Orchestra of Shadows

by Charles Nall

  “I'm not religious,” said the doctor.

  “Go ahead and pray. If no one hears your prayer, nothing happens. But even if there's the slightest chance your prayer will be heard and then answered, it's worth a shot.” Cinderflake smiled. “Prayer is always worth a shot.”

  The Galactic Union forces came around on the assault again. The forces slammed into one another; explosions engulfed the warships. Both warship forces continued around Diana in parallel, firing between both sides. Many rounds that were not making their mark were becoming either space debris or bombs that detonated on the surface of Diana.

  Iphigenia placed itself in front of the damaged Agamemnon. Iphigenia took the brunt of the weapon fire from the enemy.

  Iriguchi was moderately damaged. It wasn't meant for fighting. The hypership was trying to hide behind the Confederate cruisers.

  Rapture tried its best to stay out of the line of fire, blasting any Confederate fighters that they could without retaliation.

  Madcat-2 continued destroying fighters and corvettes that were trying to keep the shielding and weaponry down of the Galactic Union.

  Iphigenia fired its side thrusters and slowly turned to its side, still moving forward. Iphigenia unloaded its four coil cannons. Two of the slugs hit their mark, slicing through the Confederate destroyers Takanami and Yukikaze. Takanami lost power and started to drift toward the Yatagarasu. Any shields that were still up were quickly disabled as the generators were overwhelmed by the collision. Takanami and Yatagarasu started to break into each other as they collided. Yatagarasu exploded, obliterating Takanami and ripping through the rest of the Confederate forces. Many fighters were destroyed on both sides in the explosion. The huge explosion knocked the Confederate cruiser Futen on its side, however this allowed Futen to line up its forward coil cannons and mass drivers and unload on the Galactic Union ships. The warships continued their twisted ballet.

  A mass driver round impacted Freedom. The slug pierced through the hull and went straight down into the bridge and continued through the ship. Shards of metal burst from the ceiling of the bridge. However, the slug did not cause an exit wound out the other side of the destroyer. Air started getting sucked out of the room from the hole in the ceiling, but it stopped as soon as it started. Debris must have clogged the hull breach further up.

  “Damage report!” called out Captain Devereaux.

  Lieutenant Knight answered, “Major damage across the upper decks. Fires are raging on Deck Five. Many weapon systems are disabled. We had a round pierce through the bridge, all forward decks are damaged.”

  “The damage control teams are working the best they can. They cannot keep pace,” Commander Freeman said.

  “Captain!” Skyrift exclaimed as she motioned to Draeden’s station.

  Lieutenant Draeden was on the floor in front of his station, clutching his chest. He tried to stand up. Blood was pooling under him.

  Devereaux ran to Draeden's side. “Son, are you okay? Lieutenant Draeden?”

  Draeden moved his hand, revealing a grievous wound. A shard of metal had went through his chest. Blood was pouring onto the floor.

  “Am I going to–die?” Draeden coughed up blood.

  “No, of course not,” assured the captain.

  “I... I will get to see–my new baby? Right? I–”

  “Yes, of course.” Devereaux fought back tears. “I remember, you were going to go on leave in a few weeks to see your family. You will still be able to do it. Someone get him out of my bridge, please. Get him to the sickbay.”

  Freeman shook her head. “He's gone, Captain.”

  Devereaux roared, “I know! I know that! I don't want him bleeding all over my bridge! ...Don’t let him die here.”

  Several crew members ran up and dragged Draeden's body away, trailing a river of blood.

  Devereaux roared, “Let's take these bastards out! For Lieutenant Draeden! Unleash everything we have, dammit! Everything!”

  The Freedom launched two coil cannon slugs from its forward cannons. One slug missed, but the other ripped through the bow of the Confederate cruiser Raijin, causing the entire ship to go into a vertical spin from the force of the impact. Explosions rippled across the cruiser. Raijin began to unravel like a dandelion in harsh wind.

  Freedom lurched again from weapon fire. Crew members were knocked about as another explosion detonated in the ship.

  The sickbay of Freedom went dark. Emergency lighting dimly lit the area.

