That, however, was far from the best case scenario. He hoped they wouldn’t be there. If they were, he couldn’t be sure of their chances of escape. Still, if there was one thing he’d learned in the first Mortuk war, it was to expect the worst and prepare for the best. Or was it the other way around? It’d been so long, Ivan couldn’t remember. To him, when it came to war, it was all the worst. He chuckled to himself. Expect the war, prepare for the war. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
“Thirty seconds until arrival,” Millie announced.
Ivan stared at the towering screen that displayed the universe outside. It curved up, down, to the left and to the right. Before him stretched space—behind him, cadets. He was the only thing in between, and he wasn’t sure he liked those odds.
“Ten seconds, nine, eight—”
Where is Hayden?
“—Seven, six, five—”
Not the time. Focus. You can do this.
“—Four, three, two—”
Expect the war, prepare for the war.
“—one. Exiting FTL jump!”
The universe stretched and slowed as the FTL engines powered down.
Fear screamed through Ivan. Ahead, a single Mortuk ship took on three USS warships. The bright flashes of war filled the bridge as pieces of the Comoran broke off, explosions launching chunks of the tall structure with spinning rings into space.
“Get us in there!” Ivan shouted, standing as he pointed his finger to the battle that raged before him. “Circle the outside, fire upon the backside of the Mortuk vessel,” he said, a commotion breaking out behind him. He examined the long, sleek, pitch-black vessel. Starlight and laser flashes reflected off of its hull, projecting the battle that raged around it as if on a funhouse mirror. “Shoot anything that looks like it could be an engine. Tell our fighters to get ready to launch on my command!”
Ivan breathed a sigh as the bulky Mortuk fighters fired on the USS ships that were much sleeker and powerful than his old Empire. He didn’t know how this battle was going to go, but he knew he wasn’t going to stand by idly.
“Welcome back, old friend,” he breathed as he fought off the fear that clutched at his chest.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Empire flew into the battle hot.
“Firing main cannons!” someone shouted.
Ivan watched as the dark green lasers fired from the bow of the ship, slamming into the backside of the alien vessel. Before the lasers hit, their reflection shone bright in the hull of the massive ship. Green arcs of energy spread across the ship before dissipating, the vessel no worse for wear.
More blasts impacted the Mortuk mothership, one after the other, to no avail.
“I’m reporting no damage to the hull of the Mortuk ship, Captain,” someone said to his right, confirming Ivan’s fears.
“Fire everything we’ve got at that thing!” Ivan shouted. “And I mean everything, at full power!”
“Aye aye!”
Ivan stood closer to the screen, watching the battle between the three USS ships and the Mortuk vessel. The battleships fired green lasers at the enemy mothership, while smaller cannons fired at the Mortuk fighters. The USS fighters engaged in dogfights with the aliens, their red lasers having the same effect as the larger green ones.
“Sir, an attachment of Mortuks are making its way towards us.”
Ivan turned and looked eye-to-eye with the red headed young lady who’d given him the news. He read the name tag on her right chest. “Cadet Collins, order our Mambas to engage. Keep focusing our firepower on the main enemy vessel.”
She gave a nod before raising a finger to her headset, relaying his command.
“Laser incoming!” someone shouted as Ivan turned back around. He looked just in time to see a volley of white lasers hit the ship. He ducked out of instinct, and the ship jostled around. He grabbed ahold of his chair.
“Damage report!” he shouted.
“Damage negative, sir! Our shields took the brunt of the blast. Currently holding at ninety-one percent,” the cadet responded.
Ivan examined the ship. “Where the hell are those blasts coming from?” There seemed to be no protrusions on the ship at the source of the white lasers.
Another set of lasers approached. “Brace for impact!” Ivan yelled. The white lasers blasted into the ship’s shields. This time one got through though, slamming into the hull nearby. The ship shook violently. These lasers were nowhere near as powerful as the giant one they’d barely dodged thanks to Hayden.
“That thing has three-sixty coverage,” someone exclaimed.
