The Prodigal Emperor (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 3)

by Kal Spriggs

  “Azure Flight,” Stavros's voice was harsh over the net, “Targeting data coming online now, engage those bastards with everything you've got!”

  Garret didn't need to be told twice. With the loss of his carriers, his Hammers were as good as dead if Stavros was forced to withdraw. For all he knew, the pirate commander had already set his navigational computer to plot an escape route and Garret couldn't blame him. He sent out the target priorities to his surviving squadrons even as he brought his Hammer around onto target. They had brought a mix of heavy and light missiles along with full loads for their mass driver cannons. As his systems locked onto the enemy ships, he gave a grim smile. “Azure Flight, engage.”

  Heller had bracketed the largest of the enemy ships for him and Garret fired off his rounds in quick, body-jarring succession. A moment later, he switched over to his missiles and toggled them onto the secondary targets and cut those loose as well. The twenty four remaining Hammers volleyed one hundred and twenty mass driver rounds, a hundred and forty-four fission-tipped Hunter-class medium missiles, and two hundred and eighty-eight of the lighter Jackrabbit interceptor missiles. The fifteen enemy ships that were their targets were at long range, but the targeting data grew more refined as Stavros continued to feed Garret data on their attackers.

  Three battlecruisers, Garret realized with shock, and what looks like some converted merchant ships for missile platforms and carriers, and a mix of destroyers and frigates in escort.

  It was very similar to the Nova Corporation response force they had faced at the Kied system. No, he realized, not similar, it is the force from the Kied system... only they're here, waiting for us, with a few extra friends. And they seemed to have solid data on his systems, because the enemy ships went into evasive maneuvers even as their inbound missiles shifted from paths aimed at the rest of the squadron and onto paths aimed at Azure Wing.

  His Hammers couldn't transfer control of their missiles off to one of the other ships. Nor could they fire their main guns at this range without using their laser designators, which would require a stable flight path to guide the smart rounds into their targets.

  The enemy clearly had that information and they knew that if they killed his Hammers, they would have a much easier time of weathering the inbound flight of missiles and projectile rounds. At best, the missiles they'd brought would go into active homing mode and be easier to target, at worst, they would lose track of their targets entirely and be no threat at all.

  “Stavros,” Garret said, “It looks like they've shifted targeting priority to my Wing, I need some help here.”

  “I'll get you what I can,” Stavros said, “But their damned fighters are right in among us. I lost my squadron on launch and they've already torn apart our formation.” Even as he spoke, Garret saw another of the pirate frigates stagger out of formation, engulfed in a wreath of debris and venting gasses. “We're plotting a shadow space jump, but I don't want to leave anyone behind.”

  Garret's gaze went to his monitors. By his estimates, there were over a hundred inbound missiles, almost all of them targeted on his squadron. With the enemy fighters already within Stavros's formation, none of the other ships would be able to provide cover fire against the inbound missiles without making themselves more vulnerable as a result. His Hammers were already trapped, against a numerically superior opponent who had the advantage of surprise. Stavros couldn't win this fight, Garret knew. He could either escape or stay and die. “Negative,” Garret said, “go get clear, Stavros, there's nothing you can do for us.”

  The pirate didn't answer for a long moment. When he did, his voice was solemn, “Kill as many as you can, Garret.”

  Garret switched back over to his wing's net, “Listen up, boys and girls, I've got some good and bad news. The bad news is, we are their number one priority and we have no way to escape. The worse news is that Stavros and the other ships are able to withdraw and they're about to leave us behind.”

  “Fuck me,” someone said over the net.

  “Yes, but the good news is that our rounds will be arriving five seconds before the inbound enemy missiles. So if we hit them hard enough, we'll live long enough to guide our own missiles in on those bastards.” Their only other option was to ditch their Hammers now and hope that the enemy would pick them up. Given the damage they'd done to Nova Corp, he doubted they would be so neighborly. “Now, I'm uploading evasion patterns for right after our rounds go on target, follow those patterns and we should be able to see our missiles in, fifteen seconds later.”

