Superdreadnought- The Complete Series

by C H Gideon

  “Is it a good one?” Tactical asked.

  “I wouldn’t have bothered you if it weren’t,” the old inventor fired back.

  “Humility is dead on this ship,” XO announced.

  “What have you got in mind?” Asya asked.

  “It’s a simple task where I reverse the polarity on these pucks that Reynolds pointed out to me yesterday and then invert the—”

  “In small words, please,” Asya told him, her head swimming with what he was trying to get at.

  “My apologies. Of course. These pucks are apparently used for blasting through doorways and walls and whatever else needs to be blasted through. They have a magnetic clasp that holds them in place, and while they would hardly be sufficient to blow through the hull of an armored ship on their own, they might very well be—”

  “You’re getting to the point soon, right?” Tactical asked. “Any point. The point?”

  “I am indeed,” Takal assured. “I can make the pucks leak their energy instead of explode.”

  “Which means shit-all to me, Takal,” Asya told the inventor. “Give me the so-what right fucking now!”

  “We can launch them at the Orau weapons and trigger them.”

  “Like lighting off sparklers on the sides of the missiles!” XO shouted. “I love it.”

  “Forgive me my ignorance, XO, but how the hell is that going to help us? These missiles aren’t heat-seeking.”

  “No, not precisely, but they do have very simple targeting mechanisms,” Takal explained. “They’re on a precise course, which has very little room for error or distraction. The magnetic field of the pucks, along with the distribution of its internal energies, will confuse the systems enough to throw them off course.”

  “Why don’t we just use the pucks to kill the ships and the missiles?” Asya asked.

  “We don’t have enough for both. We’re only just now rebuilding the puck inventory. We need more raw materials, but we don’t make many friends out here who are willing to sell them to us,” Takal ended with a hearty harrumph.

  “And since the Orau believe they know exactly what lanes the missiles are taking, we might just take out a number of the fighter-bombers with their own fucking artillery,” XO finished.

  “But doesn’t that leave us at risk, too?” Ria asked.

  Asya could practically hear Takal shrug on the other end of the comm.

  “Well, it does, of course, but we are both prepared for the eventuality and better equipped to deal with the detonation of these missiles than either the Orau ships or the Krokus 4 homeworld, are we not?” Takal asked.

  “I suspect I’ll regret this order, but do what you need to make this work, Takal,” Asya commanded. “Round up whoever you need to help you.”

  “It’s a simple task,” he replied, disconnecting the comm.

  “Says the guy opening us up to more damage,” Tactical laughed. “Maybe he doesn’t realize the lab is between us and the missiles at this angle.”

  “We just need to direct more energy to the shields downward,” Asya said. “It’s not like we don’t know where the missiles are coming from.”

  “And then we need to keep the Orau from getting on top of us and exploiting the opening,” XO went on. “Can you do that, Tactical?”

  “Oooh, a psychological challenge to question my ego and get me to agree to this stupidity at the same time,” Tactical shot back. “You’re about as subtle as a hammer to the face, XO.”

  “So you’ll do it?” XO asked.

  “Of course I will,” Tactical replied. “I’m a sucker for a lost cause.”

  “Then we’re agreed? Stupid plan for the win?” Asya asked.

  “Looks that way,” XO agreed, chuckling.

  “Reynolds is going to kill us, yeah?” Asya moaned.

  “As long as we don’t blow the ship up doing it he won’t care,” Tactical stated. “Not right away, at least. I’m just glad I can’t be confined to my quarters and made to eat quarter rations.”

  Asya sighed. If that was what it took, so be it.

  “Just do it, and we can pin the blame on me if shit goes south.”

  “There’s always the hope that you’ll die a horrible death in flaming wreckage before Reynolds gets back,” Tactical told her.

  “And on that positive note, let’s get to work, people,” Asya ordered.

  She watched the scanners as scores of missiles streaked upward, desperate to reach Krokus 4 and lay waste to the already fragile shield keeping the citizens from the ravages of the ocean surrounding them.

  Hell, this is what I signed up for, isn’t it?

  Not exactly, but you have to look at the bright side, right?

  Right?

  Dammit! Am I talking to myself as if there’s more than one of me? Fucking Reynolds!

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jiya stalked through the town, wishing she had one of the cloaking devices integrated into her suit.

  She’d have to get Takal to remedy that shortcoming once they got back. The thing was quite useful, judging by what she’d seen Maddox pull off earlier. She could have put the device to good use.

  Instead, she’d been made to creep carefully through the darkened alleys, taking out Orau when she could and avoiding them when she couldn’t.

  It made the trip much longer than she’d anticipated.

  Once she arrived, she realized she could have taken even more time, seeing how she wasn’t remotely prepared for what lay ahead of her.

  Damn it, she thought, eyes wide as she spied the launch site.

  Nestled between a cluster of close buildings, the site was manned by six Orau, but there were dozens of local Krokans strung up by their wrists around the site, making it so Jiya couldn’t get an easy shot off. The enemy had built a low stone wall around themselves in addition to keeping hostages along the outside.

