by John Walker
Everyone has a major stake in this fight. Cultures may well end depending on the outcome. Even so, our many to their one still doesn’t quite feel like they are the underdogs. How are they so powerful? What about this planet bred such warriors who willingly sacrifice men and equipment for their cause?
Another Novalat cruiser sent out a distress call moments before they were destroyed. Others in that battlegroup rallied and pressed hard at the attackers, overwhelming them with firepower. He turned his attention to their flank, which was taking quite a beating from six of the enemy vessels. Their coordination, across the entire battle line, was extraordinary.
Intelligence was right about that station. I hope it’s the only one.
Even with the enemy’s resistance, the alliance forced gained ground but it was far slower than anyone expected. High command’s estimates leaned toward dangerously optimistic and Mei’Gora warned them against indulging such feelings. He commanded the mission with a slower time frame in mind.
Scout vessels reported successfully disabling several satellites around the planet. This included defensive platforms that might’ve held enough firepower to take down a slower moving ship. The resistance was potent enough that any good news was worth enjoying. Mei’Gora sent his compliments to the commanders of those ships and gave them a new sector to hit.
The ultimate goal was to blind the villains and ensure they could not escape. To that end, other alliance ships took out what passed for jump buoys. They brought their own for when they finished the fight but this ensured that neither side would be leaving before the fighting finished. This effort did not go unnoticed by the Devarans.
They fought with a ferocity indicative of knowing the stakes. Every enemy ship boldly rushed into battle and the worst part was the fact they continued to come from all parts of the system. They were spilling in from the outskirts, as if they were on some kind of patrol that kept them away.
This gave them the opportunity to hit their flanks but luckily, they came in one at a time. Even so, they still had the uncanny coordination so when they attacked, so too did the ships in the front. It made for hard won battles involving many ships going down in the process. As Mei’Gora admired the battlefield, his eyes widened.
Two opponents came at them from directly behind and would be attacking his ship in mere moments. He lifted his gaze, turning to the pilot. “Get us turned around. Immediately! We’ve got two incoming.”
“Affirmative,” the pilot initiated the maneuver even as the tech officer started coordinating with weapons to fight. Just as the enemies arrived, they were able to face them and take a full barrage to their forward facing shields. Mei’Gora ordered the escorts to get on either side of their enemies, four battleships in all. Combined with his, they were five against two.
Easily more than a match…I hope.
“They’re moving in,” the tech officer shouted. “Looking like they’re trying to get closer to us.”
“Hit them with everything we’ve got,” Mei’Gora said. “All escorts, fire together. Take them out! Get us a microjump course just in case. If they’re about to self-destruct, we have to get out of here in a hurry.”
“Understood!”
His crew sprung into action and he watched the view screen as they blasted away at the enemy shields. The one on the right began to burn, a billowing orange glow bursting from the hull. The flagship dumped more ordinance on it and took it out, the lights going dark as the reactor went up.
Mei’Gora frowned as the other ship continued forward but before they could get any closer, their companion ship exploded. The shockwave knocked them off course but they didn’t seem to take any appreciable damage. “We might’ve bought a little time with that one. Get them!”
The other alliance ships redoubled their efforts even as the enemy fired a strange, purple beam at the flagship. The tech officer shouted just a second before the lights flickered and the floor shook. Mei’Gora held fast to his seat and just as the enemy exploded, the lights returned to normal.
“What just happened?” Mei’Gora demanded. “What was that?”
“Scanning now…report coming to your terminal.”
He looked down and read it on his tablet, noting that they had somehow pierced the shields and caused appreciable hull damage near one of the hangars. Thankfully, it was a non-essential section of the ship but had they gotten a little luckier, the ship might’ve been destroyed.
“Look for any indication of that happening,” Mei’Gora ordered. “A build up in power, a dip in their reactor, anything at all and send it to the rest of the fleet. They’ll need to know that’s coming if they hope to counter it. And get us back on course. I want to keep pressing toward the planet.”
Worse than the attack came the thought that the Devarans understood what his ship meant and the value of him as a target. He had to temper paranoia with reality because there was also a chance they simply came from that direction and attacked the first part of the fleet they could but considering their tactics, he doubted it.
They didn’t bother with the escorts at all. They could’ve at least attacked one of them, done some damage but they went straight for us. Then that purple beam.
More data came in about the special weapon and he read the news with a frown. The same data went out to all the commanders on the battlefield, letting them know that moments before the attack, the enemy reactors spiked dramatically. When the beam connected with the shields, it seemed to shift through hundreds of frequencies in a second.
This allowed it to penetrate the shields. Though it appeared to have happened instantly, there was a process. Once they were through, the weapon struck the hull and caused its damage. Prior to Durant’s updates, this would’ve been a devastating weapon capable wiping out the entire fleet.
Fortunately, it wouldn’t be such a danger now since their shields constantly altered frequencies. Even this attack would’ve ended temporarily while it sought the next match to break through. The math suggested they would have between five and ten seconds between hits. Maybe enough to fend them off…maybe not.
And at least it was only one ship at a time. So far.
