by Libby, Seth
“No, I will depart for the Dricon immediately,” said Shizta, then saluted and exited the small room.
October 1, 2012, 2:17 a.m. ESTEDF Sacrifice, Command Bridge
“Get me the Admiral immediately! And scramble all our pilots!” commanded Captain Caqel.
An alarm blared throughout the ship, signaling a red alert. The thunder of feet running to their fighters reverberated throughout the passageways. Studying the view screen, Caqel watched the incoming Shenkar fleet moving into the system, heading straight toward the hiding spot of the Sacrifice. After a few minutes, Admiral Kelvin entered the bridge.
“Status report!” he commanded of Captain Caqel.
“Incoming Shenkar warships: one battlecruiser, three Shizrec class cruisers, six Kelgen-class destroyers, and about five hundred light fighters. They are on a path matching that the Krazzeen took. They are headed straight for us and will be here in about fifteen--”
“Sir, new contacts in sector three three four. Analogs show them to be Shenkar warships. Types are one battlecruiser, four Shizrec cruisers, four Kelgen destroyers, and five hundred light fighters,” said a young officer.
“Damn it!” shouted the Admiral, then gripped the railing in front of him with his head down.
“Sir?” said Captain Caqel.
“Halt the launching of fighters--how many have already launched?”
“Twenty-one squadrons, sir,” Caqel said after calling for the halt, then studying the readout.
“Have the ones that have already launched proceed to the asteroid base. We will exit from the field in an attempt to draw away the enemy--make them think we are running. We need to make them believe we are all the enemy that is present.”
Slowly, all the fighters already in space turned about and made for the hidden base while the Sacrifice exited the asteroid field, its heading set straight on a path for the Shenkar battlecruiser, Dricon.
October 1, 2012, 2:30 a.m. ESTShenkar Battlecruiser, Dricon Bridge
“Overlord Shizta, enemy contact bearing four four three. Headed straight for us,” said a Shenkar bridge officer.
Taking three quick long strides, he closed the distance and looked upon the scanner readout. Indeed, the battlecruiser he had previously encountered was headed straight at them. Smiling to himself, he turned to fire control.
“Signal all ships, lock torpedoes and fire!” Shizta commanded.
A few seconds later, he heard the familiar thump of launching torpedoes. Looking up on the view screen, he could see twenty torpedoes launch from his small fleet and streak off toward the enemy battlecruiser.
“All ships, close distance. Open up all cannons and pulverize anything that survives the torpedo attack.”
October 1, 2012, 2:31 a.m. ESTEDF Sacrifice, Command Bridge
“Sir, we have incoming torpedoes, twenty in number. ETA two minutes until impact,” said a young officer.
“Captain Caqel, are we ready?” asked the Admiral.
“Ready, sir,” Caqel reported back.
Admiral Kelvin studied the incoming torpedoes for several long moments. After a minute, he raised his hand into the air as young bridge officer spoke. “Impact in ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six . . . five . . .”
“Now, Captain.”
Captain Caqel’s hand came down upon the pad it had been hovering over for the past minute.
October 1, 2012, 12:33 a.m. ESTShenkar Battlecruiser Dricon, Bridge
Shizta watched the battlecruiser on the views screen as the torpedoes streaked toward it, an officer counting down. The fools were not even going to try to evade, he thought.
“Nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . .”
But no impact came. The torpedoes continued their path into the dark void of space. No battlecruiser showed on the screen.
“Where is my target?” demanded Shizta of fire control.
“It appears they engaged a fold system seconds before impact, Overlord.”
Growling, Shizta hammered a fist down upon a nearby console. “They ran like the cowards they are. Get me Overlord Trikreca now.”
October 1, 2012, 2:45 a.m. EST Necro Squadron, Hidden Asteroid Base
Liam guided his fighter through the opening in the asteroid. The opening was just large enough to allow small craft like fighters and shuttles to enter one at a time. Lights had been placed to guide craft through the tunnel that led into the recently built base. At about thirty meters in, the tunnel angled to the right and continued on for another fifty meters until it opened upon a massive cavern. At the entrance, Liam’s fighter passed through an energy field that allowed ships to pass through but kept the atmosphere in.
The cavern had undergone massive construction to become the base it was now. Roughly two hundred fighter-sized niches had been hollowed out, most full at this point. Looking around, Liam spotted the rest of Necro Squadron. He guided his fighter to a spot to the side of where the rest of Necro Squadron had settled in.
After cycling down his fighter, Liam opened his canopy and stood. As he stood in his cockpit, he looked about the new base. Maintenance crews hustled about, bringing ladders to fighters, moving equipment, and attaching recharge cables to fighters. Not waiting for a ladder, Liam jumped over the side and dropped to the rock floor. As he straightened up, he saw the rest of his squadron walking toward him.
“What is going on? We launch and then are ordered to hide? Where is the Sacrifice?” asked Evan quickly.
“I didn’t catch all of it, but from what I understood, it seems we were severely outnumbered and our escape routes were blocked. I am assuming that Admiral Kelvin let them see the Sacrifice fold away to make them believe they made us retreat. Chances are, they don’t know about our hidden base here. We will be able to continue our hit-and-run attacks this way.”
