Freedom Flight (Space Rogue Book 3)

by Jay Toney

  Both Red's and Admiral Thornton's image appeared on my main viewscreen. Admiral Thornton's voice thundered from our comms, "I see that we finally meet Mr. Roberts. Say your prayers, I will personally enjoy killing you myself. I see that your father is there with you. I should have killed him years ago. Unfortunately his arrogance and rebellious ways have rubbed off on you. If not for his interference, you may have made a good thrall. One I would have personally liked to have disciplined."

  "I thought the pictures of you were ugly enough when I was growing up. You have gotten uglier with age, but not as ugly as your ship. We will see who wins this day."

  His image disappeared from our screen.

  "Nathaniel, one of these days I'll have to talk to you about insulting our enemies, even though its true. He is one of the ugliest people I have seen. How do you want to play this one?"

  "Concentrate on the Ajax. The Persephone will join you. I need the Lucy to join us attacking the destroyers and frigates. As we disable the destroyers and frigates, finish them off with missiles. No survivors, they found us this far out, we can't afford to take any more chances with them. Persephone, give me maximum magnification on the Ajax."

  The viewscreen centered on the Ajax. It looked uglier than I remembered. Now I understood why Mike was so mad when I had my ship painted to look like the Ajax.

  "Shar'tu concentrate your fire on the Ajax. Its the ugliest ship. Admiral Thornton will try to use the other cruisers as a screen protecting him. We have both the advantage of speed, and heavier shields now. If you see us disabling a destroyer, or frigate, destroy them, don't let any of his ships escape."

  I showed him the images of our refugee ships, their life boats, and escape pods riddled with holes where the Alliance used them for target practice.

  "I see, these people have no honor. I will show them no mercy for this atrocity."

  "Jane, help Shar'tu with balancing our new shields. Everyone else lets go. Mike and Doc your together, Amber and Jewel I don't need to protect you any longer, you two are together. Natty, you will be my wingman."

  We rushed to our marauders. Nord and six other pilots were waiting.

  "Nord, form up in pairs. Take marauders seven through twelve. Our crew is very passionate about our marauder pilots. Assignment to these marauders will be permanent. They won't allow anyone else to fly them. Your names will be painted on the entry hatch as well as any kills you make."

  "I reckon that makes us short seven pilots. I'll see what I can do to fill the vacancies with good pilots, after we finish this battle."

  "Nathaniel," Doc said, "There is something I have to tell you before we go. Admiral Thornton is the one who killed your mother. He has to die."

  "Don't worry Doc, he will, very slowly if I have it my way."

  We all did a quick preflight and entered our marauders. I keyed in the start up sequence and my marauder came to life. I taxied to the launch tube with Natty on my wingtip. We advanced our throttles and took off.

  Our Vipers and Marauders quickly closed the gap between our fleets. The Vengeance and the Persephone decelerated to engage the Ajax. The ships exchanged missile fire. Our ships were fully loaded, while the Alliance ships had expended most of their missiles. The alliance ships fired a full volley of missiles, to intimidate our ships. None of us would be intimidated, by their stupidity. Amber was an expert with our ECM system, and could possibly return a few to their senders.

  I couldn't take time to watch the battle, we were close to the fleet and I needed to concentrate on the destroyers and frigates. The Lucy was already making her first strafing run on them. I selected my target, a destroyer, and selected missiles on my weapons panel. The destroyer began firing on Natty, and I. We rolled our ships, easily evading their fire. The guns on the warships, were designed for tracking other capital ships, and ship to ship missiles. Our ships were to small and fast to be tracked by their weapons. Occasionally they got lucky with their PDC or missiles, but it was very rare. The Alliance stopped using fighters and assault shuttles during the last war. They never used them effectively, and saw them as a waste. Now they didn't have any defenses against them. They had unknowingly committed their second mistake.

