The Price of Liberty (Empire Rising Book 4)

by D. J. Holmes

“We’re too far away,” James said in irritation after the missiles were launched and their flight time appeared on the holo plot. It would take his missiles more than twelve minutes to reach the Indian light cruiser. By that time both the light cruiser and the destroyer would be able to fire another salvo at Discovery. You’re going to have to hold on old friend, James thought to Gupta.

  *

  On Discovery’s bridge, Gupta was thinking the exact same thing. Her crew had watched the exchange of fire between the Indian ships and Endeavour with frustration. They had wanted to fight alongside their sister ship. Now that the time to play their part in James’ plan had come, they realized that they had received the short end of the stick. With both the light cruiser and the second Indian destroyer operational they were heavily outnumbered.

  “We have twelve missiles from the light cruiser, and four from the destroyer incoming,” Discovery’s tactical officer reported, sounding calmer than Gupta thought he should be. “The light cruiser’s missiles will enter our engagement range forty seconds before the missiles from the destroyer.”

  “Focus the flak cannons on the light cruiser’s missiles, we need to destroy them before we switch our attention to the destroyer’s missiles,” Gupta ordered.

  “Understood Captain,” the tactical officer replied.

  As the Indian missiles approached, Gupta instinctively rhymed off a number of prayers her grandmother had taught her. The irony of her actions wasn’t lost on her. There was a good chance at least one Indian aboard the opposing light cruiser was going through the same Hindu prayers seeking the destruction of her vessel. Apparently her prayers weren’t having much of an effect. Though the flak cannons destroyed six of the Indian missiles, it was taking her tactical officer too long to take out the rest of the first wave. When the destroyer’s four missiles were less than fifty seconds out from hitting Discovery, the tactical officer finally destroyed the light cruiser’s missiles and switched his fire. In quick succession two of the missiles were destroyed but the final two managed to dodge a last-ditch volley of point defense plasma cannon fire and dove towards Discovery.

  Without waiting for orders, Discovery’s navigation officer threw the exploration cruiser into a series of twists and turns. Gupta upped the cruiser’s ECM to maximum and launched two drones, their engines and active sensors operating at full capacity to try and attract one of the Indian missiles. Whether it was the ECM, the drones or the evasive maneuvers, one of the Indian missiles miscalculated its approach vector and missed Discovery by a wide margin. The second missile was momentarily confused, though sensing it was close enough to the cruiser to score a proximity hit, it detonated. Everyone on the bridge was thrown around in their seats and Gupta knew her ship had suffered a serious hit.

  “Status report,” she demanded as soon as the shaking stopped. “I want a full report from every department immediately.”

  “All missile tubes are reporting full functionality,” her tactical officer replied. We’ll be ready to fire another broadside in two minutes.

  “We lost a number of sensor blisters from our port amidships,” her sensor officer reported. “Everything else is working within operational norms.

  “We’ve lost three point defense nodes along port amidships as well,” Discovery’s Second Lieutenant added from the auxiliary bridge. “It looks like we took a proximity hit directly adjacent to levels two and three. The valstronium armor held, however, there appears to be a lot of damage to the outer hull. Our ability to defend ourselves has been compromised.”

  “We’ll just have to make do as is,” Gupta said. “Tactical, fire as soon as you are ready.”

  “Yes ma’am,” her tactical officer replied. “Endeavour’s missiles are three minutes out from the Indian ships. It looks like Captain Somerville targeted the damaged destroyer. The light cruiser is maneuvering to try and provide cover for it.”

  “Then target the light cruiser, let’s hope Somerville’s missiles finish off the destroyer,” Gupta ordered.

  “Launching,” the tactical officer said. Eight new contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot.

  Less than a minute later more contacts appeared as the light cruiser and destroyer fired a second volley of their own.

  “The Indians are engaging Endeavour’s missiles,” the tactical officer announced.

  Gupta nodded as she watched James’ missiles jink about to avoid the Indian point defense fire. Less than ten seconds after they entered the Indian’s field of fire, the sensor displays showed the British missiles multiplying from eight to eighteen.

  “Penetrator missiles,” Discovery’s sensor officer shouted as if no one else on the bridge was able to figure out what was going on. “Endeavour must have fired two of them.”

  The impact of so many more targets suddenly appearing caused the Indian point defense fire to falter. As both targeting computers and gunners paused to select new targets, the British missiles charged closer to the Indian ships. The advantage only lasted a couple of seconds, far too quickly for Gupta’s liking, the Indian point defense fire strengthened. The eighteen sensor profiles quickly dwindled. Soon it was only four missiles charging towards the damaged destroyer.

  In an effort to give one last chance for her smaller consort to survive, the light cruiser dove between the destroyer and the incoming British missiles, firing all of its point defense weapons as it went. Three of the missiles switched targets to lock onto the light cruiser and two of them were destroyed. The third managed to get close enough for a proximity hit. Her armor appeared to shrug off the explosive force with little difficulty.

