Magnitude: A Space Opera Adventure (Blackstar Command Book 2)

by A. C. Hadfield

  The Axzatti officer checked her terminal and exchanged words with a couple of her intelligence workers. Turning back to Hominos, she said, “Reinforcements are due in fifteen minutes. The Dominion about twenty. It’s gained time. We’re expecting it to continue to gain until it arrives shortly before the reinforcements.”

  “This is worrying,” Gaila said.

  “The network array is still in position and undamaged,” Kamala said. “If we reorganize the arc as soon as the Dominion arrives, we should inflict a great deal of damage to it before it moves into position.”

  “Assuming our weapons are even capable of damaging it,” Mathieson said.

  Hominos shot her look and was about to reprimand her for bringing negativity into a place where it most certainly wasn’t welcome, but the AI’s various alerts grabbed his attention. It had updated the columns of data showing the unit numbers and condition.

  Hominos took a moment to carry out a census to see how the allied fleet was faring.

  Firstly, the AI had overestimated the odds of the first battle. Instead of being left with seven Arrows out of that particular squad after defeating the Koldax drones, they only had three. Five of the civilian assault ships had perished too, although they had the crowning glory of defeating the last of the Koldax drones in this wave. Hominos made a note to honor them if they survived the war.

  The second fight on the port side was worse. The advantage Hominos had hoped the allied ships would benefit from hadn’t materialized. Of the seven Kane-class destroyers, only two survived. All eleven Arrows were destroyed. The shrain force had just three more destroyers left, which the Host carrier was more than capable of holding at bay.

  Finally, the battle of the Gamma squad was looking better than expected.

  They had lost two of the four Decimator-class destroyers to nuke strikes. Four of the missile cruisers had succumbed to the shrain, and two of the three Host battlecruisers had also fallen, but for that sacrifice, all of the torpedo ships had been destroyed.

  Sadly, one of the nukes had breached the defensive line and had taken out one of the eight superconducting magnets and a number of ships surrounding it within the network array.

  Given the redundancy they had built in, they could withstand losing a couple of the nodes without dropping their defensive power—assuming this theoretical defense could actually stand up to the onslaught from the terrifying Dominion—but too many losses would see it fail.

  From the AI’s calculation, the allied fleet had lost about a third of its ships and offensive power, including the incoming reinforcements.

  Speaking of which, Hominos received the alert of subspace re-entry detection.

  He and the rest of his war council stared at the holographic projections, waiting to see where and what was about to enter the fray. Naturally, they were hoping for the reinforcements, but to Hominos, it was what he was expecting: the Dominion.

  And that wasn’t all.

  The AI’s tagging system went crazy, flashing icons and colors like a firework display across the projection as it tracked seven hundred and fifty more Koldax drones loosely collected into ten squads, but given their amorphous shape, it was difficult to make out.

  “The Dominion will be in striking range of Capsis Prime within ten minutes, General,” Gaila said, with the heavy dread of the entire allied forces in his voice.

  Before that happened, twenty more Kane-class destroyers from the Host appeared on the opposite side—sunward—of Capsis Prime.

  Hominos immediately ordered them to coordinates around the gaps within the outer defensive arc, and to the rest of the forces: to shift around facing away from the sun to receive the Dominion as its great thrusters flared in the dark, sending it speeding toward the Coalition capital.

  “This is it, then,” Mathieson said, stretching her limbs before focusing on the holographic projection. Kamala’s face had paled, and Ukjao had a visible tremble.

  “We just need to follow the plan,” Hominos said. “We will prevail.”

  A few minutes later, the great swarm of Koldax drones hit the outer defensive arc, and the holographic projection exploded in a confetti shower of alerts, signals, and tracking tags. Hominos took a deep breath, assessed the situation and got to work, communicating with squads, ordering maneuvers, giving confidence-filling speeches to reservists, and doing everything he could to hold the allied fleet together for as long as possible.

