Galactar (Savage Stars Book 3)

by Anthony James

  “If it is a weapon, we would be foolish to imagine otherwise.”

  “I agree.” Recker scratched absently at the stubble he’d forgotten to shave before coming on shift. “We should approach to thirty million klicks and resume scanning.”

  “Yes – let us do so immediately.”

  Recker cut the channel and took the controls. Following a brief period of hard acceleration, he allowed the Axiom to coast through the vacuum.

  “This is the second time we’ve found the Lavorix lying in wait at a Meklon facility,” said Eastwood.

  “And twice the Daklan have been caught out,” said Burner with no note of satisfaction.

  “The Lavorix have already won their war,” said Recker. “At least that’s what the Daklan believe and that’s what our own evidence suggests. This is the cleaning up operation.”

  “No quarter,” said Aston.

  “Doesn’t seem like it.”

  Thinking about the Lavorix’s ruthless pursuit of their last few enemies made Recker even more worried. He thought it inevitable that the HPA would eventually, and without any desire, find itself embroiled in a new war. At Lustre, the Daklan’s actions had gone a long way to proving they weren’t interested in mass slaughter. When it came to the Lavorix, Recker had already seen their methods in the destruction of Fortune. The Daklan had fared no better.

  Having settled himself for an extended time on the sub-light engines, Recker was interrupted by a frantic wave from Lieutenant Burner.

  “Sir, we’ve received a written comms message. You need to read it - I’ll send it to your screen.”

  A line of glowing text appeared on the leftmost of Recker’s console screens.

  Excon-1> Unknown warship, this is Meklon Station Excon-1. Please identify.

  Recker twisted in his seat. “Has the Aktrivisar received the same message?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Burner.

  “Can I send a response from my console?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll transmit it for you.”

  Recker thought quickly and then typed, his fingers racing across the keys.

  Axiom> Meklon Station Excon-1, this is HPA warship Axiom. We have no hostile intent.

  “Transmitted,” said Burner.

  The next response came quickly.

  Excon-1> Your hostile intent is unproven. You are not welcome here. Please depart immediately.

  Recker swore under his breath. He could repeat what he’d already typed with some extra feeling, but he doubted a computer would suddenly believe him just because he added a pinkie promise. An idea sprang into his head.

  Axiom> I am Captain Carl Recker, commanding officer of the terminator class warship: Vengeance.

  Excon-1> Acknowledged. Security tier increased. Welcome, Captain Recker. Please transmit biological profile data to complete authorisation process.

  “Damn!” Recker thumped his fist on the console.

  “Can’t we do what it asks, sir?” asked Larson. “The Axiom has got biological identification markers for everyone in the HPA military stored in its databanks.”

  Recker swore again. “It’s not the same thing, Lieutenant. The Vengeance stored its biological profile data in an encrypted array that we haven’t dared try to crack open in case it somehow screws up my ability to operate the warship.”

  “We could send what we have anyway? Maybe it’ll be enough to link you to the Vengeance.”

  “No,” said Recker firmly. “More likely the mismatch in how the data is arranged will make the Excon-1 station think we’re trying to gain access by deception. At that moment, things will turn nasty - most likely for us.”

  Recker typed again.

  Axiom> I am unable to transmit biological identification markers. Request permission for re-scan.

  Excon-1> Permission for re-scan granted. Be aware that hostile action against this station will not be tolerated. Be aware that Lavorix warships are in the vicinity. Be aware that this communication link is corrupted. Be aware that the Lavorix may have determined your location from the vector of the transmission. Recommend you prepare for engagement. Recommend you dock for biological re-scan. Recommend you be aware of imminent arrival of Lavorix Galactar. Recommend you…

  The stream of incoming text ended and Recker yelled for Burner to find out what had gone wrong.

  “The link got cut from the far end, sir. I can’t tell you any more than that.”

  “Shit! Pass on the details to Jir-Lazan. The Lavorix are coming for us.”

  “Shouldn’t we get the hell away?” said Aston.

