True Cost: The Descendants War Book 5

by John Walker

  “They’re holding their own now,” Rhys announced. “The emplacements plus putting the two shuttles down for additional heavy weapon support lessened the constant attack from their opponents. It would be nice to get them two more combat-ready ships, though. At the very least. Can these others afford them?”

  “According to the briefing,” Titus said, “they can’t. They’ve already committed a tremendous ground force to keep the Kahl busy. Apparently, the enemy is paying dearly. These numbers are sickening if they’re true but who knows? It’s hard to tell with all this action.” And we’re on the verge of having some trouble without the defense forces.

  The Kahl ships came off like old Earth tanks. They were tough, dished out enormous damage, and didn’t have to worry too much about evasive maneuvers. Titus kept his vessel well away from his companions, affording Jane some room to move. It might’ve been the only thing keeping them alive.

  Griel acted in kind. Both of their ships were harassing the Kahl flanks, though aside from heavier cannons in the front, their other weapons seemed just as nasty. Despite moving almost constantly, the Triton still took a beating. Shields hovered around sixty percent. Recharging might’ve been faster if they could divert energy from the thrusters.

  “Are any of those ships even close to done?” Titus asked. “Give me a readout of the worst of them.”

  Violet put a ship in a tactical window on the viewscreen. “This one. It’s on the outside and has moved away from its fellows, albeit not too much. If we gave that one some attention, we might bring it down in a couple heavy volleys.” She hesitated. “I’d say five solid blows should finish it off. Less if the Brekka coordinates.”

  “Griel!” Titus shouted, “we need to focus fire for a minute on this ship. Can you get over here to blast them with us?”

  “We’ll make it happen,” Griel replied, “Authen will coordinate with your pilots.”

  Jane adjusted course. Sam tapped away, readying the main cannons. As the ship shifted, they took a broadside from one of the other battleships, a solid bunch of hits that jostled them like a child shaking a can. As they pulled out of range, Violet called out the damage from the attack.

  “Shields dropped to thirty percent on the port side.”

  “Divert power from starboard,” Titus ordered, “double the recharge by dumping energy.” He gripped his seat as they took a hard turn, coming around to the flank of their target. “Don’t wait, Sam. Hit them right away.”

  Sam unleashed the main weapons, giving the enemy defenses a good nudge. The Kahl vessel turned; a lumbering motion that seemed unusually slow.

  “What’s going on there?” Rhys asked. “Are their maneuvering thrusters out?”

  “Affirmative,” Violet replied, “it appears they’ve been overloaded in the last shot. They don’t have much left, sir.”

  “Come on, Sam,” Titus said, “hit them again before the Brekka gets here. When they arrive, we’ll finish them off.”

  “Port side!” Jane shouted, slapping her terminal. The maneuvering thrusters fired together, hurling them away from the enemies. One of the Kahl battleships cruised over them, less than five hundred meters distant. Their weapons unloaded on the Triton, but even so, the quick motion may have saved their lives.

  Rear thrusters activated, thrusting Titus into his seat. They pulled away, pivoting as they went to keep their target in the front. Sam fired again though it was obvious they weren’t able to use as much power as they had the first two times. A few shots missed, including one of the main cannons.

  “That’s okay,” Titus said, “stay focused. The Brekka’s pretty much here. What’s that other ship doing? The one that tried to ram us?”

  “It’s moved by,” Violet replied. “Coming around toward our starboard.”

  Titus nodded. “Keep an eye on them. We’ll focus on them next.” Come on, Griel! Get your ass moving!

  The damaged enemy ship opened fire, a few short bursts. They struck the Triton bow though they didn’t feel the attack. Shields dipped, a short drop that didn’t seem all that bad. Titus wondered how bad off they were. And why they kept at it. Why aren’t they withdrawing? Or having their other ships come to their aid?

  Without help, the ship would surely be destroyed. If one wanted to be cold about it, that was a sacrifice of resources. Plenty of them in fact. Maybe lives weren’t all that important to their people. They could always get more. That seemed unlikely to him. But then they were on a crusade.