  However, he knew, deep inside, the swarm would soon overwhelm them and they would likely fall to the power of Farah Hett. But still, he vowed to fight on and take as many of the bastards down as possible.

  If the Coalition and Host were to fall, Farah Hett would feel the cost deeply.

  Chapter 30

  KAI GRIPPED the straps around his shoulders and clenched his jaw as the Blackstar came out of its wormhole jump. His brain rattled inside his skull, and it was all he could do not to vomit. Given their velocity, this particular exit was not as smooth as the others he had experienced, but considering the urgency, he didn’t mind.

  “Sen, Bandar, are you okay?”

  “I’m a little banged up,” Bandar said, “but I’ll live.”

  “And I’m just about fine,” Senaya said with a cracking voice. She sat close next to him and flashed him an uneasy smile. “Although we ought to check the status of… oh crap…”

  Eesoh had already filled the holocube and the ship’s video screens with coverage of the Capsis system. The place was total carnage with ship debris strewn everywhere. Blasts of thrusters and light from explosions littered the space.

  “Looks like we arrived just in time,” Kai said. “The capital still appears to be in one piece.” He then turned his attention to Eesoh, asking, “Can you contact the Rapier; check if my mother and father are okay?”

  Eesoh remained silent for a few seconds before confirming, “They’ve arrived in complete condition with no mechanical or biological damage, according to Flick’s reports. They’re currently two klicks from our starboard position.”

  One of the video screens to the left of the bridge showed the Rapier illuminated by its main thrusters.

  The comm link between the two ships chirped into life.

  “Kai, is everyone okay?” It was Kendal. At first, the voice felt unfamiliar to Kai’s ears, but he soon readjusted.

  “Yeah, Dad, we’re fine. You all right over there?”

  “Couldn’t be better. What situation do we find ourselves in?”

  “I’m just assessing that,” Kai said. “Let’s hang back until we know more. I’m sending a comm request to the Capsis government. I’ll patch you guys into our chat group so we can all hear the situation.”

  “Good thinking,” his mother said. “It sure doesn’t look pretty, I know that much. God, look at all the numbers involved… The Koldax, there’s so many of them.”

  “Lucky we know how to kill the bastards,” Senaya said with no joy in her voice. They all knew that it wouldn’t be easy. Despite them surviving two fights with the Koldax, there hadn’t been anywhere near this number, and they hadn’t been controlled by one of their warlords, the famed Farah Hett.

  Bandar, sitting opposite Kai on the semicircular crash couch, leaned forward from his position and scratched his stubble. “Weird,” he said. The pale blue of the holocube reflected in his chrome faceplate. Ship movements and ordnance flared within the reflection as though it were a glimpse into another world.

  They’d been away from here for so long, Kai had almost forgotten what it looked like.

  “What is it?” Kai asked.

  “It seems as though the Host is helping the Coalition.”

  “That can’t be right,” Senaya said. She looked to Kai and shook her head in disbelief.

  Before Kai could say anything else, the comm channel crackled, and a blunt, gruff voice spoke. “Kai Locke of the Blackstar, do you read me? This is General Ratic Hominos, the leader of the allied forces and temporary head state under protocol fifty-one fifty.”
>
  All three on the Blackstar looked at each other with surprise. It appeared they had missed a lot of political upheaval during their adventure beyond the Veil.

  Kai had Eesoh check the ID signature that came with the secure comm connection.

  “His credentials check out,” Eesoh said, his voice echoing around the bridge. Although there was no physical representation of him on the holocube or view screens, Kai felt his presence as though he were sitting right next to him. And unlike before, when they had first discovered the Blackstar and was suspicious of him, Kai now felt comforted by his presence.

  Despite not even the Navigators knowing what species Eesoh was, the fact that he had chosen to exist within the confines of the Blackstar’s AI module told Kai that he was more than trustworthy.

  “Thanks, Eesoh,” Kai said before switching back to the channel with General Hominos.

