“I told them… I told them we would get them.”
And a few seconds later he died. I left him there, on the floor, and got up. Erbay was next to me, handing me a gun.
“Take it.” He said. “You will need it.”
And I took it, and he turned away. I put the gun on my belt and looked at my crew. They were all looking at me.
“Right.” I said. “Let’s do this. Miss Cavo, I need you on Tech, find out the state of the engines, please. Mr Dalto, is that the Libra on the Signals’ Station? Find out if it’s working. Mr Alzira, I need all weapons ready. Mr Steen, Nav. Mr Ojoe, let’s see if we can get the Constellation back up. Let’s go.”
We all went to work.
*
As the Constellation got back online and the systems started enhancing the positions of the two fleets on the MID, I saw the devastation the battle was causing. Several ships from both fleets were too crippled to fight and were fleeing from the battle. Others were completely wrecked. We could see explosions and missiles flying everywhere. And there were signals from many emergency pods drifting in the dark.
The Shtormdal was relentlessly pounding the Benavide, and the Steadika was fighting the Viker. The two Webburian ships were at a disadvantage, and if they both fell, the 2nd Fleet would be in dire straits. The Magnar had to get back into the fight ASAP. But the prisoners were almost breaking in, we didn’t have much time, so I had to make a bold move and make it count. And I had an idea!
I was sitting on the Captain’s chair, and Ojoe was in front of me on the First Officer’s chair. We had a small team manning a beast that ordinarily needed 18 crew members to run it. Dalto was on Signals, Steen on Navigation, Alzira on Weapons and Mira on Tech.
Alzira spoke.
“All weapons ready, sir!”
“Very well.”
Then I heard Mira’s voice.
“Engines alright, Captain! Engine 4 is at 40%, engine 2 at 70%, the others are at full capacity.”
“Good. Let’s go then.” I said. “Turn her about, Mr Steen. 170 degrees, battle speed.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Close contacts, sir!” Said Dalto. “10-and-9; Level 1! 1-and-3. Level 1!”
“Very well.”
The course I was setting would put the ship right between the Shtormdal and the Steadika. It was a dangerous position. Almost suicidal. The Magnar would be in both their SAF’s. To their credit, no-one in my crew hesitated for a second.
We could see the enemy ships firing the opposite broadsides, the smoke covering their sides as they targeted our fellow ships. Then they started to correct their positions to hit us with the remaining full loaded broadsides. In the condition we were in, if we had got pounded by those two ships, we were done for. But no-one in my crew hesitated. They were fantastic!
“It’s been an honour, sir…” Whispered Ojoe next to me.
“Not yet, Mr Ojoe, not yet.” I replied. “Mr Dalto! Is the Libra ready?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Prepare to burn the probes! On my mark!”
“Ready, sir!”
I looked at the MID as I counted. We all did. We were almost there. Almost inside the enemy’s SAF’s. One on each side.
“3-2-1… BURN THE PROBES!”
“BURN THE PROBES, YES, SIR!!”
“Going dark!” Said Ojoe.
We could see a little bit of light, just before the MID went black.
“50-degrees up, Mr Steen! 125% on all engines! Whatever you’ve got!! NOW!”
“YES, SIR!”
I looked at the Constellation to see the bow of the Magnar climbing steeply. Blind by the explosive lights of the probes, the enemy battleships fired their missiles anyway.
“Give me a C-Ball to port!”
“Yes, sir!”
My main intention was to gain position to fire on one and then the other ship. A C-Ball was a curve to one side that would climb and then descend again. I thought that if I calculated the manoeuvre correctly, I would be able to use the few seconds of the blindness of the enemy to fire the port broadside to the rear of the Shtormdal, and them be able to turn and fire the other broadside at the Steadika. But the move went much better than I thought. The targeting systems of the Axxian ships mostly reset as they were hit by the blinding lights of the burning probes and the missiles were too close to be able to recalculate in time, so the two ships actually hit each other with most of their missiles. And we were close enough for the 0-level sensors of the Magnar to pick up the explosions, distinctly showing on the MID as it went back on.