  It was the right course of action, given the complete lack of information regarding the numbers and capabilities of the enemy warships. Jir-Lazan agreed, though his intention wasn’t necessarily to avoid an engagement.

  “We must assume the Lavorix are many millions of kilometres from our position and will therefore require several minutes to load up their ternium drives. We should fly half a million kilometres from here on our sub-lights. That will leave us well-placed to surprise the arriving enemy while they scan for our position.”

  Recker knew that at some point, he would have to fight and this seemed like as good a time as any to test the waters. “Agreed – half a million klicks it is. If we’re outgunned, we withdraw.”

  “Yes. Whatever you may think, I have no desire to lose the Aktrivisar so early in the mission, Captain Recker.”

  The decision was made and Recker took the controls, intending to pilot the Axiom to the location which Burner put up on the tactical screen.

  “Crap!” shouted Eastwood. “I’ve detected a combined particle wave, incoming at fifty thousand klicks! I don’t recognize the type, which likely means we’ve got Lavorix warships inbound. They’ll be here any second!”

  “How?” said Aston.

  Recker guessed the answer. The Vengeance could execute an instant, short duration lightspeed jump and it appeared the Lavorix could do likewise. While his comms team spoke to the Aktrivisar, Recker prepared for combat.

  Chapter Ten

  Recker aimed the Axiom directly for the centre of the particle wave. The propulsion growled and the bridge walls creaked with the strain of acceleration.

  “As soon as the Lavorix appear, give them everything, Commander,” he said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Dozens of green dots – missiles from the Aktrivisar - appeared on the tactical and sped past the Axiom towards the ternium cloud. Without a target lock, Captain Jir-Lazan was relying on good fortune to achieve a few successful detonations.

  “Hold,” Recker said, not wanting to take the same chance himself.

  “Twenty second travel time on those missiles,” said Aston.

  For short lightspeed transits, the ternium waves didn’t usually last long. Four Lavorix warships appeared in local space, stationary and within five hundred kilometres of each other. Burner got a sensor lock and Recker glanced at the feed.

  The Lavorix warships were identical types – square-nosed, long bodied and with stubby wings that were fitted with huge turrets and likely housed missile clusters as well. Each craft was about the same length as the Aktrivisar, but with additional bulk suggesting they had a greater mass. Not one was undamaged – their armour plates were pocked and cratered.

  “That fourth one looks like it might fall apart,” said Aston.

  “Lightspeed missile strike,” said Recker.

  A vast, ragged hole about four hundred metres in diameter left the rear section of the fourth Lavorix ship in a terrible state and its facing gauss turret was completely missing along with most of the portside wing. Not only that, numerous smaller missile craters indicated that the craft had survived its previous engagement by the skin of its teeth.

  Without delay, the four enemy craft accelerated ferociously on diverging courses and Recker saw pieces of debris rip away from the hull of the most damaged warship.

  “Fire!” he said.

  “Forward Hellburners one and two locked and launched. Forward and upper I
lstrom clusters one through four launched.”

  Sound filled the bridge – engines and the detonations of missile propulsions. Recker banked hard, to bring the Axiom’s rear launchers to bear and the creaking of the walls became a groaning and pinging of flexing alloy. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Aktrivisar also banking as it gathered speed.

  “Set the Railers on auto and aim them at that fourth Lavorix ship, Commander.”

  “Yes, sir. Railers targeting.”

  “Switch back to missile track and destroy the moment you detect a launch.”

  Recker prepared himself for the cacophony. Many metres separated the bridge from the Railer turrets, but the sound waves swept through in a roar interspersed with a heavier bang-bang-bang that made him think of explosives, rather than metal slugs being hurled from a barrel. Such was the brutality that it seemed to Recker as though the air pressure in the bridge increased and he experienced a droning, buzzing sound at the extremes of hearing.

  On the bulkhead feed, streaks of white lanced into space, connecting with the damaged enemy warship. It accelerated with noticeably less urgency than the other three and the Axiom’s multiple Railers pounded its armour. A moment after the Railer fusillade started, four much larger projectiles sped across the feed with such velocity that they left trails like white-hot meteorites behind them.