  The fourth British missile refused to lock onto the light cruiser, instead it veered around the light cruiser. Momentarily blinded by the light cruiser’s maneuver, the point defense gunners on the destroyer didn’t see the final British missile until it was too late. With its armored nose, the missile penetrated the thin valstronium armor and burst through four decks before it exploded. Already weakened from two proximity hits and a heavy plasma bolt that had burnt its way deep into the hull, the explosive force of the British missile ripped the destroyer in two. As both parts of the stricken warship tore away from each other, debris and bodies spilled out into the cold vacuum of space.

  “Yes,” Gupta heard her Second Lieutenant shout over the open COM channel from the auxiliary bridge. She felt like shouting herself, but with an effort she restrained herself.

  “Ready to fire,” her tactical officer called among the excitement on the bridge.

  “Fire away,” Gupta ordered. The light cruiser’s point defenses were likely able to handle the eight missiles she was about to throw at it. However, Endeavour would be adding her own eight missiles soon. The Indian commander had to know that any damage his ship suffered now would likely mean he would fall into the hands of the approaching British fleet. Come on, come on, Gupta said to herself as she willed the Indian Captain to turn and run. The odds favored the British warships, but a fight to the death could easily mean the destruction of either Endeavour or Discovery. A prospect Gupta didn’t want to see become reality.

  “She’s turning,” the sensor officer shouted in excitement. “The light cruiser is turning, she is running away. She’s going to full military acceleration.”

  “We’ll worry about her as soon as we deal with this volley of missiles,” Gupta said.

  With sixteen more missiles rapidly closing in on Discovery, Gupta’s focus was firmly set on her ship. The flak cannons took out five missiles and the rest of the point defenses slowly whittled them down until just three remained. At the last moment, Discovery’s tactical officer managed to get the flak cannons reloaded to fire at almost point blank range. Two of the Indian missiles disappeared but the third dove towards Discovery.

  “Evasive maneuvers,” Gupta shouted.

  Discovery twisted and wove to avoid the Indian missile. The missile’s seeker head wasn’t fooled and it corkscrewed around Discovery and impacted the exploration cruiser’s amidships.


  The shock of the impact reverberated around the ship and as Gupta felt the vibrations travel up her command chair she braced herself for the explosion. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and looked around. Stunned expressions looked back at her from her bridge crew.

  “We were hit,” her tactical officer shouted. “But I don’t think it detonated. I’m not getting any sign of an explosion from any of our internal sensors.”

  “Did the missile breach our outer hull?” Gupta demanded. From the strength of the impact she couldn’t imagine that it hadn’t.

  “It did Captain,” Discovery’s Second Lieutenant said. “The missile impacted deck seven between missile tubes four and five. It tore through four sections before hitting a reinforced bulkhead. As far as I can tell its main warhead failed to detonate. I’m sending a repair crew along with a missile expert to the missile now to check on it.”

  “Tell them to be careful,” Gupta ordered. “We don’t want them setting it off. If they can’t make the warhead safe I want them to dislodge it and shove it back out into space. They can use the hole it tore into Discovery to expel it.”

  “I’ll let them know,” the Second Lieutenant replied.

  “Should we pursue the light cruiser?” Romanov asked eagerly now that they were out of immediate danger. “If we send a COM message to Captain Somerville, we can coordinate fire. We could run her down easily before she gets out of the system.”

  “No,” Gupta said. Raising her voice slightly she continued, “turn us towards Haven. We have a mission to complete. We may see that light cruiser again, but for now we need to take out as many of the Indian ground soldiers as we can. You did well everyone, let’s see this mission completed.”

  *

  As soon as the Indian light cruiser turned away from Discovery, James gave the same order. “Prepare to send a COM message to the surface,” he ordered as soon as Endeavour had turned towards the colony. “I don’t want it encrypted, I want anyone with a working COM unit to hear this. Then contact Discovery, I want a full damage report as soon as they have one.”

  “COM channel is open,” Sub Lieutenant King reported moments later.

  “People of Haven, this is Captain James Somerville of HMS Endeavour. My ship is about to enter orbit around your planet. I am part of an advance force detached from the British Home Fleet. We are here to help you throw off the Indian invaders. Momentarily, I will begin bombarding Indian military positions and installations around your planet. I advise you to seek shelter and safety in your own homes. The rest of our fleet is just hours away from the planet. They will be settling into orbit soon and then we will be landing a ground army to drive the Indians from your planet. I would ask you all do nothing to hinder our operations.” James signaled to King he had finished.

  “The targeting computer has already identified fifteen sites that look like potential targets for tungsten spears,” Becket reported. “They are located around Liberty, they appear to be some form of fortification, probably used to patrol the edge of the city. One of them is particularly large. I think it’s the supply depot that Major Johnston’s intel spoke of.”

  “Target it first,” James ordered. “Right as we speak the Indians are likely to be clearing it out. Let’s give them a nasty surprise.”

