Endeavor (The Mythrar War Book 1)

by Douglas Wayne

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Atroxxin Sector

  Auxiliary Bridge, NECS Providence

  The door to the bridge exploded in a spray of shrapnel, sending Vice President Landry diving for cover. Jason used the momentary reprieve to crawl towards the nearest computer console for cover. He knew what was coming and had no desire to have his head anywhere in their line of fire.

  As if on cue, laser fire filled the bridge, turning the once serene environment into a quasi-battleground. Three of the Klyptons were cut down in the opening salvo, blaster fire ripping open their chests as if they weren't there. They dropped to the ground in a heap at their consoles, their crimson blood pooling on the floor below.

  The rest of the Klyptons dropped and took firing positions against the new threat. Jason couldn't see who they were firing at, but he knew full well who it was. It was the marines here to save his ass, and he suspected the bridge as well.

  Jason kept low while trying to wiggle his way towards the near side wall away from the firefight, his sore ribs making every inch more painful than the last. He was nearly to the navigation console when something grabbed him by the collar and lifted him in the air. He then felt the cold steel of a blaster once again pushed against his temple.

  "Enough," Landry shouted, bloody hands shaking as he gripped the gun. His voice suggesting he'd had about enough of what was going on in front of him.

  Jason knew this to be the tone of someone who was watching his world crumble around him. Seconds ago he was at the helm of one of the Mythrar's greatest victories and now, he was ushering in their defeat. While he recognized how dangerous Landry was about to become, he knew whatever happened he wouldn't survive the day.

  "Get the hell off my bridge or Commander Bremerton dies," he demanded, pushing the steel into Jason's head even further. Bremerton stood still in defiance, forcing Landry to push him aside instead of backing away.

  Sergeant Walker pushed through the group of marines at the doorway, weapon aimed at Landry's head. The man was covered with blood, much of it his own from the blast in the hallway before Jason found himself stuck on the bridge alone. Most of the marines looked the same way, as if they'd gone through hell just to get this far. He supposed they had, but even they had pushed harder than him.

  "Pull your weapon away from Bremerton's head before I make half of of your damned head disappear," Walker said, raising his blaster to emphasize his point.

  "If you so much as think about pulling the trigger, the commander will die. I have the upper hand here, not you. Even if you strike me down, my companions will finish sweeping the ship and come here to finish you."

  "Somehow I doubt that," Walker replied. "You ever see what one of our blasters does to the body of one of those alien bastards you are hiding behind? The same thing it does to yours. Your little friend ran into two platoons full of New Earth's finest and lived to tell the tale. Just so happens they also ran into the Providence's marines as well. Seems the last living Klyptons are on the bridge."

  "Liar!" Landry exclaimed. He pulled the portable blaster away from Jason's head just enough for the commander to make his move.

  Twisting his body to the side, he grabbed Landry's wrist and tugged the weapon away from his head. Landry pulled the trigger, more out of instinct than spite, but the shot missed wide enough that Jason couldn't feel the heat blast from the weapon. Walker, seeing his one opportunity free up, pulled the trigger on his own gun, the shot lanced through Landry's skull without hesitation. The man was dead before the rest of his body could register the brain being gone.

  "If any of those ugly bastards so much as twitches an appendage, I want you to place a full clip in their skulls. Am I clear?"

  "Yes, sir!"

  Walker strode across the room, stepped over Landry's warm corpse and helped Jason to his feet. "What's your call, Commander?"

  "I need to make a call." Walker helped Bremerton across the damaged bridge as the marines ushered the surviving Klyptons off the bridge. Where they were taking them, he didn't know and honestly didn't care. He was fine with killing them on the spot, and would've given the order himself if he didn't think the admiralty would want to interrogate them. Instead, he would let the marines deal with the problem themselves.

  When they reached the main communications terminal, Walker helped Bremerton into the open seat. He punched a few commands on the console, using the modified code he'd received from Richards to access the terminal. Once inside, he typed in the command to open a ship-wide channel.

