The Rising Darkness (Space Empires Book 1)

by Selby, Caleb

  “What is it?” Drezden demanded.

  Hoirs shook his head. “The image we were maneuvering around is gone!”

  Drezden walked briskly to Hoirs’ station. “What do you mean gone?”

  Hoirs shrugged. “Just that, Sir! It was there one moment but right after we fired at the asteroid, it disappeared. I have no idea where it went. It’s off all my instruments!”

  “Perform full area scan now. Fire up the sonar-locator. We need to find it!”

  “If we use the sonar-locator, they’ll hear us for sure!” Hoirs carefully reminded Drezden.

  “Too late to worry about that now!” Drezden said, walking back to his chair.

  Drezden had barely finished speaking when a tremendous explosion rattled the ship, sending him to the floor.

  “What was that?” Drezden yelled as he struggled to his feet, ignoring a painful contusion along his arm. “Another asteroid?”

  “We are under attack Commander!” Hoirs yelled out.

  “Unidentified hostile ship in sector zero, zero, four has just opened fire!” the tactical officer announced. “Our shields are down twenty-eight percent but holding!”

  “Bring us around to bear hard on sector zero, zero four!” Drezden said as he strapped himself into his command chair. “Fire port thrusters and charge the plasma weapon! Decelerate to mark two and invert primary thrusters! Realign the shielding modulator to focus in the bow quarter and have all batteries prepare to open fire on my mark! Signal the Iovara text only, ‘Page six’!”

  “Aye, Sir!” a dozen different officers answered as they picked out a command that was relevant to them.

  “Hoirs, do we have anything on the attacker yet?”

  “Nothing, Sir!” Hoirs answered. “Our scanners still can’t get a solid lock on the ship’s structure.”

  “What about visual systems?” pressed Drezden.

  Hoirs shook his head. “Too much interference from the debris of the asteroid we shot down. Optical sensors will be down for at least another five minutes.”

  The large screen situated just above the main window came to life but only static and an occasional asteroid could be seen intermittently through the thick cloud of dust.

  Drezden slammed the arm of his command chair. “We need to clear our view or we won’t be able to fire back!”

  Another blast rocked the ship, momentarily causing power outages on many levels including the bridge.

  “Shields down another twenty-seven percent, Sir!” the tactical officer yelled.

  “What do we do?” Hoirs asked desperately. “We need to take evasive action now or we’re done!”

  Drezden sat in his chair stroking his chin, seemingly deaf to Hoirs’ pleadings.

  “Sir?” pressed Hoirs again.

  “Vent the forward plasma collecting chambers!” Drezden finally ordered, followed by hesitation from his officers.

  “But, Sir!” Hoirs interjected. “If we vent the chambers we won’t be able to fire our most powerful weapon!”

  Another blast riveted the vessel and sparks rained from the ceiling as power couplers blew and resisters shorted out.

  “We need the pressure built up in those chambers to blow away this dust so we can open fire with our secondary weaponry with a solid visual target! Secondary weapons are better than no weapons Lieutenant. Now do it!”

  “Aye, Sir!” Hoirs said, hoping his Commander knew what he was doing.

  The Defiant’s hull rumbled as the plasma chambers voided their potent contents. As they did, the main screen in the front of the room instantly cleared just in time for Drezden to see a yellow burst of energy rip through the asteroid cluttered space and smash into his ship. The vessel jolted with the impact and the lights once again flickered.

  “Damage report?” Drezden called out.

  “Shields down to fifteen percent and faltering!” the tactical officer replied. “We won’t be able to withstand another direct hit without sustaining hull damage!”

  “We have acquired a visual target of the enemy vessel,” Hoirs announced.

  Drezden turned around and faced the main screen intently. “Let me see them.”

  The image on the screen centered on a cluster of larger asteroids to the upper left of the Defiant. Nestled in the midst of them was something that looked more like a jagged shadow than a ship. It was black, terribly black. Blacker than the deepest black any on the bridge had ever seen before. It bore no resemblance to any vessel the Defiant’s crew had seen before. No effort was put into the vessel for aesthetic design, but rather was made to look like the killer it was. Sharp projections and protrusions scattered symmetrically around the hull carried with them an ominous and foreboding sense that resonated evil and death.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” exclaimed Hoirs as his, and everyone else’s, jaw dropped at the sight of the new enemy. The crew’s gawking was cut short when a beeping noise started from one of Hoirs’ panels.