  “Terrus,” said Aston.

  The Terrus projectiles tore into the most damaged Lavorix warship, smashing away huge sections of the already shattered armour.

  “That’s got to be enough,” said Eastwood.

  The enemy warship’s acceleration ended and it started coasting, though Recker didn’t think it was entirely out of action. He checked the tactical and counted twenty Ilstroms locked on the stricken vessel. That would have to be enough.

  Recovering from the short period of surprise, the Lavorix warships unloaded missiles and countermeasures. Recker was waiting for the gauss slugs and he threw the Axiom around, hoping it would be enough to turn a direct hit into a glancing blow.

  The closest enemy ship fired its gauss cannon. Given the angle, it could only discharge from its portside wing and the projectile skimmed the Axiom’s upper armour. A moment later, a second projectile struck the Axiom a crunching blow topside, not far from one of the sensor arrays. Recker caught a glimpse of crumpling armour and a trace of heat.

  “Minor damage, sir,” said Fraser.

  A third enemy slug hit the Axiom a reverberating blow. Recker didn’t see the impact and tried to ignore the distraction as he piloted the ship in a series of increasingly erratic turns.

  “Hellburners on boost,” said Aston. “The Aktrivisar’s launched another wave of missiles.”

  The Hellburner missiles were capable of a short-duration final approach burn, designed to help them evade countermeasures and to give their armour-piercing warheads some extra punch. Twin plasma explosions erupted on the flank of one Lavorix warship, engulfing a large section of its hull in flames.

  At the same time, ten or twelve Ilstroms crashed into the most severely damaged of the four enemy craft. Pieces of wreckage flew everywhere and the spaceship broke in two, splitting where the Daklan lightspeed missile had exploded. A second later, twin Terrus impacts and a wave of Feilars finished the job, turning the Lavorix warship into eighteen billion tons of dispersing wreckage.

  Nobody had time to celebrate. The surrounding area of space was filled with missiles flying in both directions. Multiple tracers lanced through space, coming from both the Aktrivisar’s Graler turrets and the Axiom’s Railers. Spheres of white flashed from the Daklan pulse-shock countermeasures. Aston released a wave of disruptor drones and they glittered like sunlight on a pure ocean.

  Fifty thousand kilometres away, the Lavorix ships become surrounded in what appeared to be an intricate spiderweb of white and blue lines, which formed a gradually expanding sphere. Ilstrom, Hellburner and Feilar missiles entered the web and were destroyed in a series of tiny explosions, each one leaving a gap in the Lavorix countermeasures.

  “Ilstroms launched,” said Aston. “Setting all Railers to track and destroy. Second wave of drones launched.”

  The enemy missiles entered the storm of drones and gauss slugs. Many were destroyed or fooled into detonating against the disruptor drones.

  “Hellburners launched.”

  Not every enemy missile was taken out by the countermeasures. One struck the Aktrivisar, exploding in a huge burst. Another crashed into the Axiom’s stern, where it penetrated the outer layer of armour and detonated, ripping out a few million tons of alloy.

  “Damage report,” growled Recker.

  “Checking,” said Eastwood.

  With missiles flying and the fighting at its most intense, Recker was in his element. Several of the Axiom’s Ilstroms struck the Lavorix craft which was still glowing hot from the Hellburner strikes only a short time before. A second enemy spaceship was lit up by a swarm of Feilars, along with four simultaneous Terrus impacts which inflicted colossal damage.

  The decaying spiderwebs of the Lavorix countermeasures faded and were instantly renewed. Two Hellburners were destroyed by the cloud of tiny interceptor missiles and Recker cursed the timing.

  “Ilstroms on their way.”

  “No hull breach from that missile, sir,” said Eastwood. “We’ve got a hole in the outer plating and the inner plating is intact.”

  “Forward Hellburners one and two launched. Upper Ilstroms fired.”

  Recker banked again.