“Wow!” I said. “What just happened?”
“They hit each other, sir!” Said Ojoe. “They actually hit each other!”
“Are they communicating, Mr Dalto? Can you follow them on the Libra?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Mr Alzira! A solution for odds, please!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Shtormdal was coming on the port SAF. I was ready to fire blind if Alzira couldn’t get a solution, but…
“Solution! All odds ready, sir!”
“Fire!”
“FIRE ALL ODDS, YES SIR!!”
Our left side filled with smoke from the missiles’ exhausts. We counted the seconds until we saw the explosions. 3 or 4 seconds. And then there were the fireworks of the counter-measures from the Shtormdal, and then the real explosions as the enemy ship got hit hard.
“Turn her about, Mr Steen! 150-degrees starboard!!”
“Yes, sir!!”
I looked around to the other side. The other enemy ship had disappeared from the display.
“Where’s the Steadika, Mr Dalto?”
“Just a moment, please, sir.”
Dalto was managing the Libra the fastest he could. We didn’t have any probes left out there, and we had to find the enemy. Fast!
“There!” He called. A red circle appeared on the MID. There she was. “Contact! 4-and-4!! Level 1!”
She was trying to turn to gain position for her loaded broadside. But Steen was doing his magic, and the Magnar corrected course, a little bit up and to the right, just enough so it could get the position before the enemy. And there it was. We had the Steadika in SAF.
“Solution even, Mr Alzira!”
“Solution, sir! All even ready!!”
“Fire!”
“Fire all even!! Yes, sir!!”
And now the Magnar fired it’s dozens of batteries, and the missiles flew like giant rats attacking in anger. The Steadika was hit almost as hard as the Shtormdal.
“That’s it, my friends. That’s enough.” I said. “Let’s get out of here! Mr Steen, dive. 80-degrees, down and fast.”
“Yes, sir.”
We had done the best we could; now we had to save the ship. The Magnar ran away from the fight.
“Contact, sir. 7-and-10, level 2. Seems an enemy frigate, sir.”
“Mr Alzira, all hulls, fire at will.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Captain! The Steadika is turning to follow us.”
“Oh, the idiots…”
*
It was later reported that our intervention changed the course of the fight at that moment. It gave the Benavide and the Viker valuable time to breathe and gain a position that they used relentlessly. The Shtormdal tried to continue the fight, but the Benavide made a perfect move and was able to fire two more broadsides without being hit even once. Beaten, the Shtormdal surrendered within minutes.
As the Steadika turned to follow the Magnar, trying, as witnesses would report, to avenge her Admiral, she left her stern open to Viker’s attack. That was fatal. Her engines were badly hit, and even though she would delay her surrender for at least 20 more minutes, all she accomplished was an increase in her casualties. She would explode on her own from secondary explosions and malfunctions a few hours later, after evacuation.
*
As we were getting away, I heard Erbay shouting.
“Byl! Get ready!”
The prison
ers were going to blast through the door in seconds. I turned to Ojoe.
“Ned! Get up there!”
“Sir?”
“Up there! Now!”
I pointed to the rope ladder still hanging from the shaft in the ceiling. For a split second, I had considered sending Mira out, get her to safety. But in the next split second, I knew she wouldn’t have the physical strength to do what needed to be done.
Ojoe still wanted to protest, but he knew from my face he shouldn’t, so he went for the ladder. I turned to Dalto.
“Unhook the Libra, quickly!”
As Ojoe got to the top of the ladder, I took the Libra machine from Dalto’s hands. I looked up. Ojoe looked down. And I threw him the machine. He picked it up in mid-air.
“Go!” I urged. And he disappeared in the shaft.
And then I heard the explosion.
*
The explosion took out Erbay immediately. A flying bolt hit him in the head, and he fell unconscious. Sandars’ two crewmembers died in seconds, shot down. I pulled my pistol from my belt, but I was still recovering from the shock of the explosion when I saw a prisoner showing up from behind the Captain’s chair with a submachine gun. I shot four or five times instinctively and hit him, his burst hitting the ceiling. And as I turned around, I heard a voice.