  For a long moment, everyone was silent. Just when he thought that they had decided he was crazy, he heard Abigail's cheerful voice, “Sounds like a good plan, Azure Actual, let's do it.”

  He felt tears prick his eyes at her words. At least he wouldn't have to face Jessica after this. Somehow, that didn't make him feel any better. “Azure Wing, maintain your targets and let's kill some of these bastards.”

  Heller spoke up, “Fighters have shifted priority, half have focused on wounded ships and other half are on us,” her voice was clipped, her accent harsher than normal. That makes sense, Garret thought. The fighters could probably detect the shadow space drives charging. They were trying to take down as many as they could before they escaped while some of them focused on knocking his Hammers out of the fight.

  Garret knew that they were painfully vulnerable. His Hammers flew straight and level as they guided their rounds in, and the enemy fighters focused their fire to bring down one after the other. His people didn't flinch or evade, either, he saw. They flew straight on, guiding their rounds into their targets.

  At last, however, their turn came. The smart rounds drives kicked in and despite the evasion patterns of the enemy ships, at least thirty of the rounds were within range. One of the enemy destroyers vanished as three rounds impacted it while another staggered from a hit on it's bow. Two of the enemy carriers vomited gas and debris as multiple rounds impacted. The lead battlecruiser took at least two hits and the big ship lost power.

  Garret gave a whoop at the damage even as he spun his Hammer up and away. The big, slow craft had heavy armor and good defense screens for its size, but the individual enemy missiles were more than capable of a kill, particularly given the size of their warheads.

  One one thousand, he thought, as his sensors showed the squadron's shadow space drives spinning up. Two one thousand, he saw two more of his Hammers die as the enemy fighters swept in among them. Three one thousand, the rest of the squadron leapt away to shadow space and safety. Four one thousand, an enemy fighter collided with Jude's Hammer and the two ships ripped each other apart. Five one thous–

  A hundred enemy missiles detonated across the formation and Garret's world went black.

  ***

  Chapter V

  Nova Roma

  Chxor Empire

  January 30, 2404

  Demetrius knelt in the shadows a few meters away from the door. His eyes searched for any sign that the Chxor had learned of this meeting and awaited him. The long months of Chxor occupation had taught him a great deal of patience and caution, which was one reason he was still alive while so many others who oppose the Chxor were not.

  At last, though, he slipped out of the shadows and moved to the back door. After a moment he opened the trick lock, without setting off the explosive charge tied to it and then took the stairs down into the dimly lit basement.

  “Demetrius?” a low, familiar voice asked.

  “Hello Paulos,” he replied. Yet he hesitated as he saw several figures behind his long term contact. “I thought I told you it was too risky to bring in people?” The Chxor required identity cards for anyone trying to move through the city. Those lacking a card were arrested, most of them went to a work camp while some considered too dangerous for that were simply executed. Besides, they didn't need more fighting men, they needed more weapons and equipment. He knew that the weapons came from the new Emperor, but that didn't mean he wanted to deal with him any more than necessa
ry.

  “We have valid papers,” a man said as he stepped forward into the light, “so we'll be able to slip around freely. We've been sent to help prepare and train you.”

  Demetrius scowled, “Who says we need anything you can give us?” He didn't like strangers with offers. The government had already failed to defend them, the military too.

  “Because of what we can give you,” the other figure said and stepped forward. Demetrius had his pistol out and aimed even before he saw the gray skin and lumpen features of the Chxor. The Chxor made no hostile move, though, and Demetrius hesitated to fire. If the alien wasn't here alone, the shot might bring others. He looked at Paulos, who held his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. “You need to hear what he has to say, friend.”

  Demetrius jerked his head, “Fine, then.”

  The man spoke, “I am Captain Ramos, Emperor Romulous IV sent us–”

  Demetrius spat, “A pox on Emperor Romulus, and a pox on you. We don't need his help and if he's a filthy Chxor collaborator now...”