  The missile tubes of the destroyer that I targeted were closed, I targeted the bridge and fired, shattering the viewports. Natty's missile struck one of the destroyers main guns, disabling it. We turned back for another attack. I locked onto the starboard side PDC array, and fired. I was rewarded with several small explosions from the ammunition packs exploding. The forward array was destroyed. Natty's missile struck amidships, destroying the PDC array. I could see the bridge crew scrambling to put on pressure suits through the shattered quartz viewports. We swung around for another pass. Natty fired her guns on the port side PDC array. The 40mm high explosive rounds destroyed the array. What cannons weren't destroyed by her guns, were destroyed by the exploding ammunition. My next missile struck the bridge again, this time opening it to the vacuum of space. Unrestrained bodies, were sucked out into space, by the explosive decompression. The destroyer wasn't able to defend its self any longer. A missile was fired to finish off the destroyer, by one of our ships, and the destroyer was enveloped by a massive explosion, followed by more explosions as its remaining ammunition exploded.

  The other marauders were having similar effect on their targets. We flew towards the frigates, to assist with bringing the smaller, but deadlier ships down. Both Natty and I targeted the bridge. Our missiles hit exposing the bridge crew to vacuum. The frigate continued to fight, directed from an auxiliary control center. The Vorg had taken out most of its guns. A few more good hits, and this ship would join our last kill. Its missile ports opened while we were swinging around. The Vorg didn't know about this weakness. Natty and I exploited it while the frigate was calculating the missile trajectories for our ships. Natty and I fired our missiles down the frigates open missile tubes. The whole front end of the frigate vanished in a explosion, the ship went dead.

  My ship took a hard hit spinning me out of control. It must have been hit by a piece of debris from the frigate. I fought the controls for a few minutes before finally regaining control. I didn't have any warning lights, and my controls were responsive. I would have to thank Amber and Jewel for making sure we all had helmets. My face shield had a nice crack going across it, just below my eyes. In the time it took for me to regain control, what remained of the frigate was destroyed by a missile. The two other destroyers were gone now too.

  Mike and Doc converged on the remaining frigate with the Vorg. Natty, Jewel, Amber, and I headed for the Ajax. Our two ships were holding their own against the three capital ships. The remaining Alliance vessels were about to see how much our marauders and vipers stung. I locked onto the bridge, and fired two missiles. The Ajax's bridge was more heavily armored than the other ships. The viewports shattered, but armored plates closed to seal the bridge. It didn't matter, I got their attention.

  Natty fired two missiles at one of the main turrets. It was blown clear off of the deck, its gunners floating out to space. The last frigate was destroyed. Doc, Mike, and the Vorg split up into two groups, each attacking a cruiser. The Lucy flew by, strafing the Ajax, Thousands of rounds chipping away at its thick armor. One of the Ajax's main guns fired on the Lucy. Its shields were weakened, and would have to be recharged, before making another attack run. We circled and fired on that gun Natty's missiles blew the gun off the deck, and my missiles went into the hulls new opening, exploding inside the unarmored opening. Several smaller explosions followed my missiles blast.

  The Ajax, was noticeably damaged, our ships fired another volley of missiles at it, hoping to get through its damaged defenses. We swung wide, to keep clear of the blasts. Admiral Thornton, found our comm frequencies and began taunting us.

  "Captain Rober
ts, you have proven yourself as a worthy opponent, surrender now and I will make your execution swift and painless."

  "I can't say the same about you. Your fleet is falling apart. When I kill you, I want to do it as slow as possible."

  "We shall see who dies this day."

  He kept on taunting us, but we ignored him. Two of our missiles got through his defenses, warping the heavy armor and causing several small leaks between the armor plating. His ECM was able to spoof four of our missiles, the rest he took out with his PDC. His main guns were destroyed, and he was left without missiles, it would only be a matter of time. He tried fleeing, but our ships were faster, and remained engaged with him. All four of us targeted his port side PDC. Our 40mm cannon took out array after array, leaving that side of the ship defenseless.