Ivan watched the ship, and sure enough, the thing was firing on all sides. The USS ships were beginning to maneuver around it, one on the port side, one on starboard, one on the bow, and the Empire taking up the rear. The Mortuk ship shot at them with the exact same firepower, no matter where they were. Explosions racked the hulls of the other ships and with every moment that passed, their firepower diminished. “Get me in contact with one of those ships!” Ivan yelled.
“Hailing the USS Hayes,” Millie said.
The captain of the Hayes appeared on the lower right corner of the screen, a lady of the same age as Ivan with a salt-and-pepper bob cut. Blood flowed down her face from a cut on her brow. Behind her, people screamed and scrambled about on the bridge, trying to live for a few more moments.
“This is Captain Joshua Ivan of the USTS Empire. What can I do to help?”
“Captain Red here with the Hayes. Hold your position for the moment, we’re trying to surround this thing and find a weakness,” she said, her eyes drifting. “Right now, you and I are the only one with communications still up. These bastards came out of nowhere—took us by surprise. We’d only been fighting for fifteen minutes when you arrived.”
“Fifteen minutes?” Ivan said. “You look you’ve been taking a beating for hours.”
“Thanks for the encouragement, Captain,” Red said in a fleeting moment of levity. Sparks rained down behind her as another blast hit the ship.
Ivan’s own ship shook, the shields still holding. Although, if what Red said was true, they wouldn’t much longer. “What’re your shields looking like?” Ivan asked.
“Down to twelve percent,” she responded.
Ivan thought for a moment. He looked down at the battle between the Mambas and the Mortuk fighters below him. To his shock, it seemed as if the Empire fighters were actually taking out some of the aliens. He pointed down at them and looked over his shoulder. “Contact them and find out what they’re doing!” He turned and looked back at Captain Red’s video stream. “Captain, get yourself and your crew in your ships and make your way over to us. Your ship is gonna go any time now. Our fighters have figured out a way to take out theirs. We’ll protect you.”
Captain Red’s eyes lit up. “You really think you can take these things on?”
“We can try. If you stay on there any longer though, and I know you aren’t going to last any longer.”
Red nodded. “Everybody evacuation procedures!” she shouted behind her.
He turned in his chair. “Issue the order. Tell our fighters to break off and make for the USS Hayes.” A cadet nodded and Ivan turned back around in his chair. “Get to your ship, Captain.”
Red shook her head. “I can’t. Our defense systems are too heavily damaged. I need to stay on board to operate them and provide cover fire.”
“Don’t be a fool, we need every soldier we can get right now. I need you on one of those evacuation ships!” Ivan slammed his fist down on the arm of his chair.
“Which is exactly why I must stay,” she said, her eyes growing heavy. “I can keep the bastards distracted, making it easier for my people to get to yours. No arguments, Captain. You can’t order me to do otherwise.”
Ivan didn’t know what to say. She was right. There was nothing he could do. He was about to open his mouth and wish her luck, but the feed cut out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blue laser from the alien ves
sel slam into the USS Hayes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Hayden sat in the cockpit of an S-23 Mamba fighter, his body tingling with nervousness and excitement. Either his hunch would pan out or it wouldn’t—he almost hoped he wouldn’t find out.
“When’s the last time you had Mamba training?” Vick asked, his voice coming through the comm unit in Hayden’s helmet.
Hayden clicked the button on the side of his joystick. “About three months ago. I’m in the simulation module twice a week though.”
“Oh, shit,” Vick said.
“What?”
“I was hoping you weren’t going to say that. It’s been a while since I was in one of these things.”
Hayden smiled. “Hey, you’re the one who volunteered to help me.”
“I know, I know. Just crossing my fingers and toes there aren’t going to be any Mortuks on the other side of this jump.”
“We all are, but cut the chatter, okay?” said the CAG, Baxter. “You L-Cadets just stay in back, let us fighter pilots take care of this.”