  “We are being hailed by the enemy vessel,” stated Hoirs, looking up to Drezden for a reassuring look of confidence.

  Drezden removed his chair harness, stood erect, and straightened his uniform. “Are the secondary weapons ready to fire?” he asked as he walked up behind Hoirs.

  Hoirs looked at Drezden uneasily. “Yes. All operable cannons are armed and locked on the enemy.”

  Drezden nodded. “When I tap your shoulder, open fire. Understand?”

  “Yes but...” Hoirs said hesitantly.

  “Good,” interjected Drezden. “Patch the transmission through.”

  A moment later the image on the main screen switched from the view of the enemy ship, to a blood red room with rows upon rows of small yellow lights covering the walls, ceiling and floor. In the center of the room was a cluster of stations arranged in a semicircle facing the transmission screen. In the midst of the stations was a large oval basin, filled with a variety of discarded bones and dried carcasses. Adding to the macabre spectacle of the room were a series of pens lining the outer wall. Half of the barred cages were conspicuously empty while the other half were filled with a variety of pitiful creatures eyeing the bones in the center of the room with foreboding.

  The true terror of the room however came from the station occupants. At each, a menacing figure stood imposingly upon a host of tentacles, each one squirming autonomously. Brittle gray skin stretched over their gaunt, naked, insect-like frames making them look more dead than alive. Two glowing, unblinking eyes contrasted against their otherwise darkened complexion, looking all the more threatening by their variance. One of the creature’s mouths was partially open, revealing two rows of large, knife-like teeth that looked like they could rip through the armor of a hover tank without effort.

  “Attention crew of the Namuh Protective Federation Navy Ship, Defiant,” a frightfully deep and powerful voice, sounded out from the central-most creature, his eyes narrowing as he spoke. “You are hereby ordered to lower your shields and prepare to be boarded. Any deviation from this command will result in your premature extermination!”

  Drezden walked to the front of the room and faced the screen head on. He had the look of one who held every card in the deck. His mere composure was enough to inspire his shaky crew.

  “This is Commander Drezden of the NPF Defiant,” he boldly answered. “We are in uncontested Namuh Federation space. Your attack is unprovoked and in violation of the sovereignty of the Federation. I hereby order your vessel to stand down or prepare to face immediate retaliation! You have ten seconds to respond!”

  The creature looked at Drezden with indescribable distain coupled with what could only be recounted as a lustful hunger. “Commander Drezden,” the creature finally said. “Your arrogance will cost you the lives of your crew.”

  Drezden slowly turned from the screen and walked back toward Hoirs’ station. “You are going to kill us anyhow. Why wait?” he said and turned sharply to face his aggressor. “We have no intent of occupying your empty cages! If we are to die, we choose to
die fighting!”

  The creature laughed mightily, his eyes pulsating as he did. “You’re ship is aptly named Commander, the Defiant! I feel compelled to tell you though; you are no match for our power! You will be taken care of just like the others. You are no threat to us and you never will be!”

  “And just who exactly are you to be so bold?” Drezden demanded.

  The creature’s glowing eyes flashed brighter and his thin lips parted, revealing his weapon-like teeth. “We are your gods!” he snarled.

  “Well nice to meet you!” Drezden said with a smile as he slowly placed his hand on Hoirs’ shoulder and squeezed it.

  Hoirs swallowed hard and released the firing control pin.

  “Enough stalling!” the Unmentionable bellowed out. “Surrender your vessel and I promise your deaths will be swift...” his words trailed off as he watched a barrage of varying weaponry speed toward his ship.

  “You’ll come aboard my ship over my dead body!” Drezden yelled and then cut the transmission.

  The cannon rounds smashed into the enemy ship, causing momentary hull shock but inflicting no appreciable damage.