  The Persephone and the Vengeance fired another salvo of missiles at the nearly defenseless heavy battleship. Two of its four engines were destroyed. The hull was breached amidships and on its stern, by our missiles. The captains launch fled the doomed vessel, just before it was enveloped in a massive explosion, caused by its self destruction.

  "Persephone, you're about to have some company, send two squads in power armor to greet the admiral. If he moves, shoot him."

  "Understood Captain."

  All of our ships converged on the two, now crippled light cruisers. It only took a few more minutes to finish them off. They lost their will to fight with the Ajax's destruction, and didn't bother to fight back while we continued our attack. We all landed inside the Persephone, The vipers in the starboard launch bay and the marauders in the port side.

  I tossed my damaged helmet to Doc. He smiled when he saw the cracked face shield. We all headed to the upper deck shuttle bay. Admiral Thornton was there surrounded by our troops. He nodded at Doc. Then turned to face me.

  "You will not kill me. Just like your father you will fail."

  I pulled my energy lance, setting it to kill. Its blue energy blade extended.

  "I know your family, you hold yourselves to honor, and won't fight a defenseless man."

  I nodded to Natty, and she tossed the admiral her weapon. The Vorg, my troops, and officers formed a large ring around us. The admiral activated his weapon, setting it to kill.

  "You're foolish, you should have killed me when you had the chance. Now I will kill you."

  He swung his blade at me. I easily blocked it, sending a shower of sparks in the air. I attacked back lunging and hacking at the Admiral. He laughed every time he parried my attack. Then he took the offensive. I blocked his blows, sending electrical arcs, and sparks in the air. He was good, but I was better, and could fight dirty when I had to. While blocking his blade, I stomped on his foot, and kneed him in the groin. I wasn't expecting his laughter.

  "Didn't your father tell you, he took both my legs, and castrated me, leaving me for dead. He should have finished the job, but he was to weak to kill a defenseless person. Now I will have my revenge with you."

  His lance became a flurry of movements. I had to step back, blocking some of his blows, avoiding others. He was faster than Natty. I made a downward slice across his legs. He laughed again.

  "Their shielded boy. Beg that I don't do the same to you as your father did to me."

  "He should have killed you for murdering my mother. I will finish the job."

  "That would make you a halfbreed freak. It will give me even more pleasure killing you."

  Both our blades were a flurry of movements, to fast for the watching eyes to follow. I stumbled, for a moment time stood still. So, this was what it was like to die. A beautiful lady appeared before me, and I turned to look at her. She stopped the admirals attack with a flick of her wrist.

  "Nathaniel, thank you for your beautiful prayer. I am Astrea."

  "Astrea, thank you for your help, It is a pleasure to see the face behind your name. Your portrait doesn't even begin to compare to your beauty."

  "Your welcome, I didn't expect to find such a gallant man. Gallantry and chivalry are traits seldom seen now. I shouldn't have interfered, but that would have left Natty sad, and I don't want that. The Keres sisters are waiting to shred Thornton's tattered soul, and bring its pieces to final justice. Do not loose this battle."

  Astrea touched my shoulder, then vanished. Everyone was back in motion, as if nothing had happened. My movements felt easier and faster, and I took the offensive against the admiral. I continued to block is blows and attack, moving faster and faster. Our lances blinded the view of our fight in a shower of sparks and energy discharges. The admiral couldn't keep the pace. I severed his right arm, he dropped to his knees begging for mercy. I gave him his mercy, making his death much quicker than I intended. His head rolled to my feet, and I kicked it across the hangar floor.

  Everyone applauded. I knelt and retrieved Natty's lance, setting it to stun, and deactivating her blade before handing it back to her.

  "Natty, I saw your star lady. She helped me kill Thornton. Don't let me forget to thank her again this evening."

  With the Alliance fleet destroyed, we began rounding up Vorg escape pods and life boats. The Alliance hadn't gotten around to shooting them yet. We helped with their damaged vessels, repairing what damage we could, so that they could return home. Our ships were only lightly damaged, we would be able to make our repairs and reload our guns and missile magazines en-route to the Capsia space station.