  Kai spent a minute giving this Hominos guy a brief version of the events from beyond the Veil. He covered all likely questions regarding the fate of the ships he had sent through the wormhole during the first battle with the Host, the retrieval of Kendal, and some of what he had learned about the Navigators.

  “Is that all?” Hominos said. “Is there nothing else you can share from your time with the Navigators? Anything that we could use to help us in this fight?”

  From the concerned expressions on Bandar and Senaya’s face, Kai knew he wasn’t alone in thinking there was a hint of desperation in the General’s voice.

  “We struck a deal with a friendly species called the Sumahn. They should be joining the battle… Soon, I hope. They’re no friends of the Koldax, that’s for sure. But they’re mercurial, so I can’t be absolutely certain. Beyond that, you have the power of the Blackstar, along with my mother’s Rapier.”

  “I fear we’re going to need far more than that,” Hominos said and then as if to add a polite sheen to his obvious disappointment added, “but I appreciate you joining the fight. I’ll hook you into the allied AI system so you can see the battle. Do you have a holographic projection suite onboard?”

  “We do,” Kai said. “Connect us in, and we’ll get up to speed right away. Do you have any immediate orders that we can help with?”

  There was silence for a moment, and then Eesoh switched the holocube to show the battle map projection from the Glass House war room.

  The battle looked even worse in this way.

  “Damn those machines,” Bandar said. “They’re swarming everything. And look at the size of that thing… I assume that hulking ship is under the control of Farah Hett?”

  “That’s correct,” Hominos said. “We’re currently holding it at bay, but I fear the network array defensive system we cobbled together is going to fall soon; we just can’t stop the Koldax from getting through our defensive arcs. If you have any tricks up your sleeves to help, now is the time to do it.”

  “As it happens, General, we’ve developed a way to fight the Koldax,” Senaya said. “I’ve managed to hack one of the units and have gained a certain degree of knowledge of their network and how they work. I’ll send you all my information right away, but for now, I’ll use it to scan their network and see if I can find any weaknesses or at least their point of control.”

  “It’ll be the Dominion—Hett’s ship,” a new voice said. It was older and held a weariness to it. “Sorry, I’m head scientist, Gaila Frey—”

  “I know you,” Senaya interrupted, suddenly smiling with the excitement of a child. “I’ve read all your manuals—I actually used your theory of inertial quantum dampening for a… sorry, there’s no time for that now, I guess. But yeah, it’s likely the Dominion, but I’ll check for sure. I might be able to gain access to their servers—any data I find, I’ll be sure to send it over to you.”

  “Thank you,” Gaila said. “We need any advantage we can get. Our forces are quickly dwindling. Even with the Host alliance, we’re badly outnumbered and outgunned.”

  Even as he said that, the battle projection’s metrics updated, showing the alliance had lost another fifteen ships across its complement.

  “Kai,” his mother called from the Rapier, “why don’t you use the Blackstar’s wormhole tech to divert the Koldax units away from the defensive network array? It might give the fleet time to focus their fire and burn their numbers down.”

  “It’s a good idea,” Bandar said. “Our firepower alone won’t have much effect, but we can act as a kind of traffic controller.”

  “Wait,” Senaya said, pointing to a new color—pink—showing up on the projection. There were fifteen new spots flashing, covering the planet-side area of the system. “Is that?”

  “We’ve got unidentified entities incoming,” General Hominos said. “What fresh hell is this?”

  “Not hell,” Kai said with a grin on his face. He’d felt their presence even before anyone could see them on the projection. “But help. The Sumahn have arrived.”

  From the fifteen wormholes, nearly two hundred and fifty giant tentacled cosmic creatures floated serenely into the system. Plumes of white ejecta dotted the scene as they gracefully formed a matrix formation and approached the fierce battle at the front of the defensive arc.

  “My god… what are those things?” Hominos said.

  “Friends,” Senaya added. “Gaila, you might want to record as much of this as possible for later study; these things are super weird.”

  “We’re tracking them all right,” Gaila confirmed with awe in his voice. “They’re magnificent. Are they normal for creatures beyond the Veil?”