  The Krokans stood on their tiptoes, uncomfortable as they were made to defend the Orau from attack. Blood dripped from the arms of several of the captives, and Jiya’s stomach churned at seeing it run in red rivulets down their arms and across their chests.

  She growled low in her throat, wishing she could simply direct the Reynolds to light up the site, but that would kill everyone there.

  She couldn’t do that.

  Jiya inched forward to take a better look at the Orau as they readied another missile for launch. They worked in tandem, one of them pacing the area in a tight circle and keeping watch while the others prepared the weapon.

  Jiya tried to figure what angle would be best to approach the site when she spotted Orau on each of the nearby roofs overlooking the launch location. They peeked out every now and again, surveying the area.

  She growled again, realizing they’d covered the most obvious approaches, and from her position, she couldn’t tell if there was more than a single soldier on all the roofs. She took a moment to examine the sides of the buildings facing the site and noticed that all of them were solid walls, with no windows or doors leading her closer to the Orau preparing the weapons or their hostages.

  Not that it mattered.

  As she contemplated her next move, she spotted movement inside the nearest building and cursed under her breath, nearly biting her tongue in the process.

  The Orau had set up guards inside the surrounding buildings as well as on top of it, effectively cutting off every approach.

  Work smarter, not harder.

  She chuckled nervously as her brain parsed an idea, but the more she thought about it, the more her mind seized on it.

  Am I really that crazy or desperate? she wondered.

  To her regret, she had to admit that she was just enough of both to pull her plan off.

  If it didn’t work, she wouldn’t have to worry about Reynolds being pissed at her since she’d be dead.

  She waited until the rooftop guards had made their rounds, then sneaked around the building and made her way toward the one nearest the others.

  “What do I have to lose?” she whis
pered to herself, laughing.

  “Just my life” was the answer she refused to supply, but she knew she had to do something.

  She was the only chance the hostages had of making it home alive tonight. There was no way she wouldn’t do her best to make that happen, even if it put her at risk.

  “Fuck it.”

  Geroux and Ka’nak made their way through town toward the site they’d been assigned to eliminate.

  Several missiles launched from it while they traveled, and each one was a nail driven into Geroux’s spine.

  She hated the idea that each of those missiles represented lives being lost somewhere on Krokus 4. Her fists clenched the whole time, she’d wanted to rush to the site and start kicking ass, but Ka’nak held her back.

  It was a good thing he had.

  As they drew closer to the site, Geroux realized the Melowi had been right. She had thought that the sites, given how numerous they were, wouldn’t be heavily guarded.

  She was wrong.

  She counted twenty Orau soldiers surrounding the site, the location squeezed between a number of closely arranged buildings. A handful of soldiers worked on loading one of the nearby missiles while the remainder patrolled the area, staying close to each other with interlocking fields of fire.

  “That’s a lot of soldiers,” Geroux muttered as they found a place to hunker down and make a plan.

  Ka’nak grunted his agreement, his head on a swivel as he tried to find the best way to accomplish their mission of destroying the site.

  He seemed to come to a decision a moment later, glancing over his shoulder at Geroux.

  “How’s your confidence today?” he asked.

  She offered a weak smile. “If you’re asking how I feel about taking on a squadron of armed soldiers, I have to admit my confidence is not all that high.”

  The Melowi laughed low in his throat. “You don’t need to take them all on—” he started.

  “That’s good, then.”

  “You need only to hold them off and distract them for a few moments,” Ka’nak finished.

  Geroux sighed. “So I don’t have to fight them all, I just have to engage them and wait for something else to happen while letting them shoot at me?” she asked.

  “Exactly,” Ka’nak replied.

  “I have to admit, I’m not really liking this plan,” she told him.

  “Well, it’s all we’ve got,” he shot back, starting down the alley toward the street they’d just come from. “Be ready for my signal.”

  What’s your signal, and what are you going to do? she asked over the comm as the warrior disappeared around the corner.

  I’ll tell you to engage them, of course, he replied a moment later.

  “Brilliant,” she moaned, wondering what the hell she’d gotten herself into.

  I wonder if it’s too late to find a desk job somewhere?

  Reynolds followed the Loranian shuttle crew, bound and determined to capture at least one of them to see what they were there for and why the ship had been following them.

  He needed that answer. His search for Kurtherians was the only reason he was in the Chain Galaxy, and the Loranians had information he needed. His road to mission accomplishment went through them.

  Separated from their Orau companions, the shuttle crew circled back on the outpost, pushing toward the more crowded area they’d already been through. With no shuttle to return to since Ka’nak had blown it up, Reynolds could not fathom what the shuttle crew was up to.

  He followed, gaining ground and getting closer to the crew, observing them all the while. He was curious as to where they were leading him, only to realize he’d probably made a mistake not attacking them sooner.

  The crew darted off unexpectedly after having moved at a measured pace for the first while, and Reynolds saw them slip inside a small building in the middle of the outpost.