These Devarans are cunning but we’ve got resolve. I hope it’s enough.
***
Jenks had been through a lot during his tour aboard The Behemoth. He’d battled the Devarans on the research facility, taken on AI aboard the Tam’Dral, fought pirates and Orion’s Light terrorists. This, invading the enemy transmission station, felt like the most insane of them all and by far the most dangerous.
After the first few charged them and they dumped so much ammo into them, he began to wonder about their chances for survival. All the previous missions, even going down to the occupied planet, hadn’t got him thinking. This one did and he knew that was a problem. If his mind was wandering, then he either psyched himself out or they truly were in deep.
They left the hangar, following Walsh’s path through the station toward the reactor. Fire burned behind them and he hoped the fighter they knocked down wouldn’t blow up. Their rides had nowhere else to be and he didn’t fancy a zero g escape from something exploding. That sounded like his personal hell.
I hate zero g anyway.
Not even a hundred feet down the hall, he heard heavy footsteps coming to meet them. The marines had no cover in the hallway so formed a firing line with the front taking a knee. He aimed down his site, making his computer bring up the soft bits of their enemies. Joints basically. Anywhere the armor meets to form the rest.
Thankfully, these aliens hadn’t figured out a way to cover their entire bodies with one section of metal. He wouldn’t have been surprised. But even so, their targets could’ve been reinforced. Maybe they were. There was only so much crap you could layer on a person before they were unable to move.
The enemy came bursting into view, firing their weapon the moment they made contact. Sander yelled at them to shoot back. A cacophony of chaos filled the area and even with the sound suppressing t
ech of his helmet, his ears still began to ring. One of the guns in the front, Garcia, took a shot to the head and went down.
They concentrated their fire, making the enemy stumble backwards before he finally took a knee. As the alien lifted his arm, one of the marines shot his weapon, shattering the barrel. The thing screamed, and went for a device on hits waist but he took a burst to the throat, knocking him backwards. It fell silent.
“That’s a grenade,” Walsh said. “He was pulling a damn grenade!”
Sander sighed. “I’m guessing by your tone, it’s not active?”
“No, sir,” Walsh replied. “It’s not.”
The corpsman checked on Garcia but he didn’t take much time. He turned to Jenks first and shook his head. “He was dead before he hit the ground.”
“Damn it.” Sander grunted. “I don’t want to leave him here but we’ve got to be mobile.”
“He’d understand,” Jenks said the words but he hated himself for reminding them. “We all knew what we were getting into up here. No one’s got illusions. There’s only one way you’re going home and that’s if you get your happy ass on that shuttle.”
“If we can grab him on the way back,” Sander corrected, “we will. Now let’s move out. If this is the kind of resistance one of them gives us, we’ll have a long trip.”
First encounter and we lost a guy, Jenks thought. They moved out, hustling down the hallway. If we encounter ten of them, we’re all going to die. If that crazy ass kielan can’t find the control center, then this mission will not be successful. Hell, are we the distraction for him? Is that what the plan was? I can’t believe Hoffner would allow that to happen.
***
Kale stood at Deva’s station, looking over her scans of the area. The majority of what they faced came in the form of fighters but larger ships arrived and came toward them while the Behemoth shuttles charged the facility. The enemy couldn’t be sure which of the two ships represented the biggest threat.
We have to make them believe it’s us.
“Thaina,” Kale said to the weapon’s officer. “I’d like to attract their attention. What’ve you got?”
“Plenty, sir.” Thaina tapped at her controls. “I’ll need Athan to get us a little closer.”
“Let’s give the Behemoth a little breathing room while they finish deploying their troops. Do as you need.”
Thaina turned to Athan. “I’ve sent you a marker. Please maneuver us to that location.”
“Got it.”
Kale watched the crew work together for a moment before turning to his own screen. Reports poured in from all over the ship but he filtered them by the current, battle active groups. The pilots took on the brunt of the action so far though a few enemies had tried to engage The Crystal Font. Automated turrets finished them off.
The sheer number of enemy fighters surprised him. They primarily battled with his people, which meant the Devarans foolishly considered the known quantity of a kielan ship to be the bigger threat. Perhaps we don’t have to push them to get those capital ships on us. But then again, hitting them hard right away will only work to our advantage.
A report came in from Mei’Gora, a statement about their own trials. The message included a detailed report about a new beam weapon the Devarans used on the flagship and how it penetrated their shields. Kale’s brows raised and he immediately sent the data to The Behemoth and asked them to forward it to Durant.
Maybe he can find a counter, some kind of shield code that would help. The data seems complete enough for a decent analysis.
“We’re in position,” Athan announced. “Now?”
Thaina chuckled. “Get ready for evasive. This is going to give them something to think about.”
Kale gave her an odd look. He knew the capabilities of the ship. Whatever she had in mind shouldn’t have been able to surprise him but the way she acted made it seem like she had some kind of secret weapon she was about to unveil. Whatever the case, he hoped that it proved as spectacular as her bravado promised.