  And that meant religious zeal.

  “We’re ready!” Griel called. “Authen and Sam, make us proud and finish that pile of filth off!”

  Coordinated fire chewed into the Kahl hull even as the enemy ignited their thrusters. They hurled themselves forward, directly in between the Triton and the Brekka.

  “Massive energy reading!” Violet shouted. “They’re initiating a self-destruct!”

  “Get us away from there!” Titus cried. “Go!”

  The engines complained as Jane initiated a full burn. They bolted away, veering hard to starboard. A blast to the port side jostled them which made being thrust into the seat all the more uncomfortable. Tactical showed the other ship pursued them while their companion exploded.

  The destruction of that ship mimicked the first, throwing debris like gigantic projectiles. Those pieces blazed in the darkness of space, burning as they streaked away from the epicenter of the reactor.

  “Evade,” Rhys said, “don’t let those hit us, Jane.”

  “Working on it,” Jane replied.

  Titus had no idea how she operated so calmly, so efficiently under the distress of the heavy g-force. She moved the ship with incredible nuance, nudging them to port and starboard with maneuvering thrusters. A few smaller pieces made contact, slamming into the shields with enough force to burn.

  Violet announced, “Shields are currently at thirty percent across the ship. Recommend we get far enough away from the enemy ship to give ourselves a minute to recover.”

  “I’m working on that too,” Jane said. “The Brekka’s all over him right now. We should be clear in a second.”

  “Good work,” Titus replied. He checked his terminal, looking for the trajectory of the bits from the destroyed ship. The vessel happened to be far enough away that it didn’t cause any real damage to the ships already fighting. And this time, not as many dangerous pieces remained intact. I’m not surprised.

  Intentionally blowing the reactor likely ensured they atomized the majority of the ship. Particularly the internal modules that survived in the other vessel. Eliminating the dangerous parts long before they became a problem for any of the others operating in the immediate space.

  This isn’t something we generally dealt with back home. Pirates didn’t turn into shrapnel bombs. The explosions weren’t nearly as spectacular. Nor did they cause as much harm. Titus hadn’t seen such reactions before fighting with the Kahl. They have so much going on with their generators, it makes sense they throw themselves in all directions.

  Jane slowed them down, alleviating the worst of the g-force pinning them in place. The relief made Titus slump for a moment before sitting up straight. She looked over her shoulder at him. “We’re outside the combat zone. I can get us back into the action with the Brekka in less than a minute.”

  “Violet?” Titus asked. “Damage report.”

  “Shield generators overloaded. They’re initiating repairs. Means the recharge is at a trickle. One of the thrusters took a beating in that mad dash as well so helm will be sluggish when operating to port.” Violet paused. “Weapons are online and fine.”

  Rhys asked, “So getting back in is a gamble? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Pretty much.” Violet nodded. “If they don’t turn on us, if the Brekka keeps their attention, we can contribute in relative safety.”

  “But if I was them,” Titus added, “once I scanned the ship with damage, I’d engage them instead.” He rubbed his eyes. “Griel, are you still on the line?”
>
  “Pretty quick end there,” Griel said, “nice work. You guys coming back?”

  “We’re a little hurt. How’re you doing?”

  “Well enough. Some cracks here and there but nothing preventing us from giving this guy a kick to the mouth. You need some more time?”

  “Either that or you have to give them cause to not turn our way. Pretty much hammer the hell out of them so we can do potshot flybys.”

  Griel hummed. “We can do that. Go for it. Just be sure you avoid those rear turrets. They’ll chew through shields that aren’t in top shape. We’ll see you in a minute.”

  “Okay, Jane.” Titus felt sweat form on the back of his neck. “Get us in motion. Give Sam a clear line of fire on a strafing run. We’ll see how that plays out before committing to another one.”

  Rhys asked, “How long before the shield generators are back?”