  “Nope,” Bandar said. “Nothing beyond the Veil can be considered normal. Anyways, it looks like they’re going to help us after all. I guess that makes this a fairer fight.”

  The AI confirmed Bandar’s suggestion.

  Although it didn’t know what the Sumahn were actually capable of, given their number and size and ability to move so quickly via their wormhole technology, the battle AI increased the odds of survival by nearly twenty-eight percent. Hett and the Koldax still had the upper hand given the power of the Dominion, but it wasn’t a sure bet anymore.

  “It’s time to act,” Kai said, eager to get on with his part. “Bandar, you and Eesoh take weapons and target acquisition. We’re going to take down as many of the Koldax as we can while using our gravity distortion weapons to protect the defensive array.”

  “We’re too far out of range,” Eesoh said. “We need to be within a hundred klicks of the array if we’re to have that level of control over localized gravity distortion.”

  Senaya checked the projection. “That takes us right in the middle of the battle.”

  Kendal spoke over the comm channel. “We have to enter the fray,” he said. “It looks like the Sumahn are engaging the Koldax drones directly—shifting them to… wherever. Look at all those small wormholes opening up. With them helping, and us by your side providing short-range ordnance, we should be able to stay in a position to use the distortion array. General, if we take the pressure off, that’ll free up your fleet to focus fire on the Dominion, as it appears the shrain destroyers are almost wiped out according to the battle AI’s metrics.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Locke, I’m never one to ignore experience,” Hominos said. “Give me a second to run some calculations.”

  “Your father is right,” Brenna said. “Kai, we need to get closer before…”

  Her words trailed off as everyone’s attention focused on the video feed within the battle projection. Even the chatter from the general’s side became silent. It was almost as though the entire battle had hushed, knowing what was coming.

  A dread crept over Kai’s body, and his skin turned to gooseflesh.

  The Dominion had activated reverse thrusters, slowing its vector toward Capsis Prime and lighting up the giant craft with yellow and orange light. The ship looked even more imposing than when they had first seen it. It was at least twice as large as the biggest allied ship—a Host carrier. The front section of its hull retracted to expose
a glowing ball of light nearly a kilometer in diameter. It continued to get brighter and brighter until eventually, like a balloon popping, it suddenly dissipated.

  For a second, it seemed as if nothing happened, but then the battle projection updated and showed a video stream of two Kane-class destroyers rip apart from the inside as though someone had set off a great bomb within the center of their hulls.

  Fragments and slivers of debris shot out as Kai and the others witnessed a mini supernova of a mechanical kind. The two ships tore apart into billions of pieces, the shrapnel striking other ships within distance.

  Two of the nodes on the defensive network exploded, taking out eight of the civilian craft holding it together.

  “We’re breached!” General Hominos shouted. “The attack has ruptured the defense network. All ships close in and open fire on the Dominion. Ignore all else. We can’t withstand another shot like that.”

  Even as he was saying that, the bright white light of the Dominion’s frightening weapon began to glow once more.

  With all focus on Hett’s ship, the Koldax drones that weren’t being manipulated by the Sumahn swarmed the squads of ships surrounding the defense network.

  “My god,” Senaya said, “that weapon… How do we stop it?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Stick to the plan. Hack the Koldax network, that’s all we can do right now,” Kai said, his heart now pounding against his chest. “Eesoh, take us in. Mother, follow closely with the Rapier and watch out; there’s rogue ordnance flying everywhere.”

  “I’m bringing Wiggs online,” Senaya said, and then a moment later, “Got it. The network is visible but encrypted. It’ll take us a moment to crack into it and then follow the orders back to their main server.”

  “Do what you do best,” Kai said. “Just try to do it quickly.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” Senaya said as she bent over her terminal and worked to find a way into Hett’s controlling network.

  The Blackstar shook violently as the shield absorbed another hit from a large chunk of what might have been a piece of hull from a Kane-class destroyer.