  Lieutenant Ashara Cinderflake called out to her staff, “Take as many patients as you can to the hangar bay. We'll find anything that can fly and get them off of this ship.”

  “We can't take them all.”

  “We're going to make return trips. Take the ones we can save first! It's too dangerous to stay here.”

  “It’s too dangerous to go there! What if the hangar bay is exposed to space?”

  “We pray that the energy shields are still functioning over the hangar access,” Cinderflake said. She kept her composure, even in the chaos.

  The Galactic Union destroyer Callisto took a direct hit. A mass driver round tore through a reactor, causing the destroyer to lose main power. The ship’s backup power systems were already compromised. Callisto retained its forward momentum, however it drifted toward Diana as weapon fire impacted the upper hull. Callisto would eventually impact the planet. Evacuation pods were launched.

  The Galactic Union forces again slowed. The smoking Callisto continued falling toward the planet. The Orion Confederation forces slowed and stopped about four thousand kilometers away.

  “Getting a link request from Orion forces,” Lieutenant Ember Skyrift said. She started to cough.

  “Overlay it,” Captain John Devereaux said.

  “Damage report,” Commander Serafina Freeman said.

  Lieutenant Jaxon Knight sighed.“It's–It's bad. We're heavily damaged. Iphigenia and Agamemnon are moderately damaged. We lost every other warship. We lost half of our fighters.”

  “My god,” Devereaux said.

  “It looks like the mercenary corvettes are still with us. For now.”

  Now-captain Koizumi appeared on the link. The bridge of Iriguchi was no longer clean. Broken plating and wires were strewn about. A bent beam had fallen across the bridge. Koizumi had crazy eyes. “Hello Galactic Union. Prepare to die.”

  “Let's stop this. Too many have died! One on my bridge, but a tremendous number across the battlefield—on both sides. Show compassion,” Devereaux said. “There is no reason to continue.”

  “Yes there is. I'm–I'm confused. Aren't you on my side?” Koizumi said as he aimed at the viewscreen with his sidearm.

  “What do you mean?” Devereaux said as he clutched his bleeding nose.

  “No matter. This ends now!” Koizumi yelled.

  There were only three warships left on the Galactic Union side. Rapture was extremely damaged. The remaining Confederate warships passed over the Galactic Union forces with weaponry blazing. Mass driver rounds and cannon fire impacted all across the Galactic Union warships. The Galactic Union responded with their own fire. Futen, the remaining Confederate cruiser launched its entire payload of torpedoes.

  Trevor relayed the information on his display. “Torpedoes incoming toward the friendly warships!”

  “A barrage of that magnitude could be enough to take the warships out,” Sharon said.

  “We have to try our best to knock them out, no other fighters are within firing range. Elijah, lock and load!”

  Elijah tapped on his console. “Captain, we barely have enough power to do that! I can only get one rotary cannon to respond.”

  “Then use it!” Sharon yelled.

  The battered Rapture sped above the upper hulls of the Galactic Union warships. Elijah fired at the torpedoes with the single active rotary cannon. Each torpedo exploded in succession above Rapture, as the explosive radius approached closer and closer to Rapture. The last torpedo detonated before impacting the hull of the flags
hip. However, the final explosion was too close and knocked Rapture into the hull of Agamemnon. Rapture groaned as it skid across the metal plating, before finally coming to rest after it ran into a disabled shield generator. The lights and consoles on the corvette went dark.

  The crew of Rapture straightened back up in their seats after the rocky ride. The bridge was dark. Bits of metal and debris floated in zero gravity.

  “I guess we still have life support?” Sharon said. “Consoles are all dead.” She pat her console. “Oh, poor Rapture. I'm sorry, girl.”

  “No major hull breaches, it seems. The bridge looks safe for now. I wouldn't go anywhere else,” Arnold said. “We may have to sit the rest of this out.”

  Jacob squinted and looked through the bridge's forward window. “What's going on out there?”

  A huge flash of light bathed the bridge of Rapture.

  “Something just blew up,” Trevor said. “Holy shit.”

