We received a hail, “Mr. Grange. The Dakar and the Prassi have come to an agreement. Both species have relayed to us their mistrust of your intentions. They have asked us to come in as a broker to negotiate a peaceful surrender of your fleet. Please do not be alarmed as you will all be treated in a fair and civil manner.”
I turned to the Colonel, “This was not what I was expecting Colonel. We defeat one enemy just to make three more? And the Durians, they continue to show the influence they have over these species. I think things may have just gone from bad to worse.”
The Colonel replied, “Looks like we will have to fight our way out of here. They are not interested in any peaceful relationship. We just rolled out of one war and into another.”
The Colonel turned to his staff and began barking orders.
I spoke to the Admiral’s second in command, Captain David Harding, “What’s the status of our fleet?”
Harding replied, “We have 82 ships with critical armor damage, another 256 with mid-level problems and 873 that have minor issues at a minimum. That leaves 1,986 that are fully prepared to fight, but most of those are Hawks. They pack a punch, but their armor becomes easily overwhelmed because any hits they may take are in a concentrated area.”
I let out a long sigh, “Let’s pull the vulnerable ships into the middle of the fleet. Admiral, what are our options?”
The Admiral replied, “Those Prassi ships are the best bet. I think we just have to make our own path straight through them. We will take some losses, but if those Durians join in we are going to be in for a real beating. Give me the word and I’ll start the action.”
I turned and paced the deck for several seconds. We were trapped, but we had to take immediate action if we wanted to survive. I gave the order for the Admiral to proceed.
“This is Admiral Zimmerman on the Slaughter! We are going to cut a path through the middle of those Prassi ships out there. Every man needs to give it their all if we are going to survive this. I’m going to need you to dig down deep in your gut for one more nearly impossible effort. Automated targeting is coming online now. Just follow my lead.”
When the Slaughter’s bridge staff was in place the Colonel gave the order to proceed. The Slaughter was the first to move and it brought an immediate response from the Prassi. Ten thousand missiles were launched in the Slaughter’s direction.
The Colonel turned towards me. “You might want to get back to the Swift Don. We are going to need every ship on the line for this. See Lieutenant Reeves when you get to the docks, he may be able to round up an engineer for you. Gunners! Let your automated systems do the work on those missiles! Don’t take control unless a hit is imminent!”
The Colonel was in his element. Commanding men in battle was what he did best. I continued to be intimidated by his booming voice as I left the bridge, but a booming voice would not stop the incoming Prassi missiles.
When I arrived at the launch deck Lieutenant Reeves had a volunteer engineer at the ready, “My name is Piston Sir. I haven’t flown, but I fire a mean cannon in the simulators. I can’t promise you much Sir, but I will give it my best.”
I shook Piston���s hand as we boarded the Swift, “Glad to have your help Piston. Just follow my lead on targeting and we will see if we can make it out of this fracas alive. The Prassi can hurt us. If those Durians join the fight I think we may have trouble surviving. And put your helmet on now and close the face-shield as we may be taking some hard hits.”
A nervous Piston sat at the engineering console.
Before I had a chance to ask he had the generators online and powering up. “Are we going to use the Yacabucci Sir? I would think it might provide a little extra confusion for the Prassi on our way out. I don’t think they have shielding for it.”
I got on the comm to all ships, “This is Grange, I want all ships turning on their ion web generators and setting them to a 10 degree beam width. It might just be the thing that springs us free!”
Only seconds passed before we were out of the Slaughter’s landing bay and into the fight. A handful of ships had their web generators online and the Prassi were showing signs of the negative ion field taking effect.
As we accelerated through the Prassi fleet the Dakar followed after. A dozen Hawks in close proximity had taken multiple hits and had gone offline. As the Dakar ships approached their positions the brave and heroic pilots detonated the self-destruct sequences on their ships. The Dakar would not have our technology, the trapped pilots saw to it.
We managed to slip through the Prassi fleet with a minimum of damage. Only a handful of missiles had impacted a few of our ship’s hulls and the damage had been light.
Once on the other side of the Prassi I gave the next order, “Everyone set a waypoint to the Gliriev nebula. If we can make it there we should have an advantage. Until then, we cannot let our ships fall into the hands of the Durians.”
The Gliriev was a small negative ion nebula that was only 2.5 light years from our position. It held what I believed was our only avenue for an escape, but we could not outrun the Durians any more than the Dakar or Prassi could outrun us. If the Durians so desired, they would catch us well before we could take cover. The trip would take nearly three days.
I turned towards Piston, “Good call on the ion web usage.”
Piston replied, “I don’t know why you don’t use them more often Sir. They seem to be effective.”
I responded, “They are effective, but the more they are used the more likely the enemy will figure out how to defeat it. Also, Yacabucci let us in on a little secret. With each use, the ion flow of each generator gets a tiny bit weaker. The more it’s used the less useable it becomes.”