“Well, well… What do we have here?”
I went around the command chairs and saw the enemy korroner grabbing Mira by the hair, his pistol held against her bosom. She looked beyond terrified.
“Drop your gun, Commander.” He said in perfect Webburian, looking at me.
She looked totally paralysed and submissive. I dropped the gun immediately. The son of a bitch smiled.
I looked for a chance. Anywhere! Alzira, Dalto, Steen and the medics had their hands up. There were four armed Axxians on the bridge. Besides the sadistic bastard holding Mira, there were two guys were guarding the door, one of them holding a submachine gun. Another guy got behind me and held a gun to my head. And then… there was one more man. A tall strict figure. With a narrow face and a long nose.
“Mr.Torney.” Said the Korroner. “Where is it?”
Torney avoided my angry stare and looked around.
“It was supposed to be here.”
The enemy officer looked at me.
“Where is it, Commander?”
I looked at Mira. She seemed so fragile, so vulnerable.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
The Korroner waved his gun.
“Hey, Commander, look at me. Where’s the Libra?”
I looked straight into his eyes and didn’t say anything. He smirked, raised his gun and shot Dalto in the head. We all gasped.
“FUCKING BASTARD!” Shouted Alzira.
The Korroner pointed his gun at Alzira, Steen and then Mira, pretending to count heads.
“Three more tries, Commander. I promise I’ll save her for last. I’m a decent man, so I’ll let the medics go.”
What could I do? If I told him where the Libra was, he would have killed us all immediately. What could I do?
“It’s not here.”
The Axxian looked at Torney, annoyed. Torney raised his shoulders.
“They brought it here. I’m sure of it.” Said the Q. The fucking traitor!
But then… But then… Behind the Q. On the floor. Kary Erbay was lying there with his face covered in blood but he had his eyes open. He was looking directly at me. His hands were moving, making discrete signs. He opened them; then he pointed behind me, then he waved his left hand with the form of a gun. He was telling me the guy behind me, holding a barrel against my head, had the gun in his left hand. I looked away, knowing that would mean I’d understood. I looked at the Korroner. He was irritated.
“Where is it, Commander? Last chance!”
I relaxed my body. Breathed deeply. And looked at him. And looked at Mira. Cold and warm at the same time. He raised his eyebrow, annoyed. Her body twisted in pain under his grip. And then I moved.
*
«I want to live.»
*
I released all my tension in one moment. One explosive moment. I twisted towards the left, my arm finding the armed hand of the enemy behind and deviating the gun, and then my hand hit his kidney hard, and then I twisted his arm and took his gun and shot him.
At the same time, Erbay sprang into action. A blade came out of his cuff and was thrown straight into the neck of one of the guys at the door. And then he rolled and jumped towards a gun lying on the ground. But the other guard turned around with his submachine gun ready to shoot him. Kary wasn’t going to make it, so he pressed himself against the wall, barely hiding behind cover before the bullets exploded around him.
I shot the guy behind me twice in the chest. The blood burst out violently. But then the gun just clicked. It was empty! I didn’t have time to think. I knew that if I hesitated, Mira would be dead. So I twisted around, stepping away and jumping high in the air. It was a huge risk because I wasn’t looking were I was going, but I had no choice. If I kicked high enough, I wouldn’t hit Mira. In mid-air, I could see the astonished face of the Korroner as I threw my kick. And Mira kneeling down, holding with both hands the hand gripping her hair. I was too far to reach his head, but my foot hit him hard on the armed shoulder. He was unbalanced and released Mira, but held to the gun. He raised his head. He was going to shoot. But I threw the empty gun in my hand, and it hit him on the side of the face, gaining me a second.
Erbay didn’t know what to do, but then Alzira and Steen started running recklessly towards the guy with the submachine gun, who had to turn around and shoot them. A long burst came out, and most of it hit Alzira who died almost instantly while Steen fell severely injured. And then the submachine gun was empty, and the guard dropped it and went for his pistol, but that was the time Erbay needed. He jumped to the pistol on the ground and cocked it as he rolled, and both men shot their whole clips at each other from a few palms away. But Kary was a better shot.
