by Lee Watts
Two squad members crossed to Marcus' side of the intersection. A third man darted to join them but was hit with a barrage of deadly red beams. There were survivors of the grenade blast, and they were angry.
Committing every resource to the battle, Admiral Qil'Donan ordered his ship, and the three remaining capital class ships of his assault force, to approach the asteroid ring and engage the Remnant forces at point-blank range. The captain of the carrier Megalaeto protested by saying his ship needed to stay clear of the battle so the starfighters could land and re-launch without facing hostile fire. His protest was duly noted then he was promptly relieved of command. Replacing the captain, the carrier's first officer dutifully complied with the order to engage.
Alexander groaned as the floating display showed the four large vessels drawing nearer. The sergeant at the sensor station in the control room reported on enemy movements.
"Sire, the Ramillie are getting closer. We may need to evacuate or-"
Colonel Veltri cut him off.
"Those ships are still too far out to target us."
"It's not the capital ships that may make us leave, Sir. It's the Ramillie troops in the tower. Master Sergeant Gibson's team reported engaging a group on level three, but the security cameras went down a minute ago. The last thing I saw was six different groups; one seemed on its way here."
Colonel Veltri walked to the room's weapon's locker removing the rifles there. He issued one to each person in the control room who either leaned it against their workstation or slung it across their back, except Merrick. He kept the weapon at the ready, switching it to fully automatic.
Going back to the HPT, Veltri spoke to the Prince.
"Sire, what about those four capital ships? Are they close enough yet?"
Eyes fixed on the map, Alexander shook his head. He spoke to the holographic display as if coaxing the ships closer.
"A little more - just a little more."
As the Deinodon, Megalaeto and two cruisers edged closer, their tractor beams reversed their polarity and moved blocking asteroids out of the way as their heavy guns came to bear against the defenders.
"They're not only adding fire, but they're also clearing a path to get in," Alexander realized.
"With their guns, they'll wipe out the troops quickly," added Veltri. "If they can use their main cannons on the habitation areas, we're done for."
Alexander knew Veltri was right, but if he tipped their hand too quickly, he might lose their only chance of destroying those ships and saving The Remnant.
"Are the freighters in position?" Alexander asked.
The colonel checked the map.
"Yes, Sire. Standing-by."
Alexander wanted more time before springing his trap, but to have it would cost lives. His mind raced while pondering the same no-win equation every battlefield commander faces - Spend lives to save lives. Where's the balance? Where's the balance?
Only a few dozen meters down the hall from where Marcus' team was engaging Ramillie troops, the civilians were able to hear the intense weapons fire even through their thick, barricaded door. Jaiden was among those civilians.
"Sergeant VanAllen," Jaiden asked, "has anybody considered that all the laserfire is going to cause the tizanite in the rock to reach its flash point? If that happens then, this whole place will turn into a miniature sun."
Tia nonchalantly brushed some of her long, red bangs to the side of her face. At twenty-seven, she was more hardened to combat than she should've been. She shrugged off the concern.
"No worries, the whole reason they chose this rock to build on is because it's mined out. There's hardly a speck of tizanite left in this whole asteroid."
The words had barely left her mouth when a wayward grenade from the near-by battle detonated right outside of where the group was taking shelter. The blast hit full force against door ripping through the metal and causing chunks of rock to fall from the ceiling. The shockwave punched into Jaiden, sending him flying across the room and crashing into a stack of metal crates. Civilians screamed, and Tia ducked and covered her head as debris flew and rocks fell.
***
In the operations control room, Alexander huffed in frustration. He wanted to wait until the capital ships were closer, but Qil'Donan's move was forcing his hand. He decided he would rather act too soon than too late.
"We can't wait for the perfect shot. Activate the shuttles."
"Yes, Sir," Grant answered.
In the hangar bay, remote pilots guided the shuttles out of the bay and into space. Alexander studied the map seeing which capital ship posed the greatest threat. He desperately wanted to take out the battleship, but it was still the most distant of the group. Denying his desires, and with clenched teeth, he ordered a third of the shuttles to target the carrier.
As the Megalaeto penetrated the asteroid ring, its many guns gushed waves of crimson energy at the surrounding rocks and defenders. Infantry rifles, even combined, were no match for the carrier's shields. In a new tactic, six troops ignited their thrusters to full power and speedily weaved their way through the boulders toward the approaching craft. The group flew with seemingly random quick turns trying to dodge the barrage of enemy fire. After launching their longbows at the last second, they veered off.
The newly promoted commander of the carrier was warned of the incoming missiles, but before he could take any action, they impacted against the defensive screens. For a moment the shield's power level dropped sharply, but within seconds it started to climb again.
"How many of those things would it take to collapse our shields?" asked the concerned new captain of the Megalaeto.
The weapons officer speculated. "One at a time we can absorb them all day, but if they concentrated fire, I'd say it would take thirty or more to break through the shields."
Pleased with the news, the new captain confidently leaned back in the ship's command chair while sneering at the tactic.