As we pulled away from the Prassi fleet the Colonel ordered several hundred ion bombs to be deployed in our wake. Proximity fuses had been set to detonate when any ship came within range of its effectiveness. While the strategy would work on only a limited number of ships, we hoped it would add to the Prassi’s confusion.
On the bridge of the Slaughter, Major Ham Foxly addressed the Colonel, “Sir, we have lost contact with the Durian ships. They all disappeared from our sensors. The last known trajectory was moving on a parallel path with our heading.”
The Colonel acknowledged and immediately had me on the comm. “Grange. We think the Durians are going to attempt an end run. We may have played our nebula card too soon. With the minimum we know of their speed advantage they could easily be in front of us in a day.”
I replied, “Let’s adjust our course to five degrees to the left side of that nebula. If they change course we should be able to detect it. Also, let’s flip on our image projectors and at least make them guess our location. I’m showing 182 ships where the projector is damaged. We might just have them head for the Grid. The others may not have interest in the smaller group.”
With the new orders in, our fleet largely disappeared from sensor view. The damaged ships made their turn for the Grid while we continued our run for the nebula. No evidence of the Durians adjusting course was detected. The Dakar and Prassi made the turn, following the damaged ships, but fell further behind.
For the next two days we continued on a course to the nebula. I began to gain hope as we moved within two hours of our potential safe haven. That progress came to a halt as the Durian ships revealed themselves. They were directly in our path. I commanded the fleet to stop and hold our position. The Dakar ships would be just within the range of our weapons.
The Colonel came on the comm. “What do you have in mind Grange? If we try to go through them they are going to rip us apart.”
I replied, “How many negative bombs do we have left? And what are your thoughts on using the ion web against them?”
The Colonel took a moment to answer. “We have 188 of those bombs between all of our ships. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? We attempt to board their ships and go hand to hand? The problem is I don’t know if we can even get through that armor. I would bet by now they�
��ve made upgrades that will block our breach tubes.”
The Colonel continued, “We have 2,800 ships at our disposal including 98 Raiders. They have 42 ships, but each one is much larger than that destroyer we took down. If that one took five hours and two Raider teams, I can’t imagine how long these will take. We also have a limited number of ion bombs at our disposal. So, unless we figure out how to take those ships down in less than an hour, we may be fighting blaster versus blaster. Casualties could be heavy.”
I stood and paced the deck of the Swift. Our options were limited and each new idea that was brought forward was worse than the last.
After a 20 minute standoff I hailed the Durians, “We know you are listening. State your intentions or we will be forced to defend ourselves.”
Several minutes of silence passed before we received a response, “Humans, your time has come. You have been meddling with the species in this sector for too long. Surrender your fleet or suffer a fate worse than death. Our capabilities far outreach what you have shown. You will surrender now, or you will die as our prisoners.”
I replied, “Perhaps we will die, but are you prepared to turn over the technology you enjoy should you be defeated? You used an interesting choice of words in that previous response. You reference what we have shown. I can assure you, we have not revealed all the technology we have available to us.”
The Durian responded, “Your petty attempt at intimidation only draws our ire. Surrender now or die slowly.”
With my bluff failing miserably I once again turned to the Colonel and the Admiral for guidance.
I opened a comm channel. “Any suggestions guys? We have superior numbers, but I don’t like our chances just the same.”
The silence remained for only a second before one of the Colonel’s staffers came online, “Sir! Another 70 Durian ships just uncloaked behind us and those in front are powering their shields at maximum. And Sir, we just got an indication of more ships coming in from our port side… they… they are Milgari Sir!”
The Admiral spoke, “Looks like Frig wasn’t able to finish his delivery. I suggest we all set our self-destructs and prepare for the worst. Those Milgari ships are heading straight for us. They have us in a vice Grange. At this point I would rather fight our way through the 42 Durians.”
I pressed the mic, “How many are there?”
The nav operator on the Slaughter returned a reply. “Sir, there are thousands!”
I again pressed the comm button, “Colonel, if you have anything better to offer, now would be a good time to say it.”
As the Milgari fleet closed on our position a hail came over the comm system, “Nation of Defiant! Your newest ally has arrived! The free Milgari are here to fight in your defense!”
It was Frig! He was closing with nearly 20,000 Milgari warships!
I got on the comm, “You are awesome my friend! Split your ships between those two forces! Colonel, tie in those ships as friendlies and let’s kick a little Durian ass!”
I hailed the Durian fleet, “So, what do you think of our odds now Commander? Not too shabby if I say so myself. Perhaps it is time for the Durians to surrender or die! I am extending this offer only once.”
The comm was silent for over a minute as the Milgari ships joined our formation.
I again hailed the Durians, “Last chance Commander. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, your choice!”
In an instant the Durians revealed their answer, an additional 4,216 Durian warships uncloaked just behind the original 42.