  “Captain, we are being bombarded by COM messages from the surface. Most of them I can’t make head or tails of, but one of them has a fleet intel marker coded into the message,” Sub Lieutenant King informed James. “It’s an old marker no longer in use, but it is authentic.”

  “Let me see it,” James said. “It could be from Major Johnston. His COM gear might have been damaged.” As James opened up the COM message he saw it was just a text file. The first words made it crystal clear who it was from.

  It’s about time you got here Somerville, we haven’t exactly been having a picnic in the woods you know. Here’s a list of all the targets we’ve managed to recon. They are in order of priority.

  As James surveyed the list of targets he was impressed. Major Johnston had managed to identify over one hundred Indian installations that were far enough away from civilian populations that they could be safely bombarded from space. He sent the information to the tactical console. “Here’s a new list of targets for you Becket, let’s make these Indians hurt. King, send the list to Discovery, assign Captain Gupta every other target in the list. Order her to work her way down the list in descending order.”

  “Aye Captain,” King responded.

  “We’re coming up on the first of those partially completed defense stations,” Mallory reminded James.

  “Take it out with a missile,” James ordered. “It may not be complete yet but they could have a working plasma cannon. Let’s not take the risk.”

  Chapter 26 – Mopping Up

  Emperor Augustus II has now sat on the throne for seventy years. While many historians now believe his actions were a significant factor in igniting the second Human-Antarian War, it cannot be denied that he brokered a peace that should last generations.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

  HMS Endeavour, Haven orbit.

  As Endeavour settled into orbit over Liberty, James eagerly watched the visual sensor feed of the large Indian supply depot directly below his ship. It had been at the top of Johnston’s list, though he had put an asterisk beside the target. His notes didn’t say very much, but they suggested the Indians had some kind of defensive batteries protecting the supply depot. James wasn’t entirely sure what could stop a tungsten spear or a volley of plasma bolts from tearing up the depot, but they were about to find out. “Fire a tungsten spear first,” James ordered.

  “Firing,” Becket announced.

  On the visual feed, the tungsten spear pierced the planet’s atmosphere. It glowed bright orange as its outer layer was burnt off by the friction. As the spear approached the supply depot it became almost invisible again as it shed its superheated outer layer. Then it lit up far brighter than before. In front of James’ eyes, it disintegrated into thousands of smaller bits of burning metal.

  “What happened?” Mallory asked in surprise.

  “Our thermal sensors show a massive heat bloom from the tungsten spear just milliseconds before it disintegrated,” Sub Lieutenant Malik reported.

  “Some kind of powerful laser?” Mallory suggested.

  “Perhaps,” James said as he brought up Major Johnston’s notes. “Johnston reported seeing some kind of new weaponry at the supply depot. Perhaps the Indians have managed to improve their laser technology based on some preliminary Vestarian designs they got hold of.”

  “Shall we use the heavy plasma cannons on them?” Becket asked.

  “Yes,” James said. “Fire one volley for now, let’s see what happens.”

  As Becket input the targeting data, James turned back to the visual feed. Six green bolts rapidly descended on the supply depot. In reply, six red bolts shot from the depot. Each bolt hit one of Endeavour’s plasma bolts and in a blinding flash they disappeared.

  “Switch targets,” James said angrily. “Work your way down our list of priority targets near Liberty. If any other Indian facilities manage to resist our orbital bombardment move on. We need to do as much damage as we can.”

  He had no idea what the Indians had just done to his plasma bolts but clearly they had designed some sort of weapon system able to target a bolt mid-flight. Passing through the atmosphere of a planet significantly reduced the speed of a plasma bolt, even so, he had never heard of such a weapon.

  “Captain,” Sub Lieutenant Scott said over the COM channel from the auxiliary bridge where she was stationed as the auxiliary sensor officer.

  “Yes?” James said, suddenly remembering that of anyone on the ship, she was the most likely to have an idea of what had just happened.

  “I can’t say for sure, but from scanning the visual feed it looks like the Indians have developed a working anti-plasma cannon,” Scott explained.

  “An anti-plasma canno
n?” Mallory asked. “I’ve never seen any technical briefings on such a thing.”

  “As far as I understood,” Scott replied, “such a weapon was just theoretical. I don’t think anyone back at the Science Directorate has developed a working prototype. It seems the Indians have beat us to it. Basically, the anti-plasma cannon fires a stream of polarized particles designed to disrupt the containment field of a plasma bolt. If an anti-plasma bolt can come into contact with a plasma bolt then it would break down the containment field and neutralize the superheated plasma within. It’s always been theoretical because calculating such a shot in space has been deemed all but impossible.”

  “And the friction from passing through the planet’s atmosphere slowed the bolts down enough to allow the Indians to target it,” James said, finishing Scott’s thought.

  “Yes Sir, that is my theory,” Scott replied. “Even with that making things easier, it’s still an impressive bit of technology.”