"I doubt they can coordinate that kind of an assault," he smirked. "Continue ahead. Fire at will." He watched the battle unfold out the large windows of his bridge. He liked the thought of that, his bridge. To his left, enemy troops were falling to his ship's relentless battery of cannon fire. In front of him, obstructing asteroids were being destroyed or tractored out of the way, and to his right, a group of small shuttles was on a collision course with his ship. Doing a double take, he peered at the approaching vessels. In the dark of space, he couldn't make them out clearly.
"What's that to starboard?"
"Just some shuttles, Sir. We're not detecting any weapons."
Disgusted with the crew's incompetence, the captain shouted orders.
"They're going to ram! Unarmed or not, I don't want them to hit us. Target them, and take them out!"
Small but swift, the shuttles sped toward the Ramillie carrier. Cannons of the Megalaeto spat red bolts at all of the charging vessels. Not intended to withstand weapons fire, it took only one or two high-powered shots to blow the shuttles apart. Shovel crews had stuffed tizanite to the brim of each shuttle. When a shuttle was destroyed, the explosion ignited the rocks and momentum kept the boulders plunging toward the carrier. Like hard driving rain, the burning stones pelted the Ramillie shields. The ship's commander looked out and saw hundreds of burning chunks coming at him like a hailstorm.
"FIRE! FIRE," he screamed. But the more energy the Ramillie weapons poured into the fiery tizanite stones, the brighter they burned. Within moments the Megalaeto's shields collapsed, and the rocks pounded into the carrier's naked hull.
Damage control teams rushed to the impacted parts of the ship trying to limit the damage. Wounded but not eliminated, the cruiser continued its assault. Its captain stared in hatred upon seeing a second wave of approaching shuttles.
"INCOMING," a crewman shouted.
Gunners on the warship instinctively targeted and destroyed the fast-charging shuttles, but their weapons were useless against the waves of brimstone that emerged and punched into t
he already defenseless vessel. Tilting awkwardly, the Megalaeto began to list. Its guns fell silent, and sparks spewed randomly in and from the dying ship. Almost entirely inverted from its original position, gravity went off-line then the carrier detonated in a massive, bulging explosion. Power from the ship's destruction ignited many of the surrounding asteroids, effectively blocking that pathway into the ring. Enraged at the destruction of another ship, Qil'Donan stood.
"INCREASE FIRE," he shouted. "I WANT THESE PEOPLE DESTROYED!"
The Deinodon plunged into the asteroid ring with guns blazing. Having many times the firepower of a carrier, the battleship tore through the outmatched defenders. When a crewman reported a group of shuttles on a collision course, Qil'Donan, learning from the Megalaeto's mistake, ordered all guns to hold their fire. At maximum velocity, the shuttles slammed into the mighty shields of the Deinodon and then, harmlessly bounced off. Control relays crushed or completely shorted out, the remote systems of the shuttles were destroyed. Inertia carried the shuttles harmlessly away from the battleship, which then resumed its charge and attack.
"Fire at will," Qil'Donan ordered. "Head for the control tower. I want that banner down!"
Penetrating deep into the ring, the main cannons of the Deinodon, at last, got a clear shot at the first of the inhabited asteroids. Surging red beams of energy mercilessly washed over the secondary asteroid, slicing off huge chunks. Internal explosions and collapsing tunnels intensified the damage and quickened the asteroid's destruction. Terrified civilians ran through the maze of passageways in vain attempts to find better shelter, but there was none. Buried under collapsing rocks, burned by Ramillie laserfire, or exposed to space, death came to each person in the doomed rock. Unrelenting, even when the boulder broke apart, the Deinodon continued pouring deadly beams into the fragments. At last, with all possibility of life expunged, the Deinodon hunted for new prey.
Floating dead in space, the charred remains of the asteroid, and hundreds of exposed bodies of men, women, and children, hung like grotesque hunting trophies before Qil'Donan's ship. He hated the Elderites. He hated what they thought, what they believed, how they lived, everything about them. Even looking at their slain bodies, the very sight of them made his blood boil. Unable to slake his desire to personally strangle the life out of each rebel, he clenched his rage-trembling fist.
Several other inhabited asteroids remained, and he would relish the slaughter of each person there. For the time being, what he desired most was the destruction of the control tower and its confounded, defiant banner.
"Kill them all," growled the admiral. "Kill them all."
CHAPTER 39
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." - Ephesians 6:12
Hector Silvanus, and the other civilians watched in horror as the adjacent habitation asteroid was carved into lifeless pebbles. The room erupted in gasps, wails, and desperate prayers following the extermination of their fellow believers, friends, and family.
"Oh, Mr. Silvanus," came the trembling voice at his side.
Hector looked down and saw one of the students of his former school, whose parents were killed during the escape from Theera.
"My Dear Boy," he spoke tenderly to the nine-year-old. "Be brave, we are in the Elder's hand."
"But, those people… weren't they protected by the Elder too?"
"All who've dedicated themselves to the Elder are held by him, and at times he allows bad things to happen, and good people die. There's no guarantee we'll make it through this, but don't despair, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Elder."
