The drone corvettes could accompany the drones, acting as mobile command and control centers. In turn the drones would protect the corvettes as they got close to enemy capital ships. The corvettes were armed with a large compliment of powerful anti-ship missiles. If fired from a distance, missiles were relatively easy to shoot down. But at close range, there was a good chance the missiles would hit their targets. For all the good it would do them, Anna thought. She knew firsthand how ineffective those missiles were against the alien ship's shields.
The alien fleet didn't respond to the maneuvering of the human ships. They simply held their position, with the giant mother-ship in the center. The human ships moved forward, with the corvettes and their drones, pulling ahead. The alien ships fired, hundreds of teardrop shaped white projectiles launched towards the incoming squadrons. The corvettes accelerated and scattered, trying to present a more difficult target. The alien projectiles however, also split up, now tracking individual squadrons. They closed on their targets and exploded in brilliant showers of smaller white shards. The corvettes, along with their accompanying drones, flashed and exploded.
The human capital ships had now come into range. The destroyers fired their ion beam projectors. They used the lesson they had learned from their encounter with the Twilight's shields, concentrating their fire on a few alien ships at a time. The alien ship's shields flashed and dissipated under the force of multiple ion bean strikes. A second wave of ion beams impacted the ships with downed shields. The blue-white beams tore into their hulls, causing them to explode in a brilliant flash, or spiral out of control.
The alien fleet responded by launching another salvo of energy projectiles. This time, the mother-ship also fired. The smaller ships only fired one projectile at a time, the mother-ship however, fired over a dozen. Shards of white light cut through the black of space and impacted the human fleet. Five of the fleet's eight destroyers, shuddered under multiple hits. They spun out of control, or else just drifted lazily through space with holes running clean through them. One of the carriers also got hit, three holes ran through its front section, but it appeared to be still battle worthy. Most of the projectiles fired by the alien fleet had been aimed at the dreadnought. They impacted the swarms of defense drones orbiting the massive ship and exploded. Hundreds of drones flashed and vaporized, only to be replaced by new ones.
Everyone on the Twilight's bridge stared at the view screen. As they watched, the carriers and dreadnought fired. Like the destroyers, the carriers timed their ion projector strikes so that multiple impacts brought down the enemy's shields. Then fired a final salvo that would take down the vulnerable ships. The dreadnought however, fired all six of its type five ion projectors at six different targets. The massive ion beams ripped through space. The alien ships they impacted simply disappeared in a brilliant flash.
The two fleets opened fire with everything they had. White energy projectiles and blue-white ion beams crisscrossed the space between them. The fighters that had been guarding Jones’ flanks, rushed into the fray. They swarmed alien ships with downed shields. Gauss cannon slugs and missiles tore into the unprotected hulls.
Anna noticed that the alien fleet's formation was ill equipped to deal with this new tactic. Their ships were all clustered together. The exploding shards of energy they had used earlier to dispatch the corvettes, weren't really a good option under the present circumstances. With multiple ships without shields, the risk that some of those shards would hit and damage a friendly target was too great. A much better tactic would have been to spread out. That would have made taking out the enemy fighters much easier and given them more room to maneuver. Over twenty of the alien ships had been destroyed or crippled. Anna looked over at the young woman. She was staring in horrified fascination at the view screen.
Another wave of energy projectiles crashed into the human fleet. The last of the destroyers exploded into giant fireballs. One of the carriers was drifting lifelessly through space and the others were showing serious signs of damage now. Large rents in their hulls flickered with sparks and vented fumes. Only the dreadnought remained intact, although Anna noticed its protective cloud of defense drones was starting to look a bit thin.
The alien fleet seemed to have realized the error of their tightly grouped formation. The smaller ships spread out in all directions, while the mother-ship moved up relative to the dreadnought. The smaller ships started picking off the fighters still swarming through their ranks, while the mother-ship concentrated on the remaining capital ships. One of the carriers spun out of control and slammed into the one next to it. Both ships spiraled off into space, fumes and debris trailing behind them. The remaining alien ships were making quick work of the fighter squadrons. Soon they were reforming and targeting the lone remaining carrier. Dozens of projectiles slammed into the damaged ship. The carrier's hull buckled and the ship exploded.
The alien fleet now turned its full attention to the dreadnought. The smaller ships moved out to the flanks, while the mother-ship stayed put. Energy projectiles rained down on the dreadnought, its defense drones were all but gone now. Holes started to appear in the massive ship's hull as the energy projectiles found their marks. The dreadnought accelerated towards the alien mother ship. It fired all six of its ion beam projectors. The beams struck the mother ship, whose shields flickered and then disappeared in a brilliant flash. The rest of the alien fleet was still hammering away at the dreadnought. Large holes were now visible over its surface, venting fire and debris.
The dreadnought fired again, although it seemed that only two of its ion projectors were still functional. The beams struck the mother ship, gouging large rents into the hull.
“No,” the young woman whispered.