The ship began to shake and he wondered if they’d already been attacked. A quick look indicated shields remained intact and undamaged. Lights flickered overhead and he saw Deva grip the arms of her chair tightly. He settled back in, holding his tongue. Thaina was really working her controls and he didn’t want to distract her.
A moment later, every light on the bridge dimmed and the ship shuddered. Dozens of blasts erupted from their ship, all firing at the same time. They slammed into the lead enemy vessel, striking them in the nose and causing visible hull damage. Shields held but the concussive force clobbered them.
“I’m pulling from the core to recharge,” Thaina said. “I need another shot.”
“What did you do?” Athan asked. “Was that every weapon?”
Thaina nodded. “And missiles too. Normally, we wouldn’t be able to do that but I used the core, our shield power plant and the weapon generators. It allowed us to really hammer them but we can only do it a second time before I need to let things cool off. However, if I can do it twice, they can’t think I won’t do it again. Therefore…”
Kale completed the sentence, “we become the bigger threat. Well done.”
We’ll discuss the ramifications of what you did later. Though I suppose this is the end game. May as well pull out every card.
“Generators are ready.” Thaina sighed. “This won’t be quite as big of a punch but they’re not going to like it just the same. Firing.”
The ship once again shook and the lights nearly flickered off. Another blast hammered the already injured enemy and once again, much of the force ignored their shields. Had they not been protected, that attack would’ve wiped them out. But at what price? Kale wanted to know. Especially since he had some fears.
“Can we maneuver?”
“Engines are sluggish,” Athan said. “But we can move.”
Kale’s initial instinct was to fall back but considering what they were attempting to do, to intimidate their opponents, he changed his mind. “Charge them. We’ll bank on the intimidating currency Thaina provided us.”
Athan pressed the throttle forward and they began to advance.
I hope I know what I’m doing.
“Anthar,” Deva called out, “the enemy ships have altered course so they are coming directly for us.”
Success. Now I have to turn that into a victory.
“Excellent. Get a word out to our fighters to watch our flanks. I don’t want any of their bombers creeping up on us. We’ll need weapons ready, Thaina. Will you be able to fire soon?”
“The normal way, yes,” Thaina replied. “That coordinated thing…that’ll take a while.”
“Understood. Prioritize your target to the damaged one. We’ll be able to—”
The ship trembled as they took a hit from something on the starboard side. Deva brought it up on the main screen, showing a ship that was larger than a fighter but not quite a bomber. Guns and turrets lined its hull and it seemed to be flying off. “Damage report?”
Deva shook her head. “Shields held but where he hit us, we dropped by thirty-percent! That thing’s tough.”
“Report that down to the fighters. How did it evade the automated defenses?”
Thaina shrugged. “I’m looking at the log and it appears to be highly maneuverable and able to anticipate the AI trajectory.”
“Ship to ship then.” Kale sighed. “Be sure our people make those priority targets. We can’t have them harassing us during a major battle. Not when we’re currently outnumbered. And send the data to The Behemoth. They’ll need to know as well.”
“I’m looking for weaknesses,” Deva said. “Scans will be done in a few moments.”
“Weapons are recharged,” Thaina announced. “Preparing to fire.”
“So are they!” Deva called out. “Checking…they do not seem to be using the weapon we were warned about.”
“Excellent.” Kale couldn’t believe he used the term on the verge of being shot
at but context was everything. “Athan, do what you can.”
Athan put out a call to the rest of the ship, informing them to brace for evasive action. That generally meant performing a maneuver that would tax the inertial dampeners and doing so on a larger ship tended to be tough. People got jostled around. Not everyone could be strapped in throughout a fight.
Kale engaged his safety harness and prepared for the brawl to commence. Thaina called her shots, firing their weapons at the target. A moment later, Athan engaged the engines in a quick burst, making them drop to avoid the enemy’s attack. He mostly succeeded and only a few of the many shots slammed into their shields, causing the slightest of rumbles.
“Damage report,” Kale ordered.
Deva confirmed that their shields remained steady at ninety percent. Unfortunately, their own attacks didn’t do as much as they hoped but the damaged enemy’s shields did take a beating. Thaina cursed and tapped at her controls so quickly, Kale couldn’t believe she was hitting all the right buttons.
“I’m pulling from nonessential systems,” Thaina said. “Crew quarters are currently deserted. Drawing power from those decks now…and…weapon generators are back to full…Bombers are nearly in position to assist.”
Kale watched her go through her process, noting how calmly she performed the urgent tasks. Athan returned them to an optimum firing solution. Reports came in of people being injured in the quick motion but nothing too serious. The medical deck received reports of needing first aid, specifically on the engineering deck.
That could’ve been a lot worse, Kale thought. “Thaina, are you prepared to fire again?”
“I am now. Firing.”
“Deva?” Kale asked.
“They’re waiting…oh!” Deva snapped her fingers. “The undamaged ship is ready to go but it’s waiting for the other to catch up. They must want to do a simultaneous shot.”
“It’s the only way they’re going to cause enough harm to really bring us down with our shields,” Thaina said. The ship rumbled as she fired again. This time, the ship she targeted lit up brightly, the shields throbbing from the attack. “Deva? How’d I do?”