"But… I don't want to die. I'm just a kid. It's not fair."
"No, no it's not fair. These are dark times, and I wish I could do something more for you, for the others, for myself."
"I wish I was old enough to be out there, a warrior like the soldiers."
"You can be."
The boy looked at him in puzzlement, so Hector explained.
"There is more than one way to fight. There's more to this battle than what's going on out there with lasers and ships. This is a fight between good and evil, a struggle against the spiritual forces seeking to condemn mankind along with them, and usher in an age under their control. But we can fight them, resist them in their realm."
"How?"
"Pray. Prayer warriors are warriors too. Pray with me."
The boy bowed his head, and the two entreated the Elder to fight for them, and He did.
***
Deep in the tunnels of the control asteroid, debris finally stopped falling on Sergeant Tia VanAllen. She uncovered her head and looked to survey the damage the grenade caused. Sounds of laserfire from the intense battle down the hall echoed off the walls of stone. Dust filled the room and Tia's lungs, she coughed then called out.
"Everyone alright? Is anyone hurt?"
Jaiden, who had slammed his back against the far wall, was now on the floor trying to recover his breath. Except for the gasping, and a few minor scrapes from falling rocks he was otherwise fine. The rest of the civilians were unharmed but mentally were not faring nearly so well. Vivica was chief among these.
She closed her eyes and put her hands to her temples while repeating a phrase to herself.
"This can't be happening. This can't be happening." Opening her azure eyes, she saw Aulani standing in front of her then repeated her mantra.
"This can't be happening, not to me. I have plans, a future."
She stood, urgency building in her voice.
"No, this is wrong, this doesn't happen to people like me. I've got to get out of here. I can't let them find me in here. They're going to kill everyone. Yes, that's it; I have to leave."
She straightened and did a single brush over her pants as if smoothing the material and in so doing removing the weight of the situation from her. She then walked around the protective cover of the crates. Her nose wrinkled and hands rose in revulsion of the untidy debris.
"Vivica," Aulani called, "don't go. It's not safe. We need to stay together."
Vivica turned and shot the other woman a look. After a brief moment, she turned her head back and continued marching to the door. Tia squared her shoulders, obstructing the exit.
Vivica was in no mood for it, and pausing between each word she tight-lipped spoke to the redhead.
"Out- of- my- way."
The Marine grabbed the rifle slung across her back and pulled it in front of her. Vivica stopped. They locked eyes; each woman was defiant and strong-willed. Eventually, Tia broke the silent standoff.
"Now look, she's right, we need to stay together, but…" she was loath to speak the next words, "you're also right. We can't stay here."
She looked beyond Vivica to address the group.
"Listen, everybody, the battle's too close. We're leaving. Everybody up. Help those who need it. I'm moving you to a safer location."
She put on her helmet and ventured a look down the hall. There was too much dust to see clearly, but blue and red light illuminating the clouds let her know at least the defenders were still there. Aulani extended a hand to her brother who took it and stood. They each helped the older people and children to get off the floor and ready to move.
Aulani noticed a frightened six-year-old girl clinging to her mother's leg. Her mind flashed with the memory of herself as a frightened child when the pirates raided the Morningstar. Her heart broke for the youngster. She went over and crouched down to be at the same height as the girl.
Tears streaked the little one's face, and she pressed a check tightly against her mother's leg. Aulani gently put her hand to the side of the girl's face and used her thumb to wipe away a tear.
"Don't cry, don't cry," Aulani softly comforted. "It's going to be okay. We're going to go someplace safe. What's your name?"
The child sniffed and answered in a quivering voice just above a whisper,
"H- Hannah. Hannah Kovacs."
Aulani smiled tenderly at her.
"I see your mom's here. Where's your dad?"
"He's out there. He said he wasn't going to let anybody get us."
"Well, Hannah, he's right; we aren't going to let anything happen to you. You stick close to your mom okay. Will you do that for me?"
The girl nodded. Seeing as how no power in the universe could make the child let go of her mother, she eagerly agreed to stay close. Aulani did a gentle stroke over the side of Hannah's face and swore to herself she wouldn't allow this little girl to go through the suffering she had. Determined she was going to do more than merely be a bystander, Aulani rose and walked over to the body of the dead soldier. She pulled his rifle from the rubble and the pistol from his holster.
"Jaiden," she called out tossing the pistol to him. Also tired of being an observer, he caught the weapon and nodded to her as he readied his grip. His sister returned the gesture and switched her gun to full automatic then checked the charge, full power.
Turning from a quick look at the battle down the hall, Tia saw a fiery-spirited, armed Aulani standing behind her and a group of wide-eyed, trusting civilians ready to move. Tia didn't consider the other woman a civilian at that moment; no, she was a fighter. Tia smiled, having found a kindred spirit. She examined the group, and though she didn't know anything about the teenager with the pistol, he seemed confident enough to help out. Fear and doubt crossed the rest of the faces of the group, with one notable exception, Vivica.
"Okay people, let's move," Tia instructed and darted out of the room, the trusting group following.