The alien fleet was still firing at the dreadnought, chipping away at the ship's hull. The dreadnought answered by opening fire with its point defense system. Hundreds of gauss cannon turrets fired at the alien mother ship. Slugs rained onto its hull, peppering the ship with small holes. Another wave of energy projectiles slammed into the dreadnought. The massive ship shuddered and began slowly drifting to one side. Great clouds of debris spewed from the damaged ship. Most of the dreadnought’s running lights flickered and went dead.
“I think it's over,” said Major Clark quietly.
Suddenly, a section of the hull on the dreadnought's bow slid back. Anna couldn't make out what was behind it, she zoomed in the camera. It looked like a launcher of some kind. The control panel on the sensor station suddenly flashed with warning lights.
“What the hell?” Said Anna confused.
“What is it?” Asked Graham.
“I'm getting a massive radiation spike, in every spectrum; it's coming from the dreadnought.”
Major Clark moved closer to the view screen.
“No,” she breathed.
“No, he wouldn't, he couldn't!”
“Who couldn't what?” Anna demanded.
“Get us out of here, now!” Clark shouted.
“What's going on?”
“Just do it!” She snapped.
Anna hesitated for a moment, then turned to Aziz.
“Ensign.”
“Aye, plotting course.”
“Bridge to engine room.”
“What the hell is going on out there?” Came Nolan's reply.
“Never mind Chief,” Anna cut him off.
“Is the dimension drive charged?”
“Yes.”
Anna turned back to the main view screen. The alien fleet had now completely encircled the dreadnought. As she watched, the newly revealed launcher on the dreadnought fired. Or at least she thought it had fired. The sensors were tracking a massive radiation surge that had exited the launcher and was now drifting towards the alien fleet. Anna tasked one of the ship's cameras with zooming in on that area. At first she didn't see anything, but then the source of the radiation moved past a cloud of debris that was glinting in the light of the system's star. The glittering debris became darker and
appeared to flicker out of focus.
The others were also staring at the view screen.
“What in the universe is that?” Asked John.
“It's called Ragnarok,” said Major Clark.
“An experimental super-weapon, we have to get out of here, now.”
She turned to the young woman.
“I suggest you tell your people to do the same.”
The young woman nodded.
Anna typed a few commands into her console.
“Com channel open, we're broadcasting on all frequencies.”
The young woman cleared her throat and spoke.
“Listen to me, please. The human ship has fired some sort of terrible new weapon, you must get as far away as you can.”
There was no response.
“Please,” she repeated.
“You must listen to me.”
“Hang on, I think they got the message,” Anna interrupted, pointing to the view screen.
The alien fleet was moving away from the dreadnought at considerable speed, driving hard for the edge of the system.
“Ensign,” said Anna.
“Tell me you've got that jump plotted.”
“Sorry Commander,” Aziz replied.
“The radiation form that thing is messing with our navigational instruments. The computer can't plot the coordinates, I've got to do it manually.”
“Then hurry up,” Anna replied.
“Aye Commander.”
Anna looked back up at the main view screen. She noticed the radiation source had swelled to almost triple its original size and it was still growing rapidly.
“Ensign, I really don't want to be around to find out what this thing does,” she said urgently.
“I'm going as fast as I can Commander.”
“Look!” Graham exclaimed, pointing at the view screen.
The debris around the radiation source was coming apart, it looked like it was just dissolving. The ever growing sphere of radiation had reached the dreadnought now. Suddenly, sections of the massive ship’s hull started to come apart. The next instant, the enormous ship exploded in a blinding flash as its reactors overloaded. The radiation source was now so large, the Twilight's sensors were having a hard time measuring it. Several of the alien ships that had not made it far enough away yet, dissolved.
Everyone on the bridge stared at the spectacle unfolding before them.
“It's no good,” Aziz announced.
“That radiation is just too strong now.”
“Then get us further away,” ordered Anna.
“Aye.”
The Twilight shot forward as Aziz put as much power as he could find into the main thrusters.
Anna was still watching the view screen. The radiation had now reached the orbiting shipyard. Entire sections of the mammoth structure seemed to just melt away before their eyes. Then, a section of the planet dissolved.
“What is that thing!?” Asked John in a panicky voice.
The next instant, the planet shattered into billions of pieces.
“Nolan,” said Anna.
“Get me every last bit of energy to the engines that you can, overload the reactor if you have to.”
“What?”
“Just do it! Overload the reactor and then do an emergency shut down.”
“But Commander,” Nolan began to protest.
“Now!”
“Aye Commander.”
The pitch of the Twilight's engines grew higher, into a stressed whine. The crew was pushed backward as the ship accelerated.
“Look,” said Saskill, pointing to the view screen.
The radiation had now reached the system's star. Enormous plumes of stellar material were being ripped off its surface.
“Almost far enough away,” Aziz reported.
More and more of the star's material was disappearing. At the same time, Anna noticed the darkly shimmering radiation was becoming brighter.
“Aziz?” She asked.
“Just thirty more seconds,” he replied.
“I'm not sure we have that long,” said Clark.
