on a suicide attack on the enemy while we try and slip away.”
“And I’m sure the Captain and crew of the destroyer would be most appreciative of that strategy,” said the Emperor, his eyes narrowing as his voice grew cold.
“Your Majesty,” said the Captain, leaning over toward him. “In your new position you will have to either order thousands, possibly millions, to their deaths, for the greater good. Or at least for the hope of the greater good. Or you will have to condone the actions of others who do so in your name.”
“Not something I’m looking forward to,” said Sean with a nod. “At least I can try to distance myself from the people I have to send.”
“You can, your Majesty,” said the Captain. “I wouldn’t recommend it. You need to know something about the people who serve you, so they are not just paper markers to be moved and removed from a map. But let me tell you I think the first plan is not really feasible. I don’t think the destroyer will be able to do enough to delay the enemy. I think I would be throwing their lives away for no gain.”
“So what’s the second plan?” said Sean with a frown. “I think I can guess, it will have something to do with your ship.”
“Yes, your Majesty,” said the Captain, feeling her face tighten at the thought. “It would involve us falling back on our enemies and engaging them in combat, while you get away on the destroyer. I believe that we could attract enough attention to allow Dot McArthur to fall through hyper and get out of sensor range of the enemy.”
“So the better solution is to sacrifice over ten times the crew to let me creep away,” said Sean in a loud voice. His face reddened, and Mei knew what he was feeling. “I forbid it. Do you hear? We will get out of this somehow, some other way.”
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2 Page 32