“Hopefully, the Sacrifice survived the jump,” commented Tim.
“What do you mean?” asked April.
“The gravity well of the nearby planet and asteroid field should have prevented it. Well, not necessarily prevented it--more made it very dangerous, as it would cause extreme stress on the fold engines,” explained Tim.
“Well, let’s hope they were successful,” said Steve.
Everyone was silent for a moment before Liam spoke. “Anyone know who is in charge here?”
“A Commander Dunklin,” said Darrin.
“Well, let’s get bunked in and find out what we do next,” said Liam.
Liam looked about until he spotted the exit to the hangar and then headed that way. It didn’t take long to find the pilot quarters that had been constructed. Overall, the quarters were rather nice for being so hastily built. The room was only one area with a small bathroom. Although they didn’t have everything they had on the Sacrifice, it seemed Admiral Kelvin had planned ahead for this. Supplies for the pilots had been well provisioned.
“Not much, huh?” came Evan’s voice from behind him.
Turning, Liam smiled at his friend who stood leaning against the doorjamb.
“No, but I am sure we will be fine. Let’s go find this Commander Dunklin and see what the situation is.”
The two left Liam’s quarters and headed off. After only stopping once to ask directions, they found the Commander in the operations room. As they approached him, they came to attention and saluted. Commander Dunklin wasn’t what Liam would have expected. He was, for one thing, very young--possibly in his early twenties. Also, he looked as if he didn’t have that commanding presence needed to run an operation such as this.
“At ease, men,” the Commander said as he returned the salute.
“Sir, what is the situation?”
“An enemy fleet entered the system from two directions, effectively cutting off the Sacrifice’s escape route under normal circumstances. I know the Admiral had wanted to prevent the Shenkar from knowing we possessed fold technology, but like I said, that was unavoidable with the escape routes cut off. So he ha
d what squadrons had already launched dock here, took the Sacrifice out of the asteroid field, and folded out. By doing this, it should, by all probability, make the Shenkar believe we retreated, and they won’t come into the asteroid field. In the event they do approach, we should be safe. The walls of this asteroid make it impossible for them to pick up the base on even the deepest of scans. Unless they fly a fighter through the opening, they won’t find the base.”
He continued, “First things first, we sit tight for the next twenty-four hours to let the Shenkar believe we have truly retreated. I can’t say what the Admiral is going to do. He might have taken the Sacrifice home, but I seriously doubt that.” Dunklin finished, then looked about and motioned Liam and Evan closer and spoke in a low voice.
“Look, to tell you the truth, I don’t have a clue what I am doing. My father is Congressman Dunklin, and he got me on this mission. I have never been much of a soldier and only through my name have I risen to my rank. I have searched the records, and you two scored the highest on combat and tactics--not to mention that you, Mr. Brennan, were responsible for the plan that led to our previous victory. I could really use your help, if you’re willing.”
Liam and Evan looked at each other for a second before turning back to the young nervous Commander.
“Well, I don’t know about me, but Liam here is the one I think could really help you. I just like to fly and shoot bad guys,” said Evan, smiling.
“Don’t sell yourself short, Evan; you are good at strategy. Don’t you remember all those computer strategy war games we used to play?” said Liam.
“Yeah, I do, and I seem to remember you winning 95 percent of the time,” Evan said, laughing.
“Oh yeah . . . well, anyway, we will help you, Commander Dunklin,” Liam said, turning back to the young officer.
“Thanks, I really do appreciate it. Let’s get started. Oh, and please call me Eric.”
All three proceeded to a large table that had a holographic image of the asteroid field hovering over it. Pointing to a location deep within the field, Commander Dunklin spoke.
“We are located here, and the last known locations of the Shenkar warships were here and here.” Dunklin pointed to an area below and an area above the N-6, the gas giant on the outer part of the system. “From what I have ascertained, it is most likely they will establish a base near or on N-3.”
“We should try to get a recon team down on the surface of the planet to see if they do establish a base. It would be a lot easier to infiltrate a ground base than one of their battlecruisers,” said Liam.
“Yes, I agree. Tell me what you need, and I will see that you get it,” replied Dunklin.
“Do we have any of those new ion cycles here?” asked Liam.
“Yes, they arrived yesterday, just as we completed the base. What did you have in mind?” asked Dunklin.
“I will take my squadron along the asteroid field, using them as cover, till we reach this point here.” Liam pointed to a spot with the shortest distance between N-3 and the asteroid field. “We will then cross the distance and set down on the planet. Once there, we will recon the planet and see whether they have established a base.”
“Okay, when do we get started?” asked Commander Dunklin.
“Well, I think we should probably wait for things to calm down a bit. How about thirty-six hours from now?” suggested Liam.
October 2, 2012, 12:58 p.m.System 238, Planet N-3
Liam guided his fighter into a spot just behind a large rock formation. The rest of Necro Squadron followed suit and did the same. With luck, their fighters would remain hidden from view while they ran a reconnaissance of the planet. The trip from the asteroid belt had been a lot easier than Liam had expected. True to what he had suspected, the Shenkar seemed to believe they had driven them away. In doing so, they didn’t have patrols out, and Liam was able to use the planet to shield him and his squadron from the Shenkar warships that were in orbit around N-3.