  "People of the NECS Providence, I am Commander Jason Bremerton of the NECS Endeavor. I am taking temporary command of the ship for the remainder of this battle. Weapons crews, if alive, are to cease fire on the Achilles and instead focus on eliminating whatever target the Endeavor is focused on. Damage control teams are to focus on repairing any weapons disabled in the fight and assist the medical staff with the wounded. Most importantly, any surviving command staff are ordered to join me on the auxiliary bridge. This goes for junior command staff as well.

  "Today we have been deceived by one of the men chosen to lead us into greatness. We have paid for that deception in blood, the Providence more than most. With your help we can teach those responsible a lesson. That they will not take our new home away from us without a fight. The battle for New Earth begins today. Bremerton, out."

  "Good speech, kid. You think it will work?"

  "I hope so," Jason said, slumping back into his chair. "Otherwise this will be the shortest mutiny on record."

  Within minutes, new faces entered the bridge, each wearing the trademark uniform of NEC fleet. Jason stood up from the communications console as its operator, a young girl likely fresh out of the academy herself, saluted. Jason returned the gesture and moved away, noting the stripes on her shoulder as he passed.

  "Ensign, open a comm to the Endeavor. I need to tell my CO we control of the ship."

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Atroxxin Sector

  Bridge, NECS Endeavor

  "Captain, receiving a transmission from the Providence," Wilson said, face failing to hide his surprise. "It's Commander Bremerton, sir. He's alive."

  "Patch it through." Wellard stood up, struggling to hold in the smile that threatened to break his tough facade. The rest of the crew weren't having much better luck, but they were still handling their jobs. "Commander, glad to see you took your sweet ass time."

  "Sir, I, uh..."

  "Can it, Commander. I'm giving you shit." Wellard exhaled and finally allowed his excitement to show. "Tell me you have full control of that ship?"

  "As full as I'm going to get. Most of the senior staff died in the initial attack. Most of the secondary staff was killed trying to make it this far. As of now I'm left with little more than recruits fresh from the academy."

  "Now you know how I feel," Wellard laughed. "But we can catch up later. If I don't get help pretty damned soon, you're not going to get the chance to captain this ship. Last I checked, this one has your name on it."

  "My crews are moving into position to flank you now. Have Price pull the Endeavor back and let the Providence take the brunt. We aren't in bad a shape as you."

  "Price is in sickbay. Your assistant is taking her place and doing a mighty fine job if I may say so." Wellard glanced back at Wilson, who nodded his acknowledgment. "Wilson is pulling back now. We'll stay right behind you and pound your target with you. With the two of us, they won't stand a chance."

  Bremerton laughed. "Sounds good. Keep your crews on the same target. We'll pound it as we swing by your side."

  "Sounds good, Commander. Talk to you on the other side. Wellard, out." Vincent stood up and looked over his command staff who were, on top of monitoring the crews underneath him, watching him intently. "You heard Commander Bremerton. Pound that bastard as we pull back. I want to leave him a nice fat hole to fire a nuke down once he is clear of us."

  The crew acknowledged his order and went to work. For the first time today things were goi
ng his way. They still had a way to go, but it looked like they would make it out of this alive.

  Within moments the large image of the Providence overtook the viewscreen as it passed, leaving a narrow window for the firing teams to work with though they hardly needed to help. Under the helm of his ace commander, the Providence destroyed the first vessel in a matter of seconds, firing a nuke down the crater created by his weapons teams.

  He ordered his crews to turn their attention on the last target as the Providence did the same. The belly of the carrier belched flame as hundreds of small explosions ripped across the hull. They returned fire on the Providence, but the ship didn't so much as skip a beat as it returned the onslaught tenfold.

  "Incoming transmission from the Achilles. Captain Nelson would like to speak to you."

  "Patch it through." He waited a moment to give McRee a moment to set the comm. "Travis, how is the Achilles holding together?"