  Unlike the other buildings in the area, this one had numerous windows along its sides.

  Reynolds dashed to the building and pressed his back against the wall, peeking inside as he heard voices rise up in terror.

  They were the voices of children.

  Reynolds cursed as he spotted the shuttle crew gathering a small group of Krokan children and their apparent teacher, pulling them into a tight knot. They held weapons to the heads of the kids and moved slowly toward the exit on the other side of the building. They spotted Reynolds through the window and kept their hostages between him and them.

  That was Reynolds’ first real look at the scumbags who had flown down from the Loranian cruiser.

  He was surprised to note that only two were Loranian. The other three were races he was unfamiliar with.

  The one who appeared to be in charge looked as if his skin were a melted candle. Layers of reddened flesh ran across his features, the skin glistening at his furious expression.

  His eyes were gleaming balls of yellow like a pair of shining suns. They radiated hatred as he watched Reynolds stalk them outside.

  Reynolds could relate.

  “Your time has come,” Reynolds warned loud enough for the crew to hear him through the windows.

  A second alien sneered at the AI. He might as well have been a ghost, given how pale he was. As white as the wall at his back, the alien abductor pressed his weapon against the head of a little crying female as he and his companions filed out of the building.

  Reynolds followed, the sounds of the children crying lighting a fury inside him he couldn’t remember having ever felt. He moved toward the crew, stepping out from behind the cover of the building as the pack of kidnappers and hostages backed into the street.

  “You have signed your own death warrants,” Reynolds declared.

  “Did Metalhead say something?” the ghost taunted. Reynolds understood the language, so the species was in someone’s database. He’d dig them out when he had time.

  “Let the kids go,” Reynolds warned. “Last chance.”

  “Not going to happen,” Melted Face replied, grinding his gun barrel into the head of a little male, making the child scream.

  That was the last straw as far as Reynolds was concerned.

  He spun and raced behind the school building, out of sight of the shuttle crew and their hostages. The children were in danger as long as he was there, but the crew of the Loranian cruiser had left him no option.

  He needed to act, and he needed to act now.

  Jiya climbed up the outside of the building and pulled herself over the top to find the roof unoccupied. She took a deep breath, let the air fill her lungs, then ran with everything she had toward the ledge of the building opposite the one that flanked the missile site.

  Even though she stayed low, she knew it was only a matter of time until the guard on the roof across the way spotted her. Every second counted, so she pushed harder and caught sight of the Orau’s wide eyes as he saw her charging and realized at the last moment what she intended.

  She hit the ledge and leapt, flying over the space between the buildings.

  The guard raised his weapon as she hurtled through the air, but Jiya was prepared.

  She tapped her trigger, her gun already out and aimed, and shot him center mass as she’d been taught. Hit the biggest target and follow up with the kill shot if the enemy wasn’t already dead.

  He staggered back, smoke wafting from his armor. He tried to regain his balance, but Jiya shot him again.

  The guard collapsed, his weapon slipping free of his dead hand and skittering across the roof.

  Jiya struck the roof a moment later, channeling her momentum into a forward roll that carried her to the middle before the guards on the other buildings started shooting at her.

  The bursts of energy flew harmlessly over her head as she grinned, unable to contain her excitement.

  The leap had been nearly nine meters, and she hadn’t been sure she could make it when she first decided on her plan. Fortunately, the suit’s augmented frame had done as she’d hoped and carried her across the
void.

  Her leap landed her directly above the site, and despite the weapons fire headed her way, she felt certain she still held some small window of surprise over the Orau warriors stationed below.

  A missile rose in a cloud of smoke, engines roaring, drowning out the chaos happening above.

  Jiya had timed it perfectly.

  As the rocket flew toward space, she rolled to the western edge of the building and rose to a knee, sending burst after burst of energy at the guard across the way.

  He went down under the barrage, and Jiya focused on the next guard. She crept along the wall, staying below the cover of the ledge, and positioned herself where she felt she’d get the best shots.

  She waited for a moment, forcing herself to sit there longer than she wanted to before finally popping up and strafing the roof across from her.

  The guard returned fire as soon as he saw her, but her armor was better, even if her aim wasn’t.

  A blast slammed into her arm and staggered her. She bit back a pained scream as the new wound sent flares of agony racing up her shoulder and into her neck to join the wound that was already there.

  It won’t be that easy, she promised.

  She dug deep and fired once more, hitting the guard as he tried to shoot her again.

  Feral satisfaction washed through her as the guard stumbled and fell back on the roof, no longer moving.

  One more, she thought, and her feet were already running before she could argue.

  She didn’t give the last guy a chance to zero in on her.

  With quick taps of her trigger, she fired dozens of shots across the space between the roofs and peppered her opponent with blasts of energy.

  He went down in a hail of gunfire before he’d managed a single return shot.

  Jiya stumbled to the ledge, catching her breath as she peeked over, looking down at the assembled Orau readying another missile for the launcher. The hostages trembled, terror etched on their features, and Jiya felt the knots in her stomach growing hard as rocks.