  The enemy cruiser Futen exploded after taking heavy mass driver fire from the two Judgment-class heavy cruisers. The shrapnel impacted Yukikaze which was already damaged. Yukikaze also erupted into fiery metallic shards. The Confederate destroyer Akisame turned back toward the Union forces and unloaded everything it could. Vengeance for its brethren.

  Iphigenia was impacted by torpedoes and mass driver slugs. The heavy cruiser exploded, rocking all the other remaining warships of the Galactic Union, but not before unleashing a barrage of fire that pierced through the Akisame, utterly destroying it.

  The huge explosion of Iphigenia knocked out the reactor systems of both Freedom and Agamemnon. The heavily damaged Freedom drifted near the flagship. Only one moderately damaged ship remained in the Confederate forces: Iriguchi.

  The fighters dispersed from the area, another warship could flare into an explosion at any moment. Madcat-2 chased and fired upon any retreating enemy fighters.

  “Get off of me! I can't shake this corvette!” shouted Python. It was his last words. A mass driver round went right through the Kitsune and Python himself. The cockpit glass was painted red with a spray of blood. The fighter tumbled in silence.

  The Galactic Union warships were disabled. Iriguchi slowly drifted eighteen thousand kilometers away from the disabled warships.

  The disheveled Koizumi stared at the landscape of battle. Space debris covered the entire arena. “All our ships...”

  “Sir, I suggest we just jump away. Once they regain power they can easily take us out.”

  Koizumi growled, “No. We must end this.”

  “We don't have any major weapon systems. We can't take their remaining ships on.”

  “We do have one powerful weapon. Ensign Sato, overload the hyper-drive.”

  “Sir?”

  “Set a course for Agamemnon. Ramming speed.”

  “... Sir?”

  Koizumi walked up to the ensign and placed the gun to his head. Several crew members started running out of the bridge, abandoning ship.

  “Ensign. You choose your fate. Bullet to the head, or a glorious explosion to bring peace.”

  “Sir... I can't do this. We need to–”

  Koizumi fired his weapon. He then dragged the body out of the chair.

  “Oh this is such a mess.” Koizumi began tapping on the console. He aimed his sidearm at a panicked crew member that had not yet bolted out of the bridge. “No, Ensign Miyamoto. You get to stay and help me. We are ending this.”

  “You’ve gone mad! I’m getting out of–!”

  Miyamoto could not finish what he was saying. A bullet from Koizumi’s weapon struck Miyamoto in the head.

  “Have to do everything myself,” Koizumi grumbled.

  Iriguchi started to move toward Agamemnon at full burn.

  Devereaux woke up. He slowly stood up in the bridge. Some crew members were using extinguishers on fires on the bridge. Metal plates rested on the floor. He heard a ringing noise. He was bleeding from somewhere, he wasn't sure where. Luckily the creature inside of him was not at odds with him at the moment. He wasn't bleeding from his nose or mouth.

  He had talked to Regent Drake Mabus earlier. He remembered the conversation. He was going to try his best to get Akeldamas sent to the brig. That went better than expected. After Akeldamas was sent to the brig, he would perform as a typical captain of the Union. Mabus had chosen Devereaux as Akeldamas' replacement. Devereaux didn't have to kill the President, the Confederates would deal with that. It appeared that the Regent made a mistake. The President, for now, was safe.

  The power was slowly coming back to the bridge. He looked around. Commander Freeman was barking orders. His ears rang. He couldn't hear what she was saying.

  Once power returns, should I finish what was started? Should Freedom fire upon Agamemnon and end this?

  Mabus told me not to worry about it.

  He expected the Confederate forces to easily win.

  I'm supposed to act like a captain of the Union. I should protect the President.

  No, I shouldn't. The ultimate goal must be completed.

  The master trusts me. More than Akeldamas. I will become his second in command, even if the President lives.

  No. I can't. Destroy him.

  I will save him to the best of my ability.

  Then you will feel pain.

  Oshiro fought it. I can also fight it.

  You cannot fight us.

  I will try.

  I am weak, I can't do this.

  I am strong, I can do this.

  Devereaux looked out toward the bridge. The ringing stopped.

  “Sirs, auxiliary thrusters are back online,” Knight said. “Other systems are slowly coming back online. This will take a lot of work. We almost have main engines back online.”