  "Better than I'd hoped," he said, sounding relieved. "I don't know how your men pulled off the miracle on the Providence, but they couldn't have picked a better time. A few more minutes and we wouldn't have made it."

  "Not sure myself, to be honest. Plan on having a heart-to-heart with my commander once we get back to New Earth." Wellard was sure he was going to have to wait in the back of a very long line, however, as he was one of the first to have contact with the aliens. They'd want to learn everything he had on that ship, up to and including how he realized the anomaly was disrupting communications on the ship. That revelation alone would have massive consequences both in the NEC and the EU. "We're finishing off the last ship now. Have your crews prepare themselves to return to New Earth."

  "Like hell," Travis replied. "I'll be damned if we go back to New Earth without so much as firing a shot out here."

  "Then by all means, Travis," Wellard offered. "Just keep yourself behind the Endeavor. Hate to lose you now."

  "Of course. Just a few shots to make the boys feel wanted."

  "Sounds good. I'll relay a message to the Providence to let them know you want to play. Wellard, out." Wellard turned to Wilson who nodded that he was already working on the transmission. As much as he hated to admit it, these kids were good. Better than any other batch of recruits he'd trained over the years. If this was the standard the NEC was going to uphold, then by God they might just earn back their home. Or at least make sure they don't lose their new one.

  He watched as the battered form of the Achilles moved in to flank the Endeavor to the right. Massive gashes marked the hull from the initial ambush, with some scorch marks from the Providence mixed in for good measure. While Vincent might have been reluctant to command a ship in that shape to join in on a battle, he wasn't about to rob Travis of that right. They had survived the first blows of this new war and he would be damned if he didn't at least give his friend a chance to fire the last one in this battle. When the Achilles fired on the already heavily damaged alien cruiser, the weapons from both the Providence and the Endeavor went silent. The bridge crew watched as the ship sent everything it had into the alien ship until it succumbed, splitting in half after the impact of a nuclear torpedo slammed into an already damaged section of the hull.

  Once the last of the fragments exploded and went dark, Wellard allowed himself to relax and plopped into his plush command chair. The rest of the crew was silent as well, as if in contemplation of their first day on the job. A day they had proved they had what it took to survive in war.

  The kids may be fresh out of the academy, but they already had more combat experience than eighty percent of the fleet. The only exceptions being the survivors of the Achilles and Providence who also had the same. If their actions were any indication, the fleet, if not the whole NEC, was in good hands.

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Atroxxin Sector

  Flight Deck, NECS Endeavor

  "Commander on deck," a group of marines said as Jason stepped off the shuttle. He shot them a lazy salute as he walked past, not wanting to create any more of a scene. There was little more than thirty minutes to do what he needed to do over here before needing to return to the Providence. He had intended on relinquishing command to any command staff that showed up, but other than a smattering of ensigns, two sheepish midshipmen, and a rather skittish lieutenant, none of them seemed up to the job. It was as if none of them had even considered the remote possibility they might not be in charge.

  The truth was, there wasn't much left to be in charge of. The ship was still in decent shape but most of the crew died in the assault, in essence turning the fleet's flagship into nothing more than a floating coffin. A coffin he intended to return home. Of course, he also had the bodies of a few dozen Klyptons though they weren't nearly as valuable as the three live ones they'd captured.

  His thoughts mostly drifted to his fiancee, wondering what she would do once she learned his first deployment wasn't as safe as it had been implied. He was sure she realized it was possible, but hoped it would come later.

  Much later.

  Stepping through the damage on the ship, he made his way towards the bridge stopping occasionally to help members of the crew with their jobs. People, like him, trained to handle this sort of thing but not mentally prepared for it. Besides, how did one prepare for war? It wasn't like you could just wake up, flip a switch, and have the nerves needed to survive in battle. You were either born with it, or you learned to hone it over days, weeks, or even months. If you even honed it at all.