  Drezden jumped to his seat and strapped himself back in once more. “Full reverse. Realign the engine thrusters and get us out of here!”

  “The path we took to get in has already closed in behind us!” Hoirs yelled. “We’ll have to take the ship deeper into the field.”

  Drezden nodded. “Do it!”

  The Defiant’s engines roared to life as she cruised past the Unmentionable vessel and sped into the thicket of the asteroid field. Her weapon’s batteries fired ahead continuously to clear a path.

  The Unmentionable vessel in turn activated her engines and followed close behind, firing sporadically at the Defiant, barely missing but getting closer with each shot. The Defiant was just rounding a large asteroid when one of the Unmentionable shots finally found its mark.

  “They’ve hit us again!” Hoirs yelled as the ship shook violently. The lights were off, for good now, and sparks sprinkled everywhere around the bridge.

  “Shields are gone, Sir!” the tactical officer shouted out as he tried to route other power in the ship back into the shielding modulator.

  “Damage?” Drezden asked.

  “Computer indicates that we’ve sustained hull damage on aft decks six through ten!” Hoirs answered.

  “Fire all rear guns at the enemy and don’t let up!” Drezden shouted through the darkness of the bridge.

  “Trust me, they’ve been firing!” the tactical officer replied.

  Drezden looked around his darkened bridge. Only the lights of the control panels and screens showed the look of fear on his officer’s faces.

  Another shot ran out from the enemy ship, this time striking an enormous asteroid right in front of the Defiant’s bow, blasting it to dust instantly.

  “There’s a clearing dead ahead!” Drezden called out, pointing to the newly formed void.

  “I’m on it!” Hoirs answered and punched the main engine core booster.

  The Defiant lurched forward in a last-ditch attempt to evade the vastly more powerful Unmentionable war ship.

  “Hold on!” Hoirs called out as he swung the ship beneath one last clump of rocks.

  Drezden gripped the arms of his command chair until his knuckles turned white as the ship vibrated under the strain of the difficult maneuver.

  “And we’re clear!” Hoirs called out as the Defiant finally burst out of the field.

  “And they’re right behind us!” another officer called out after another blast strafed the ship.

  “Defiant this is Corinthia!” Commander Tenith’s voice sounded out over the Defiant’s main transmitter. “Pull hard to port and brace for shock waves!”

  “Do it!” Drezden yelled to Hoirs.

  The weary and battered Defiant pulled hard to the left, just as a series of plasma rounds and assorted laser fire from the entire Sixth Fleet roared past the main window.

  “What in the world?” Hoirs exclaimed, standing to his feet in awe. “How did they know?”

  “Page six,” Drezden said.

  “Page six?”

  Drezden nodded. “It’s a page from Admiral Nebod’s book on tactic scenarios whereby a weak, yet fast ship, leads a chase by a stronger enemy into the firing paths of allies.”

  “Genius,” Hoirs exclaimed. “Pure and simple genius!”

  “Defiant this is Fedrin. Get your ship out of here! It’s not over yet!”

  “You don’t need to tell us twice Admiral!” Hoirs answered as he quickly sat down and diverted all tactical power to the engine core.

  Three of the five fleet’s mighty plasma rounds found their mark on the Unmentionable warship, more than five times the firepower needed to take down a Krohn battleship, yet it continued, unabated.

  “Initial plasma salvo ineffective!” Jonas called out in dismay from his perch on the Iovara Bridge.

  “And now she’s firing! Great!” Kesler announced followed by a powerful discharge from the Unmentionable warship that smashed the port side of the Iovara.

  “Damage report?” Fedrin shouted out above sirens and alarms.

  Tarkin looked at a nearby screen. “Shields holding at seventy percent, Sir!” he answered. “We’re ok...for the moment.”

  “All ships, return fire with secondary weapons!” Fedrin ordered.

  The capital ships of the Sixth fleet, together with the entire force of the Hornell’s fighter squadrons, swarmed the Unmentionable cruiser, firing relentlessly but with no seeming damage scored upon the enemy ship.

  Several fiery-blasts from the enemy cruiser suddenly lashed out again, smashing into the Arbitrator with enough force to literally push it away from the battle.