  “What hit us?!” Freeman asked.

  Knight tapped on his flickering console. “Iphigenia's hyper-drive went critical. It caused a tremendous nuclear explosion. The electromagnetic pulse knocked out everything around it.”

  “Oh Terra! Iriguchi! It's on a collision course with Agamemnon. Her engines are still busted, she can’t move away!” Skyrift said in horror.

  Devereaux called out to the bridge as his nose began to bleed, “This–this may be my last command.” He started to cough up blood. “Get those engines running, Knight.”

  Knight called out, “Yes, sir! Just a few more seconds!”

  Freeman ran up to Devereaux. “Captain are you okay? We need to get you to the sickbay!”

  “No, I'm fine. Target Agamemnon. We. No. NO!” He tried to regain his composure. “Set a course to intercept. Block Iriguchi's path.”

  “Sir?”

  “We have to.” Devereaux clutched his mouth.

  I win.

  This time. But at what cost?

  Freedom moved between Agamemnon and Iriguchi. The hypership rammed into the side of Freedom. Twisted metal erupted from the collision. The hypership buried itself into the center of the destroyer. The entangled wreckage of ships continued toward Agamemnon. Agamemnon regained power and its shield generators came back online. The entwined wreck of Freedom and Iriguchi crashed into the energy shields. Arcs of electricity flared all around. The entangled mess of nearly three million metric tons impacted the side of Agamemnon. However, the wreckage did not completely breach the hull as the momentum of the entangled wreck of Iriguchi and Freedom slowed from the collision.

  Iriguchi shook with intensity as the collision unfolded. Lights and displays went dark across the ship.

  Slade sat in the middle of a cell in Iriguchi's brig. His face was stained with dried blood. He closed his eyes and accepted fate. “I'm sorry.”

  The bridge of Iriguchi was bathed in carnage. Every crew member had either escaped or had been killed. Most of the crew members that were killed were murdered by Koizumi and not the Galactic Union. Everything trembled. Yamato Koizumi laid his head down on the console. “That ship blocked our path. I... may have failed. But... I won't have to deal with you anymore. Finally. Peace.”


  A huge explosion emanated from the hypership. Iriguchi was annihilated. Freedom split in half from the explosion. Both halves of what was left of the destroyer were launched away from the force of the explosion in opposite directions. Agamemnon shuddered from the explosion, but remained structurally sound for the most part. The impacted hull of Agamemnon was black and twisted. Rapture was knocked loose from the top of the heavy cruiser due to the force of the explosion.

  “We just got forced off the top of the President's ship. There was a huge explosion,” Arnold said.

  “Are we still in one piece?” Jacob asked.

  “Rapture is trying her best to hold together,” Sharon said. “Agamemnon survived the blast. It probably would not have if the destroyer did not take the brunt of the explosion.”

  “Holy shit,” Trevor said.

  Devereaux opened his eyes. He had blacked out again. He heard warning sirens, explosions, shouting crew members. Everything was chaos. Cinders floated in the air. He realized he was floating in zero gravity. His ship was falling apart. It would not last much longer.

  “She split in half! Freedom was split in half! We have to get out of here! The weapon caches will go up at any second! Everyone to the escape pods! We lost enough life! Get out!” yelled Lieutenant Commander Ember Skyrift. “She's gone!”

  Devereaux looked down. Commander Sera Freeman was struggling. Droplets of blood surrounded her. A falling beam had crushed her lower half. The beam was buried into the floor.

  “Sera!” Devereaux floated down to her side.

  “I'm–I'm done.”

  “Sera... I'm sorry.”

  “You did what you had to do. What–you had to do. You have to get out of here.”

  “Not without you.”

  “I can't, can't feel my legs. I can't–”

  He tried to lift the broken beam. It did not budge.

  “John. Get out. Just get out. Please.”

  “No! The captain goes down with his ship!” He kept trying to lift the beam. “And I'm getting you out of here!”

  Skyrift called out to the remaining crew in the bridge, “Everyone get out! The hull around the bridge is starting to buckle. Not many escape pods are left! Abandon ship!” Skyrift rushed out of the bridge.