  “They haven’t evaluated the problem,” Violet said. “They are putting the backups online to take the load while they see about repairs. It may be as simple as a reboot or a cooldown. Or as bad as replacement parts. Shields should be relatively normal within five minutes. Unfortunately, the backups took a surge too.”

  “They just weren’t as bad,” Rhys replied. “Well, that means our defenses will be mostly good to go after two or three passes. Pretty tough timing if they decide to come after us.”

  Titus nodded. “Agreed. One pass. See what they do and where we’re at.” He turned his attention to the other battle. The Prytins swarmed the enemy vessels, practically sitting within point blank range. The fight looked insane, with a continuous light between the different ships bright enough to mask individual shots.

  How are they all surviving that? Titus felt as if he needed to study more on the technology behind Prytin warships. The Triton wasn’t a slouch. They had the same type of gear. Despite that, he doubted he’d ever feel comfortable sitting so close to an enemy ship, blasting away with hopes of victory.

  Reminds me of columns of muskets. Men standing mere yards apart, opening fire on each other. A man in the frontline was practically guaranteed to get shot. To die in a battle. How did they maintain the discipline of soldiers in such a fight? And here we’re seeing it again. Juggernauts unleashing absolute fury on one another.

  None of them had been destroyed yet; none even looked like they were ready to withdraw. At least they’re in the fight to win now. Titus gripped his chair as the engines spun up again. They wheeled around, pivoting toward their target. And maybe when this is over, we’ll preserve this colony. Or at least buy them real time to escape.

  That might be the best form of relief given what they had experienced down below.

  Chapter 8

  Vesper took a left from the Manager’s storage room. She jogged along the corridor, taking a flight of stairs back to the lounge. Her quarry didn’t likely head toward the medical bay, but she may have gone toward the hangars. That meant the larger hallway, one none of them came through in their initial assault.

  She approached the open passage, remaining close to the wall on the left. The area stretched a good hundred yards before curving. Line of sight showed her shops on either side with people milling about here and there. Yes, they were armed but they seemed to be those who didn’t want to cause trouble.

  Probably would like to get out of here without incident. Vesper wondered if they’d give her trouble. Maybe they can help. A few wore headgear. Early briefings told her spacers wore such things to act as translators when they operated in intergalactic stations. Which means I should be able to communicate with them.

  Her full body armor worried her, though. They might not take kindly to someone who blatantly looked like a soldier. Though they did seem laid-back, particularly the ones who leaned against the walls, chatting idly with others. Who were these guys that didn’t appear phased by what had happened?

  Those with secure ships is my guess. If they had the means of leaving once the warp was over, they probably didn’t care too much about what happened around them. And if they weren’t greedy, then they had no reason to run around looting the place. I imagine the Manager and his pals would like them to step up.

  Vesper didn’t understand the administrators of the place. However, seeing those men and women just stand around gave her confidence that the person she chased hadn’t made an impact on them. If she tried to stir them up at all. Time to find out what’s going on with these folks.

  She made her way down the hall, trying to move casually. The armor made it impossible. Every step made more noise than a regular pair of boots. Which led her to wonder how they’d react when she drew close. They started eyeballing her as soon as she emerged from the lounge.

  The closest, a man dressed in leather pants and a long leather jacket, placed his hand on his weapon. His shaggy hair stood up wild around his head. He wore a thick beard, his eyes hiding beneath a heavy, dark brow. She held up her left hand, hoping it might be a universal sign of non-aggression.

  “Hi there,” Vesper called. “Um… I know you probably don’t understand me so I’m going to talk slowly for the translator. Did you see a woman run through here a moment ago?”

  The man waited a moment. “Yes.” Her translator showed he spoke Prytin. “Charged down here screaming something about treasure. Tried to offer all of us a cut if we’d go back with her.” He said the last part loud enough for the others to hear. The comment brought on some laughter. “I guess she has no interest in working with the Manager again.”