“We’ve had just as much training as you assholes,” Vick said.
Hayden sighed and rolled his eyes. Vick and Baxter continued bickering for a moment before Millie’s familiar voice echoed across the Empire. “Arrival in thirty seconds.”
“Alright, let’s get focused guys, just in case,” Hayden said.
The line went silent as everybody waited.
“Ten, nine, eight—”
Hayden gripped the control stick tight.
“—Seven, six, five—”
You’ve done the sims a million times. Nothing’s changed.
“—Four, three, two—”
Please don’t let the Mortuks be there.
“—One, exiting the FTL jump.”
Hayden held his breath. It was silent. Not a word over the comm channels. Not a breath. Hayden’s heart beat hard in his chest. He had to remind himself to breathe.
“We’ve got multiple enemy contacts! All fighters are clear to launch and engage!” a voice boomed.
Hayden flicked the switch that started up his Mamba. “Here we go boys! Remember, use your alternate fire. Let’s surprise these bitches.”
He pulled up on his fighter and his body vibrated as the Mamba lifted off the ground. He was first in line to go. He pushed forward on the pedals at his feet to coax the fighter forward. He used the lever on his right to increase his speed and, with his left hand, used the control stick to keep the vessel centered on the green force field ahead of him that kept space out. He passed through the force field, the transponder in his Mamba permitting him a clean exit.
Hayden scanned the area, searching for the battle. When his eyes found it, his breath caught in his throat as if his cockpit had blown open and he’d been exposed to the vacuum of space
The massive, terrifying black Mortuk vessel was holding its own against three USS warships. It seemed to be perfectly fine, but he couldn’t say the same about the USS ships. They were taking a beating and the fighters weren’t faring much better.
“We’ve got enemy ships incoming,” someone said. Hayden turned his attention forward. A wall of the bulky, pitch black fighters headed his way.
“Time to figure out if you’re as smart as you think you are,” he whispered to himself. His finger wavered over the red trigger underneath the joystick. He held his breath, waiting for the Mortuks to get within weapons range. They just needed to be a little closer.
Come on…
Almost there…
Hayden tasted blood in his mouth as he realized he’d been biting down on his lip.
Just a little bit closer…
“Weapons free!” he shouted as he pulled on the trigger as hard as he could.
Bullets, not lasers, fired from the Mambas. They tore through space, slamming into the Mortuk ship he’d lined up in his sights.
It ripped apart and exploded.
“Whoo-hoo!” Hayden shouted as he slammed his fist into the cockpit roof. “It works, baby! Give ‘em hell!” he screamed as he lined another one up in his sights and took it out.
The aliens scrambled. “Yeah Whoretuks! Your armor ain’t shit!” Baxter yelled.
“Pick them off one by one and watch your firing lines!” someone shouted over the coms.
“Vick, with me!” Hayden yelled.
“I’m on your six!” Vick replied.
Hayden flew towards his next target—an enemy fighter that was after one of the Empire’s own. Hayden launched a volley of bullets its way but only nicked its armor. The thing began to smoke and spiral out of control, heading straight for the Empire. “Focus fire on that Mortuk!” Hayden shouted to Vick. “If that thing hits the Empire, no telling what damage it’ll do.”
“I got it.” Vick broke off Hayden’s six and went after the Mortuk. Out of the corner of his eye, Hayden saw the enemy ship explode well before it reached the Empire.
Hayden was already on his next enemy, lining up his target. His ship shook as lasers from another fighter flew all around. He looked behind him—he had a tail. He pulled back on his control stick, sending his ship straight up. Hayden slammed his feet on the back of the pedals, completing the flip. More lasers flew around him and he looked back—the ship was still on his tail. He jerked the stick right and did a barrel roll. One of the lasers grazed off the glass above him. The oxygen in his helmet turned on the air in the cockpit leaked out. “I can’t get this guy off my tail and I’ve got a leak!” Hayden shouted as he went into another flip.
“I’ve got you!” Vick screamed.