  “Rear Ilstroms fired.”

  The Axiom suffered another gauss impact and two missiles evaded the disruptor drones and the Railers. Explosive sounds came like thunder and Recker clenched his teeth as a row of green lights on his console turned amber.

  “Terrus strikes on the third enemy ship,” said Aston. “The Aktrivisar took two shots in return.”

  At that moment, something entirely unexpected happened. A message appeared on his screen – directly this time, rather than being forwarded to his console by Lieutenant Burner.

  Excon-1> Captain Carl Recker. Prepare your ship for core override.

  Recker took the warning at face value. “Core override incoming!” he shouted, turning the Axiom so that it would drift away from the Lavorix ships, rather than coming closer to their weapons.

  “Disruptor drones launched,” said Aston immediately. “Rear Hellburners locked and away.”

  “I have advised the Aktrivisar,” said Burner. “Comms now offline. Shit.”

  The core override came and the last thing Recker saw on the tactical was a few dozen enemy missiles heading towards both his ship and the Aktrivisar. Then, the screen stopped updating, leaving the green and red dots unmoving.

  “I’m frozen out of my console,” said Eastwood.

  “Me too,” said Aston.

  “Sensors offline,” said Burner. “The arrays are powering down.”

  “The enemy aren’t messing about this time – they’re going to shut everything down and blow the crap out of us. Be ready to give the obliterator core access to our onboard systems,” said Recker.

  Even as he spoke, the propulsion note and the pounding of the Railers stopped, bringing an overpowering silence to the bridge. In fury, Recker watched the rapid progress of the core override as it infiltrated the last few minor subsystems. In seconds, it was done.

  The technical teams who’d installed the obliterator core had provided vague guidelines as to the best time to introduce its purge function. The truth was, they didn’t really know and Recker couldn’t blame them. However, he was the one in the firing line and he was acutely aware that a purge of the core override wasn’t going to help much if his spaceship was subsequently destroyed by enemy warheads.

  “Switch over the core,” he ordered.

  “Done,” said Eastwood.

  At first, nothing happened. Recker counted down the seconds in his head before the inbound enemy missiles would hit the Axiom. Even with the heavy cruiser travelling fast
and in the opposite direction, the warheads would catch up in less than thirty seconds.

  Something new appeared on one of Recker’s displays. It was a graphical representation of the Axiom’s internal systems, with each one coloured in red and labelled Core Override Status: 1.

  In the middle of the schematic, a green square was labelled Obliterator Core, and the accompanying utilisation gauge was stuck at 100%. Recker closed his eyes for a split second. These core units were something new. They could only run a reduced set of instructions, which made them currently unsuitable for main duty on a warship. But those instructions they could run were executed at many times the speed of any other processing unit in the HPA.

  The rectangular block representing the life support system changed to green and the label updated. Core Override Status: 0. Backup: Burst Restore: 80%.

  “It’s happening!” said Lieutenant Eastwood excitedly.

  “It’s not happening quickly enough,” said Aston. “Missiles impacting any second.”

  With the sensors shut down, Recker and the crew were blind, but they didn’t require sight to know when the missiles hit the armour. The sound of numerous overlapping blasts came to them and Recker held tightly to the controls, knowing the designers and the shipyard had gone to town with the extra plating, and hoping it would be enough.

  “We had more incoming than that,” he said in realization. “The Aktrivisar must be operational and their countermeasures took out some of the missiles which were coming our way.”

  The explosions died and Recker listened for the bone-deep rending which would indicate the Axiom was breaking up. It didn’t come, though he didn’t get his hopes up that the warship was about to emerge from this intact.

  “Life support restore complete!” said Eastwood. “The core override is purged from the control system, the engines and the sensors! Restore in progress. Damn this obliterator unit is fast!”

  “It’s prioritising the most critical systems,” said Recker. “If we pull through this, I might just have to find the team responsible and buy them all a drink.”

  He tried the controls. They shifted along their runners but without affecting the direction of the ship. A tremendous bang against the hull was followed by a second straight after.