I hit the comm button, “Crap Colonel. I think we need to get to that nebula if we plan to stay alive. Frig! How committed are those Milgari?”
Frig responded, “They will do as I ask of them Sir, the Torrian drug has been completely purged from their systems. As their liberator they have pledged their loyalty to me. What shall we do Sir? Even with this mammoth fleet our odds against the Durians are poor.”
I replied with an order for the Colonel, “Colonel! We are going to bunch up close and punch a hole through that Durian fleet. Fire up every web generator we have, but do not deploy until we are upon them. And with our cannons, target engines only. We will take a beating, but maybe, just maybe, some of us can make it through to that nebula!”
Just as I was about to give the attack order the Colonel’s staffer again came on the comm, “We have more incoming! It’s the Prassi and the Dakar! They will be on us in four minutes!”
I gave the order, “Push forward! Let the targeting computer pic your targets and make every shot count. And Frig, see if you can open wormholes, target their bridges and fire a blaster through there or something. Do anything that can be disruptive!”
Frig replied, “I have weapons Sir, they will be set to auto-fire. I will attempt to keep near your position and draw fire if I can. I have a lot of hits to give with this cruiser Sir. Move in close and we will see if we can get through this.”
I changed positions and flew in a sandwich between the Slaughter and the Injector. Sixteen of the Hawk pilots took positions above and below me, “We have your six and 12 Sir. We’ll do our best to provide cover!”
I replied, “Knock it off! You all need protection as much as I! We are all in this fight together and I expect no special treatment!”
The Hawks remained in position as we approached the 42 Durian ships. The 42 in turn, fled back to the 4,000 plus fleet of ships behind them.
Frig came on the comm, “Sir. I am detecting a strange signature coming from those additional ships. It’s as if… they are projections Sir! Fakes! Target those original 42 as they are projecting images of the other 4,000!”
I replied, “What about the 70 behind us?” Frig responded, “Fakes also Sir! We are up against 42 Durian ships. That is all!”
I flipped on the comm to all ships, “Switch targeting to the original 42 ships only! The rest aren���t real!”
With the Durian masquerade revealed, we drove hard at the 42. In an instant the Durians again disappeared from our screens.
I called out a command, “Fire everything you have at where they were! We might just get lucky and bag a few!”
As we passed through the space the Durians had previously occupied, thousands of ion cannon blasts blanketed the area. There was no indication of any cloaked ships taking fire. The Durians had slipped away.
I let out a sigh of relief. Within minutes we had passed beyond their prior location and were again moving away from the Dakar and Prassi fleets. Their fleets, had stopped the pursuit. With the Durians out of the fight the aggressors were less eager to take on the large Milgari fleet that remained.
With a half hour remaining to the nebula I gave the Frig a new order, “Take the Milgari ships to Barithia, we will meet back with you there. And we are eternally grateful for your assistance!”
I raised the Colonel on the comm, “Colonel. I’m shaking in my combat suit right about now. The adrenaline is going to take a while to exit my system. I was sure we had just seen the end our infant nation. Four thousand Durians… that is not a site I will easily forget!”
The Colonel replied, “Grange! You are the luckiest man alive. I’m beginning to think being with you makes me invincible. And that’s a dangerous thought to have Grange… a dangerous thought. If you land back in our dock, I’ll be happy to get you another drink from those cooks. I’m sure they keep a stockpile of that hooch around for special occasions. I would say this is one of those.”
I pulled into the landing bay of the Slaughter and thanked Piston for his assistance.
He replied, “Sir, the honor was mine. I can now say I was there, riding with you, when the Durians backed down. That was one gutsy thing to do back there with the charge ahead Sir. Next time, I want to be sitting in that same seat Sir, if it’s OK with you. Anytime you need an engineer, just give me a call.”
As we entered the nebula I turned up a cup of the cook���s hooch along with the Colonel and the Admiral.
I spoke, “I don’t t
hink any of us will soon forget this day. If there was ever a time to test what you were made of, that time just passed. And the thing that astounds me is that every pilot out there followed our orders without blinking! No complaints. Not even a grumble. If we can maintain that level of courage, the coming war with our new foes might be a bit harder for them than they think.”
The Colonel took a big swig and then winced, “I think those pilots would follow you into a supernova Grange. Let’s just be happy that the supernova we just charged into was a mirage.”
The Colonel and the Admiral both held up their cups, “Here is to Don Grange the invincible! May we be by his side in every encounter until there are no more wars!”
The Colonel took another swig and then spat a chaw of Omega root onto my pant leg. I wasn’t sure how he was able to drink and chew at the same time, but at that moment I frankly did not care.
~~~
If you enjoyed this book please leave a review on the site where it was purchased. If you would like to be notified when the next release is available please leave a comment at [email protected]. Visit the author’s website at www.arsenex.com for the rest of the series and other works!
AMP Blitzkrieg Page 24