Keying open the cargo section, Liam then jumped down from his fighter. The planet was a dead rock, void of any life. As Liam walked to the cargo section, his feet kicked up dust. He pulled the ion cycle free and mounted. First making sure the rest of the squadron was ready, Liam then powered it up. As a low thrum permeated from his cycle, he keyed his comm unit.
“Okay, everyone ready? Banshee and Phantom, stay here and protect the fighters. Everyone else has their assigned areas. Keep in contact at all times. If you find anything, report it immediately, no matter how trivial. Any questions?” asked Liam.
When none came, he wished everyone luck, and then he and Tim departed to the sector he had been assigned. The planet was a dead rock, with no oxygen atmosphere and no life to speak of.
For hours, they cruised along the surface, searching for any indication of a Shenkar presence. After four hours, Liam signaled Tim to stop. Once stopped, he keyed up his transmitter and spoke. “Necro One to all pilots--anyone spotted anything?”
Four responses came back almost immediately.
“Negative,” said Darren.
“Negative,” said Dimitri.
“It has been quiet the whole time here at the fighters,” said Michael.
“Negative on my end as well; I don’t think they are here. But if they didn’t set up a forward base, then will they just work from their ships?” said Evan.
“Good question. Everyone return to the fighters. We need to head back to the base.”
October 2, 2012, 7:15 p.m. ESTHidden Asteroid Base of the EDF
“We found nothing on the planet whatsoever,” Liam said as he and Evan entered Commander Dunklin’s private office.
Looking up from his desk, the young officer wore a tired look on his face, but Liam could also see some frustration there as well.
“I know there isn’t a base . . . I think there is something you should see,” said Dunklin gravely.
Standing, Dunklin exited his office and walked over to the holographic table. Liam and Evan followed him as Dunklin activated the table. An image of N-3 appeared. Next to the planet were at least twenty Shenkar warships and another very large elliptical image Liam didn’t recognize. All Liam knew was that it was incredibly large: a dozen battlecruisers could easily fit inside.
“What the hell is that?” said Evan as he pointed at the image.
“We have no definite answers for that. We could really use one of those Meshtrell now, but none left the Sacrifice before she folded away. We believe it’s the reason you found nothing on the surface of the planet. It might be their base of operations and a mobile factory ship. It would explain how their Dread Fleets can keep their numbers up. Also, they would need to replenish their warriors, so it would most likely have a cloning facility within it also. I believe if we can find a way to destroy it, we would effectively halt their advance here and now.”
“How are we going to destroy that?” asked Evan.
“Even with all our fighters attacking at once, we wouldn’t even scratch it. I am really starting to get highly annoyed with the lack of information that was provided by the Meshtrell. We knew nothing of the Krazzeen and now this,” said a frustrated Dunklin as he waved a hand at the holographic image.
“I feel your frustration also, sir. I think the only thing we can do is continue our attacks on ships, moving through the system toward that station,” said Liam.
“Sir, I believe I have an idea for some of those battlecruisers, but we will need the Sacrifice,” came a voice from behind Liam.
Turning, Liam saw that Tim had approached without any of them noticing.
“Oh? Then we will just have to hope the Sacrifice hasn’t left permanently,” said Liam.
As if merely speaking those words made such a thing happen, the communication officer spoke up. “Sir, I am receiving a signal . . . it is from the Sacrifice.”
“Put it on the overhead,” commanded Dunklin.
After a few seconds, the voice of Kimino Sukita spoke throughout the control room.
&nb
sp; “Commander Dunklin, this is the Sacrifice. Do you read me? I repeat, this is the Sacrifice. Please respond.”
Dunklin immediately snatched up a communication headset. “This is Dunklin. It is a relief to hear you, Sacrifice.”
Then the voice of Admiral Kelvin replaced Lieutenant Sukita’s. “Good to hear yours as well. What is your status? I take it you have remained hidden?”
“Yes, sir. We have also run reconnaissance on the planet, but no Shenkar forward bases were established. However, we have recently found the reason for this. One second--I will upload you a file.”
Commander Dunklin signaled for the file to be sent. After several seconds, the Admiral’s voice came back.
“Once again, there seems to be some information that was for some reason not provided.” Liam could hear the barely concealed anger in the Admiral’s voice. “From what Jaera has said, that is a mobile factory ship, which also serves as a base of operations.”
“Yes, that is what Mr. Brennan and I thought also. Sir, we have a plan that could eliminate several of their top-of-the-line battlecruisers,” said Dunklin.
“Okay, enough for now. The rules have changed for us, and we need to figure out what to do next. I am bringing the Sacrifice in . . . it will be several hours, though, as we need to avoid detection. This means we will be bringing it though the asteroid field the long way. See you when we get there. Keep us advised of any Shenkar movements. They shouldn’t be running far patrols, but you never know,” said Kelvin.
“Yes, sir,” Dunklin replied.
October 2, 2012, 11:15 p.m. ESTHidden Asteroid Base of the EDF