  “I am not working for Emperor Romulus,” the Chxor said. “I am Kral, and I am allied with Baron Giovanni, who is helping the Nova Roma Emperor.”

  “You could be working with the Virgin Mary and I still wouldn't...” Demetrius trailed off. “Wait, did you say Baron Lucius Giovanni?” It seemed impossible to believe, why would the Baron work with a Chxor?

  “Yes, he captured me at Faraday over a year ago,” the Chxor said. Demetrius could have been wrong, but he heard the slightest inflection in the Chxor's voice. “He offered me a position on the crew of his ship, the War Shrike. Since then I have worked with him to fight the Chxor Empire.”

  Demetrius's mind raced. If that was true, if Baron Giovanni still lived... This changes everything, he realized, not only is the Baron alive, but he has allies among the Chxor...

  He realized that he had lowered his pistol. “How do I know you're speaking the truth?”

  The Chxor shrugged, “Because of what I can offer you. Passes to secure areas, weapons, and information on patrols and raids that the Chxor will conduct.”

  “How do you have that level of access?” Demetrius demanded. They had bagged a couple of lower-level Chxor officers, but they rarely knew more than general information and they were almost painfully helpful. It almost bothered him that they had to kill them after questioning... until he thought about how many friends and family he had lost in the occupation so far.

  “I am ranked as a Fleet Commander here in the system, so I have access to everything except what Supreme Commander Chxarals keeps to himself,” Kral said.

  Demetrius began to smile, “That's good, that's very good, we can use that...” He trailed off. “Wait, why exactly did the Baron send you if you have an entire fleet at your access?”

  “Because we're coming back,” Captain Ramos said. “We're coming back with an entire fleet of our own and we're going to kick the Chxor Empire's asses right out of the system.”

  Demetrius's smile grew broad, “You know, I like the sound of that.”

  ***

  Faraday Colony

  United Colonies

  January 30, 2404

  Emilee Stark yawned a bit and glanced up as she heard her daughter wimper in her sleep. She smiled slightly as her daughter simply rolled to the side and snuggled up to her stuffed frog. A look over at Baron Giovanni's daughter showed that she, too, was fast asleep.

  That was fortunate, for it had seemed that over the past week the two of them had tag teamed her to the point of exhaustion. While she didn't mind the work as wet nurse and nanny for Baron Giovanni, she wouldn't have minded another set of hands as well. Her smile faded a bit as she thought of her husband, then. Matt had died in the Chxor occupation and a part of her ached that he had never seen his daughter.

  The Baron is taking payment on that from those alien bastards, Emilee thought with dark satis-faction.

  She sighed as she glanced at the time. It would be best if she got some sleep herself, yet the free moment had given her the urge to refresh her knowledge of current events. The new government fascinated her, not least for the fact that she actually had a vote now, unlike under the old government. She wasn't entirely certain about the news from Tehran, about them wanting to sign on with the United Colonies. Her husband had mentioned something to her about them being religious fanatics and that his uncle had been aboard a merchant ship and was killed by pirates from there.

  Still, people could change, she knew. Her life had changed dramatically over the past few months, perhaps the people of Tehran had changed as well. Doesn't hurt to give people a chance, she thought.

  A sound in the outer room of the apartment made her look up. She glanced again at the clock, it was nearly midnight, far too late for the apartment's maid service. “Hello?” she asked. She stood and went to the door, “Is there anyone there?”

  She opened the door, the dark room beyond silent. Probably just hearing things, she thought, I definitely need to get some sleep. She turned away.

  A heartbeat later she felt a pair of strong hands grab her, one hand across her throat and the other around her waist. She tried to scream, but the hand clamped tight around her throat. She struggled and fought, her hands reached back to rake at her attacker's eyes. She heard him grunt and swear, but the hands on her only held tighter.