  “Is Colby alright?” Fedrin asked as he watched the destroyer try and steady herself.

  Kesler nodded. “No casualties, Sir. Just got knocked around a bit and lost about half her shielding.”

  Fedrin shook his head. “Are we making any progress against the enemy ship?”

  “Nothing, Sir!” Jonas called down to Fedrin. “Their shields go down each time we hit them, but following each reprieve from our fire, they build back up again.”

  “So we need to break her shielding threshold in order to score a hull hit?” Fedrin asked.

  A loud crash followed by a tremendous jolt shook the ship.

  “We’ve been hit again!” Jonas announced.

  “Wouldn’t have known that without your help Lieutenant! Thank you!” Kesler shouted as he tightened his chair harness.

  “Jonas, will that work?” Fedrin asked, glancing above his shoulder up to the tactical perch. “Can we concentrate our firepower on her and overwhelm her shields?”

  Jonas shrugged. “Seeing as how this isn’t working, I’d say that it’s worth a try, Sir. I’ll program some firing resolutions now.”

  “Sure beats flying around in circles getting the crud beat out of us!” Kesler added.

  Fedrin nodded and reached for a transmission switch on his chair. “Attention Commanders. The enemy ship appears to have a rapidly recharging shield technology that is not allowing us to score any damage. In order to beat this, we’re going to try hitting her with all we have at the same time. My tactical officer is sending targets to you now. Stand by.”

  “The Bolter was just hit, Sir,” Tarkin called out.

  “Are they ok?” Fedrin asked.

  Tarkin nodded. “She’s pulling around the rear side of the enemy ship in hopes of evading those forward guns. She’ll be ok, for now.”

  Fedrin nodded. “On my mark, all ships and fighters open fire and don’t let up! Commanders, please override your weapon heat thresholds so we can keep it up!”

  “How long are we going to keep that up?” Commander Sanders transmitted back. “There are heat thresholds on those guns for a reason.”

  “It’ll take as long as it takes!” Fedrin barked back.

  “Sounds like fun then!” Sanders answered.
<
br />   “Oh yes it does!” said Jonas as he overrode the Iovara’s thresholds.

  “All ships, prepare to fire,” Fedrin said.

  “The Corinthia was just hit and the Bolter sustained another volley!” Tarkin announced. “I don’t think they can take much more!”

  Fedrin looked at his screen as the Unmentionable ship closed in on the weakened Destroyers at the back of the fleet. He nodded slowly as the enemy ship assertively paraded past what must have been perceived as impotent, albeit pesky, cruisers. “Steady...steady...set...fire! All ships fire! Fire! Fire!”

  The big ships and comet star fighters of the Sixth, suddenly erupted in a display of firepower that would have rivaled a fleet twice their consequence. Plasma chambers, DEG turrets and EMOD batteries blazed away at the alien craft without mercy. They fired until the barrels of the turrets began to turn molten red. And still they fired!

  “Guns are starting to overheat!” Jonas called out after attending alarms at his station.

  “That goes for the rest of the ships too!” added Tarkin.

  “Keep it up!” Fedrin yelled.

  “There it is!” Jonas suddenly called down. “Their shields are faltering, Sir! I think we’ve got them! I think we’ve got them!”

  “They’re trying to pull away!” Tarkin voiced up from his station.

  Fedrin threw off his harness and ran to Kesler’s station. “Move us up to block her! She can’t get away!”

  The Iovara pushed ahead, cutting off the Unmentionable ship from escaping and turning her fight path right into three oncoming plasma rounds. The powerful weapons found their mark on the now naked hull and tore the ship in half.

  “Cease fire,” Fedrin said as he leaned up against Kesler’s station, catching his breath. “She’s ours folks. Well done!”

  “Cease fire, all ships, cease fire!” Jonas echoed the Admiral’s commands. “We got her!”

  Fedrin breathed a deep sigh of relief.

  “Now that’s how it’s done!” Kesler said, looking at Tarkin excitedly.

  Tarkin smiled.

  “Admiral, we’re getting a transmission from the Defiant,” Ensign Gallo spoke up.