  He had been through dozens of simulations and none of them had even come close to preparing him for it mentally. Granted he had fought more of a ground battle than the space battles he'd trained for, but still killing was killing in the end.

  Reaching the bridge, he noticed the room was a flurry of activity as each of the stations was busy preparing the ship to leave. Everyone was in their expected positions except for Wilson who was sitting in Ensign Price's chair. Noticing the blood stain on the ground near her seat, he guessed it was why. Hopefully she'd be OK with some rest and relaxation. Things that were going to be in short supply in the coming weeks for everyone else.

  War had come to them once again. Whispers of their ancient enemy surfaced after a century of quiet. Worse still was that those whispers brought the truth of another alien race. One willing to do the grunt work for the Mythrar. A race that was powerful in their own right. Humanity had lost the battle for Earth in a matter of hours the first time around and only faced the Mythrar. What hope did they have now?

  Captain Wellard smiled when he noticed Bremerton on the bridge. With effort, he pushed himself out of his chair and stood to greet the man.

  "Commander Bremerton, the savior of Atroxxin." Wellard smiled and offered Bremerton his hand, which the commander took.

  "That honor belongs to Sergeant Walker, I'm afraid. I wouldn't be here without him."

  "There will be dozens more heroes before this is all over. This has the makings of something big. Something the NEC could never have seen coming. How do you combat a threat you don't know is coming?"

  "That's why we need to return to New Earth. The President and fleet command need to be briefed on our findings. They need to know they're back."

  "We don't know that," Wellard said dismissively. "All we know is there's another alien species out there that wants us dead. One willing to use our ships against us."

  "We do know that," Bremerton interrupted. "Landry said as much himself before he died." He kept the part where Landry told him he was raised on Earth to himself. It wasn't that he didn't trust the captain with the information. In fact, if they were in a private room he would likely share everything he'd learned on the Providence. But for now he couldn't be sure anyone else wasn't compromised in some fashion. Wellard was right in that something big was happening and there was the distinct possibility that the Mythrar had been planning this attack for years. Perhaps as far back as the initial invasion.

  "We can discuss this in more detail back at New Earth. Damage control team
s nearly have the ship ready to depart. If Wilson's estimates are correct, we will be ready in just under an hour. Captain Nelson expects to be ready in about the same. How about the Providence?"

  "It should be ready to depart by the time I return. Other than the main bridge, damage on the ship was minimal. The only issue we face over there is the lack of crew. Running with a skeleton crew as it is. Walker and the marines are helping out where they can, but they have no idea how to work anything over there."

  Wellard stood up, grunting against the pain in his knees as he did. "Wilson, assign half the second shift bridge crew to the Providence. Focus on any positions Commander Bremerton needs to get back to New Earth."

  Wilson nodded. "Should I contact the Achilles and ask if Captain Nelson could spare any men as well?"

  "Wouldn't hurt, though don't put him in too much of a bind. The Achilles took a pounding today and likely needs every person they have left keeping the ship running."

  Bremerton stared at the large viewscreen, eyes focusing on the wreckage of the three ancient ships. "Wish our situation wasn't so dire. I'd like to send a crew to the wreckage to learn everything we can about those ships."

  "Don't believe they originated on Earth?"

  "I'm sure they did. That's just not something you worry about modifying. Not unless these Klyptons aren't actually allied with the Mythrar."

  "I'll ask Admiral Flannigan to send a recovery team back here to search the wreckage. I'm sure she will be as interested with it as you are. If those ships are from Earth, well then I'm afraid we might be fighting a war against three races with one being our own."

  "I'm out of time. Promised the crew I'd be back in under thirty minutes. We still have a few bugs to iron out with the auxiliary bridge. I realize they build them onto the ships in hope of never having to use them, but they could at least make sure basic ship functions could be monitored from there. Had a hell of a time keeping up with engineering during the battle. Thankfully you had things under control."