Hayden looked behind him just in time to see Vick appear from below them, flying up at the alien vessel, his bullets tearing the ship apart. “Thanks for that,” Hayden said.
“No problem. Need to go back to the Empire?” Vick asked.
Hayden looked at his oxygen levels. “No, I’m still in the green.”
“There’s too many of them!” somebody shouted over the coms. “They’re sending in reinforcements!”
Hayden looked out towards the mothership. Mortuk fighters were breaking off from the other warships and were heading towards the Empire. “They need to figure out what they’re going to do and fast!” Hayden said as he lined up another fighter and took it out.
“Right now it looks like they’re just taking a beating,” Vick said.
They were taking up a position behind the mothership, firing all of their weapons. Hayden cursed under his breath. “Those damn things aren’t going to work.” He wished they could’ve retrofitted the Empire to use bullets like she and her Mambas did once upon a time, but they only had the time and ammunition to work on the fighters. The Empire’s only hope was for her shields to hold.
“All fighters, this is the Empire. The captain wants to know what the hell you are doing out there to take out the enemy fighters?” someone said over the comms.
“Go ahead, Hayden,” Baxter answered, screaming as he was fighting off another Mortuk.
“I’ll cover you,” Vick said as he flew over Hayden’s fighter, taking the lead.
“These Mambas are so old that they used to fire bullets, not lasers. The original guns were never removed, so we rewired them to work with the new systems and used an old emergency stockpile of ammunition,” Hayden answered.
“Roger that,” answered the cadet on the Empire. “Stand-by for orders. Empire out.”
Hayden gripped the control stick, and searched out another target. Sounds like we made an impression.
“We’ve almost taken care of this wave,” Baxter said. “The next one won’t be so surprised. Everybody stay on guard.”
A cacophony of ‘rogers’ sounded over the radio and Hayden wished to himself that everybody had call signs so he’d know who was who.
“Empire to fighters, come in fighters,” the same cadet from earlier said.
“This is the CAG, Baxter, coming in.”
“We’ve got a detachment of ships evacuating the USS Hayes. We need you to escort them
to the Empire.”
Hayden looked over at the Hayes. Things didn’t look good for the ship. Its shields decimated, explosions racked its hull. Every blast from the mothership knocked another piece of the vessel into space.
“What about evacuations from the other two ships?” Hayden asked. They didn’t seem to fare much better.
“We’re working on getting in contact with them but their communications are down. We’ll update you when we’ve got anything. Empire out.”
“Alright everybody, you heard them. Time to get our people and bring them to safety,” Baxter said.
Hayden looked to his right and made eye contact with Vick in the Mamba next to him. He raised his eyes and Vick smiled. Hayden turned his attention to the lopsided battle that raged before him. Let’s see what these new Mortuks are made of. He punched down on the foot pedals, and his ship shot forward, straight towards the Hayes.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Alright everybody, get in defensive formations. We need to surround the crews, and make sure all our blind spots are covered,” Baxter said over the comms.
“Roger,” Hayden said. The Mambas lined up in a v-formation stacked three high, flying towards the cargo, fighter, and bomber ships that were beginning to take off from the hangar of the USS Hayes. A fleet of Mortuk’s were right on top of them, coming in hot.
“Full speed! We gotta close the gap fast!” Baxter yelled in their ears.
Hayden and the rest of the squad punched it. They screamed towards the helpless evacuees, the enemy fighters fast approaching.
“Laying down suppressive fire!” Hayden yelled as he began firing at the space between the Hayes’s ships and the Mortuk fighters.
“Approaching weapons range. Take out as many as you can on your way in but I want those ships surrounded ASAP,” Baxter ordered.
The reticle on Hayden’s HUD turned red as it got a lock on the Mortuk vessel. He fired wildly, hitting one and damaging another. The whole squad of Mambas tore into the enemy fighters who had yet to face them. Their only focus was taking out the ships leaving the Hayes.
Empire (Empire, Book One) Page 10