  Nord was able to find seven more pilots that he could personally vouch for. They were eager to join our crew. We had four extra cabins that could be filled. When Mike added the new cabins for the Vorg pilots, he filled the reclaimed space with extra cabins, anticipating the need, and we needed them now. I left Nord to get the new pilots situated, and give the orientation. They were part of his group now.

  We also had two new arrivals. Beverly gave birth to her babies, while we were fighting the Alliance. It was Doc's assistant that delivered the twins while we were fighting. She named them Adam after her brother, and Anabel after her mother. They were both healthy, and Anabel definitely took after the Iniguar. Our Iniguar passengers were delighted with the children, each promising to help Beverly with her children.

  Red, was aboard, hearing about Beverly giving birth. He came to see the children. He picked up both of the twins, gently holding them in his arms, until Beverly made him give them back to her. I couldn't resist kidding him about his name. No one that I talked to ever mention his name, if they knew it.

  "So, Adam is your name, not Red."

  "If ya knows what is good for you, you'll forget you ever heard it, family or not."

  "Red Beverly named one of her babies after you."

  "So that's how you found out."

  "Its going to be kind of hard to forget now."

  "Even so, you best not tell anyone else, or I'll let everyone know Doc is your father."

  "The damage is already done. Admiral Thornton already took care of that already."

  "I hope you have him locked up good."

  "I don't need to do that."

  "How is that, I know you won't kill a man after he surrenders."

  "I made an exception with him. He was the one who killed my mother. Our niffids are feeding on his carcass, in our rubbish bins. I thought at first that it may upset their stomachs, but they seem content to feast on him."

  "That is as fitting an end for him, as I could think of."

  "Who is cooking dinner tonight, Rosie, or Doc?"

  I completely lost track of who was cooking dinner next.

  "I'm not sure, Rosie I hope."

  Admiral Thornton's death was cause to celebrate. Both Doc and Rosie combined forces to make a feast for all of us. Ev
en our Iniguar crew and their bond mates showed up to help celebrate. They were wearing the new dresses that Amber and Jewel purchased for them. Everyone was in high spirits with the defeat of Admiral Thornton. I knew that his death would only cause the Alliance to double their efforts in locating us. There would be no mercy for us.

  I still felt stuffed when I woke the next morning. I skipped breakfast, only drinking my coffee and juice. After dressing my wives and I all headed to the bridge. What repairs could be made to what was left of the Vorg fleet were done, and their injured treated. We escorted them back to their space station.

  The image of a beautiful blond lady filled my screen, "I see I have mistakenly gotten the attention of the piss boy and his run down excuse of a fleet of garbage scowls."

  I was taken aback, all I could do is stutter.

  "Is uh, um, ah, all you can manage to say piss boy?"

  Now that I had a moment to compose my thoughts, or lack of them, I fired back, "Well if that isn't the ugliest excuse of a witch I have ever laid my eyes on. I thought your species was hunted to extinction, for your hides."

  "Captain Roberts, am I really that ugly?"

  "Not at all. I assure you that you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever laid my eyes on."

  "At least my good looks are intact, if not my charm. Welcome to Capsia Station. Your fleet have all of our thanks for the aid you have given us, and our fleet. If you hadn't shown up when you did, we would have been bombed, enslaved, and worse. The Vorg are in your debt. You are cleared to dock in white section, dock 5."

  We were met by Stella, as soon as we docked. She was one of the space station's managers, the one that contacted us. I hoped that another round of insults wasn't necessary, I wouldn't be able to do it in her presence. Fortunately for me it wasn't. I told her about the new technology that the Iniguar had in Haven, and recommended that the Vorg get their ships upgraded and rearmed there. The Alliance was moving towards the fringe systems, taking all the resources they could, to expand their fleet. The system governors along the border worlds, did not want another war, and had already captivated to the Alliance. Soon they would be turning their attention to the other races of this quadrant.