  Emilee felt her vision begin to fade. She fought more desperately now, not just to escape, but to breathe. Her eyes locked on the two cribs, only a few feet away. My baby, she thought, I have to save my baby... She suddenly remembered what her husband had told her, about being attacked from behind.

  She elbowed her attacker in the sternum and his hands loosened. Emilee tore herself free and stumbled away. “Help!” She screamed at the top of her voice, yet she knew that most of the apartments nearby were empty, the officers gone to the Fleet.

  She reached the cribs and spun, her hand picked up a lamp to swing or throw. Behind her, she saw two other figures had joined her attacker. “This is taking too long,” one of the new ones said, with a glance at her first attacker. “Finish it and lets go.”

  Emilee braced herself, readying to throw the lamp, but her attacker didn't advance. He drew a pistol and before she could do anything, he fired once.

  The shot seemed muffled and Emilee hoped that it had misfired or broken. She threw her lamp. It went true and struck one of the attackers, who seemed surprised enough that he didn't dodge. Emilee felt satisfaction as she saw it shatter on his head and he swayed at the impact.

  Yet she felt an odd coldness spread across her chest. She felt all of her exhaustion catch up to her at once, yet she felt satisfaction. Surely someone had heard. Surely her fighting back had dissuaded her attackers. She was so tired, she would just sit down and sleep. Only for a moment.

  She smiled a bit as she leaned back against her daughter's crib. Her husband would be coming for her soon.

  ***

  Tehran System

  United Colonies

  January 31, 2404

  Lucius looked over the last set of orders one last time before he authorized it and hit send. That done, he had finalized the attack on the Nova Roma system. Weeks earlier, they had started to send the first people. Kral's forces had already arrived at the system and should have begun to make contact with the existing rebel cells, and he carried with him personnel and weapons to seize the key defense stations and platforms. The Emperor had begun to ready his forces and best of all, Reginald, Lucius's psychic associate had informed him earlier in the week that the Shadow Lords and their fleets had withdrawn from their positions near Faraday. That meant that Lucius didn't need the Emperor's fleet to protect Faraday... he could release him to a more active role.

  The withdrawal of the Shadow Lords renewed Lucius's hopes. While one of them, at least, seemed inclined to leave Lucius be, the other four seemed determined to either absorb the United Colonies or destroy them. They had lingered in shadow space, waiting for the opportunity to pounce for mont
hs, held by their secret peace accord with Emperor Romulus I that prevented them from attacking any Nova Roma forces unprovoked. By Lucius's best estimates, they must have run their supplies and fuel to the thinnest of margins to stay as long as they did. Given the embarrassment of being foiled by their own agreements, Lucius couldn't discount the possibility that they would return, but he also knew that they would need weeks, if not longer, to fully restock.

  Lucius would use that window of opportunity to strike the Chxor and hopefully win the war. If he was successful, he could reposition the United Colonies fleet and hold strong against any potential attacks by the Shadow Lords, the Chxor, or whoever else might attack. Emperor Romulus IV will be in position within six weeks, Lucius thought, the Chxor will move on him within a couple weeks after that. All he needed was two months and he could win the war.

  For the first time in decades, Lucius felt that there was finally a solid chance at not just winning this war, but a lasting peace.

  His comm chimed and he frowned as he glanced at the time. What could have happened, he wondered as he answered it, “Yes?”

  “Baron,” Ensign Konetsky's voice was nervous. “I have a priority message for you from Faraday. It's from the head of the Federal Investigation Bureau. She sent it encrypted, but I've got it decoded for you.”

  Lucius arched an eyebrow, “Well? What is it?”

  “One moment, sir,” She said.

  A moment later, Alicia Nix's face appeared. She looked haggard and tired, “Baron Giovanni, I...” she trailed off, “I'm afraid to report that someone has kidnapped your daughter. I'm sending this message right before I go to find out details, but at this time, it looks like they killed your nanny, Emilee Stark and that they took both your daughter and hers.”