All this time, the Q. was standing there, against the wall, unable to move.
I went forward in a jump. My hand was over my head and went down like a sledgehammer. I got the Korroner on the face, and he almost lost consciousness right there. I grabbed his arm and twisted it to an impossible angle, breaking it by the elbow. He cried in pain as his gun fell on the floor. I swiped his foot and brought him down, and then started punching him hard. Once, twice. And then I grabbed him by the neck and pressed my knuckle against his wind pipe. He was dead. Just a few seconds and he would be dead. But then I felt her hand on my shoulder.
“Wait.” Said Mira. “Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him.”
I was surprised. It took all my strength, all my discipline, to let him go. But I relaxed my muscles and crawled away.
Mira advanced towards the almost unconscious Korroner and… I swear to you, this is what she did. She got her pants down. I’m not joking. She got her pants down, and she crouched over the Korroner’s head and she urinated. I swear to you! She urinated on his head. He moaned in pain and disgust. And then she got up, got her pants on again and turned to me.
“Now you can kill him.”
And I did.
*
It’s the first time I tell the whole story of that day. What happened on that bridge, I guess I can go to jail because of it, if anyone bothers to prosecute me after all this time. I really don’t care. I’d do it again.
I only knew afterwards some of the extents of what that korroner had done to Mirany. Some of it, she told me; some of it Erbay told me much later. I’m still very much impressed by her resilience and strength. I don’t know if I could have survived all that she went through with my mind mostly intact. My only regret, now, is that I killed her torturer too quickly.
Dalto and Alzira died on that day. They were two of the best officers I ever served with. Steen was shot in the arm and torso but lived to fight again. And Kary Erbay as well. He had several bullet wounds in him but survived to become a
legend in the Intelligence world.
As you all know, the 2nd Fleet had a decisive victory over the 2nd Vüurkorps that day, in the Battle of the Equinox, and the Axxian Navy never gained free access to the Dark Sea ever again. We all got medals from our actions that day. I was awarded the Congressional Gold Standard Medallion.
Commander Torney, the Q., had been working for the enemy for some time, no one really knows how long. He was the one who released and armed the prisoners - not some structural damage from the battle. He was trialled for treason and was incarcerated for the rest of his life. Thankfully, his actions didn’t cost us the battle.
With the Battle of Haitzia still unresolved, the Battle of the Equinox marked a turn in the war. Axx was from then on unable to support the Silent in the Dark Sea, and the supply convoys were much safer, able to bring ever more cargo to the torn Torrance planet. This also made possible the next phase of the war. Webbur and Torrance’s counterattack: the Great Invasion.
I wasn’t a part of that operation though and would only witness it through news reports as most people, in wonder.
*
A few days after the Equinox, an injured W.S.Magnar finally came in sight of the home planet. A senior officer from the Benavide had been put in charge of the flagship, so I was relieved of my duties as Captain. Still, I was given the honour, along with Mirany, to witness the arrival from the panoramic dining room of the Admiral.
I looked at Webbur with a sigh of relief and wonder. The different moons and the colourful clouds took my breath away. We’d made it. We were back.
“What a sight.” I said.
And Mira smiled a little.
EPISODE 12 – BROKEN WINGS
I lived. That’s how weird it was. I survived the deadly Dark Sea. And afterwards, as I looked up to the sky, as I saw the stars up on high, I couldn’t quite figure it out. They were still fighting up there. They were still dying. And I was down here. Supposedly done with it. Supposedly at peace.
*
Getting back to Webbur was a strange experience. It always is. You never really get used to going back to solid ground and fresh air after a long haul deployment in Space. You feel like you should be enjoying it, like it was home, like it was where you were supposed to be, where you were born and grew up, but you don’t. You don’t enjoy it. Not immediately, at least. You feel dizzy, strange, out of your depth. It lasts for a couple of days. Then you start wondering if you were ever in Space if it wasn’t a dream. A movie someone else directed and you watched on a small screen.
Shark-Killer (The Dark Sea War Chronicles Book 3) Page 13