  “So you guys ignored her because you want to maintain your connection with the station?”

  “Best place to get jobs.” He narrowed his eyes. “Wait. You were one of the people in the game. Right before the station went to warp.”

  “We won,” Vesper replied. She gestured over her shoulder. “We had to make it to the command area and we did. So… that’s done, right? You aren’t going to… you know. Try something?”

  He shook his head. “They didn’t offer us any money to go gunning for you people. Not that I would’ve after seeing your gear anyway. Manager’s people usually strip you of armor and weapons. Pretty unsporting.”

  “Where is all the security?”

  “A bunch of them died in an accident.” He jerked his head away from the command center. “Heading down to check something out. Big shock… tossed a few into space before the bulkheads closed. Nasty business. Others died in the initial fighting in the lounge. I barely got out of there myself.”

  “So the pirates killed them?” Vesper asked.

  “Ooh, you should watch that term around here. Tends to get messy. But yes, they were the first to go. Seemed like everyone was about to get done over.”

  The translator offered a few solutions for done over including betrayed.

  “I see. So the lady?” Vesper looked around. “She just go that way? Any idea about her identity? Do you know where she might belong?”

  “Um…” He shrugged. “Can’t say. So many of us don’t wear uniforms.”

  “Will she find someone willing to storm that room?”

  “Undoubtedly. Why? You trying to stop her?”

  “I’d rather not have more violence on the station and if security is stretched thin like that… then it seems like we need to take some action, right?”

  “I say look out for yourself.” He smiled. “But if you can’t do that, then sure. Go after her. She didn’t make it too far. Was already puffing like she didn’t know how to run. A bunch of scum took up on the edge of the ring. Ready to head down to the attached hangar modules. I’d guess she went to them.”

  “Are there warp-capable ships over there?”

  Now he pushed away from the wall. “Yes… you’re not thinking…”

  “Oh, we have a way out,” Vesper interrupted. “We won’t be messing with anyone’s ride.”

  “I’ll come with you,” he said, “just to be sure. Like I said, I’m determined to leave here, and with my luck, it would be my ship you’d find a way to mess with.
Name’s Quilla by the way.”

  “Vesper.”

  “You’re not a Prytin,” Quilla replied, “what’s your deal?” They started walking. The others lost interest in them, going back to their conversations.

  “I’m a human,” Vesper said. “We’re allied with the Prytin. Newly.”

  “Ah. After a Kahl attack, right? You don’t have to answer. That’s how we always pull people into our nonsense. I hope you guys are ready for what comes next. War, colonies burned, lives lost… there’s a reason I took off on the military. I got tired of seeing friends and family dying for their cause.”

  “Hasn’t happened to us quite yet,” Vesper said, “but I’ll remember that.”

  “See that you do.” Quilla hushed as they reached the curve. He leaned to look. “Um… seems you might have a problem.”

  Vesper looked as well. Her target stood in the midst of a crowd, shouting and waving her hands over her head. The translator couldn’t keep up, not with the muttering of the people she stood with. “What’s going on?”

  “They’re getting pumped up over free wealth.” Quilla huffed, shaking his head. “That means they’re probably going to lose their minds in a minute. Try to take that chamber.” He turned to her. “What’s the deal with it? Why do you care?”

  “Something’s there we need,” Vesper replied. “I don’t give a damn about the rest, but that one thing needs to remain intact and undamaged. Hell, we need like… forty minutes more and they can savage it all they want. From what I can tell, it’s a bunch of treasure the Manager’s hoarding. How many people are down there?”

  “That’s…” Quilla clicked his tongue. “Three full crews worth. I know some of them. They work the merchant lanes when they don’t have anything specific with the Flotilla. Tough. Brutal.”

  “You think they’ll risk their skins for treasure?” Vesper gripped her gun tighter. Tension made the hair on her arms stand. She wanted to take cover in case they felt an urge to start shooting. Several of them looked in her direction. “And are they worried about us or… are they going to do the job?”