The star's shape wobbled, then came apart. The radiation near it glowed brilliant white for a moment, then exploded. A blindingly bright surge of energy expanded outward at tremendous speed.
“Ensign, it's now or never,” said Anna.
“Got it!” Said Aziz, slapping in one last command.
Tendrils of white energy formed into a swirling vortex of light, even as the massive energy wave bore down on them. The Twilight moved forward into the vortex and disappeared.
Chapter 45
Lieutenant Harbid shifted in the pilot's seat, trying to get comfortable. He looked at the cockpit's main view screen, into the swirling tunnel of light. Darmst swiveled the co-pilot's seat to face him.
“Are you sure about this?” He asked.
“I'm sure,” Harbid replied.
“Admiral Constantine ordered Katie to spring you from that dreadnought. He's got a vested interest in keeping you from falling back into Jones' hands.”
“If you say so,” replied Darmst.
“But why not simply contact him through a com relay, why go all the way to Earth?”
“Because the transmission might be intercepted,” Harbid explained.
“And because on Earth, we can be sure there are people loyal to Constantine.”
“I still don't like this,” Darmst insisted.
“This is Earth, the heart of the human empire, what if someone spots us?”
“Admiral Constantine can make sure you're only seen by his people.”
Darmst still didn't look entirely reassured, but didn't press the point.
A beeping from the navigation console drew Harbid's attention.
“Ahh, what's this one again?” He spoke into his com link.
Katie’s resigned sounding voice came back over the comm.
“It's the warning indicator, telling you that we're coming up on our destination, we've been over this,” she added.
“Ahh, okay got it.”
“Stand by,” said Katie.
“Cutting dimension drive in ten seconds.”
The swirling vortex of light disappeared and they were dumped back into normal space.
“Entering Sol system,” said Harbid.
“Katie,” he added.
“I'm assuming the system's defense network has picked us up?”
“Affirmative, sensors showing a squadron of fighters on intercept vector.”
“Let's hope you can get through to the Admiral before they decide to blow us to bits,” said Harbid.
“Don't worry, I've got a priority log in code for the Sol com grid,” Katie assured him.
“Wouldn't it be better to just send the signal directly from the ship?” Asked Darmst.
Harbid shook his head.
“No, with all the traffic in the system the vortex staging area for incoming ships is pretty far out. Right now we’re out past Neptune. At that distance, it would take about 4 hours for our message to get to Earth and those fighters aren't going to wait that long.”
He tapped a few buttons on the flight control console and the ship came to halt. Harbid watched the view screen showing the ship's sensor readouts. He could see the squadron of fighters closing fast. The ship's sensors weren't sophisticated enough to tell whether their weapons were locked on them, but Harbid was sure they would be.
“One million kilometers and still closing,” said Darmst, also looking at the screen.
As Harbid watched, the fighters spread out, moving into an attack formation. Then, all of a sudden, they peeled off and headed back in system.
“Got word to Constantine,” Katie announced.
“Yeah we just saw those fighters disengage,” Harbid replied.
“He give you any instructions on where to park this thing?”
“Yes, there's a secure military compound on the outskirts of Imperial City no one's using at the moment, so it'll be nice and i
solated. I'm sending the coordinates to the ship's navigational computer now.”
Harbid glanced down at his console.
“Got it, setting course now.”
The bessra ship's engines engaged and she moved in system.
“How long until we get to Earth?” Asked Darmst.
Harbid glanced at the navigational display.
“About six hours.”
Harbid tapped a few buttons on the pilot console.
“The ship's on auto pilot, I'm going to go grab some of the combat rations your people brought over from the shuttle. You want anything?”
“No, I'm fine,” replied Darmst.
Harbid made his way back to the ship's cargo bay. When he arrived he saw Katie talking to Shassa, the young shengyet girl standing beside her. He glanced over at the airlock doors. Visha was still sitting there with her back resting against the wall, her two shengyet guards standing a few paces back. The rest of the shengyet had spread throughout the cargo bay, they stood or sat in small groups, talking softly amongst themselves.
Katie turned at the sound of approaching footsteps.
“Everything all right?” She asked.
Harbid nodded.
“The ship's on autopilot, we should be entering Earth orbit in about six hours. Everything okay here?”
“For the most part, although I get the feeling some of the shengyet aren't too happy about our destination,” she added with a glance at Shassa.
The old shengyet's face darkened.
“They have good reason to be unhappy,” she said.
“I know it's dangerous,” replied Harbid.
“But Admiral Constantine will make sure nothing happens to you.”
Shassa gave him a very skeptical look.
“Even if that's true, what happens then? It's not like we can stay on Earth forever.”
“True,” Harbid admitted.
“To be honest, I'm not sure what will happen when all this is over, but what matters now is keeping your people safe.”
The young shengyet girl looked up at Katie.
“I don't want to go to Earth,” she said in broken English.
Katie looked down at her in surprise, then knelt down so she was on eye level with her.
Imperium: Contact Page 35
