“Neat. A perfectionist.”
Before Chase could respond, a red halo started to flash on both their HUDs.
“What is this, Chase?”
“Checking…hang on.”
He looked at the information on his HUD. No doubt about it, a ship of some kind had just entered sensor range of the fighters.
“Heads up, we have company! It’s just entered sensor range; let’s engage stealth mode. Maybe they haven’t seen us yet.”
“Roger that. Stealth activated.”
“I’m getting multiple signatures now; this might be a scouting party.”
“What should we do, Chase?”
“Let’s assess their forces and try to identify their ships. In a few more seconds I should get signature verification. Hang on.” He studied his controls. “I read one corvette plus escort… Signatures seem to match the vessels that attacked Earth a few weeks ago. They just changed their course and are vectoring toward us.”
“I thought we were invisible in stealth mode?”
“Our scanners must have triggered their sensors somehow. Engaging jamming mode. Receiving more data now… The ships signatures are confirmed as Zarlacks; probably a scouting party trying to find out what happened to their fleet.”
“Should we engage?”
“I don’t see that we have a choice. If we do it fast enough, maybe we can prevent them from sending a distress call. But no matter what we do, this means we’re going to have company sooner rather than later. Right now, it’s just a matter of not letting them evaluate and report the bulk of our forces to their masters. Get ready to disengage stealth.”
“Wait up, Chase, I have an idea.”
“I’m listening.”
“Let’s micro jump and engage them from behind; they won’t be expecting that.”
“I like the way you think. On three?”
“Two, one, JUMP!”
Both F-140s jumped almost simultaneously and arrived a few miles behind their enemies. Without a moment’s pause, they immediately veered and engaged the scouting party. They managed to dispatch a fighter each before the rest of them could realize what was going on. Then the corvette turrets started raining fire upon them both. In perfect synchronicity, they initiated evasive maneuvers, effectively avoiding most of the hits.
“Think of my ship, Sarah. It will show you my status. I’m doing the same. Let’s dispatch what’s left of the fighters first, and then deal with the corvette.”
“Understood. Got your ship’s vitals on my HUD now.”
They both concentrated on the same enemy craft and it wasn’t long before it exploded out of the sky. There were now only two fighters left and the corvette started veering away while still showering laser fire toward them.
“Is it retreating?” inquired Sarah.
“No, it’s just trying to get out of range so it can send a distress call. We can’t allow that to happen.”
“I’m on it. Finish up the fighters. I’ll dispatch the corvette.”
“Without missiles, we’ll need both our firepower to dent its shields.”
“Wait—can the probes I used for testing move?”
“Brilliant idea!” Chase replied. “Okay, follow the corvette and make sure your jamming field is at full strength.”
A moment later, another enemy fighter exploded and Chase began lining up a firing solution on the last of them. Panicked, it fired all its missile at once. It took some pretty fancy flying to avoid them all…all but one. Chase slowed down and steadied his flying, making sure the last one was following him. Then he switched his weapons to rapid fire, less powerful in terms of damage, but more efficient against shields. He quickly scored hundreds of hits on the ship, which, by now, was in full retreat. When its rear shields were almost depleted, it turned to face Chase’s F-140 again. They were on a collision course, both firing madly while rotating to avoid as many hits as possible. Chase redistributed the power distribution to boost his frontal shield. Then, when they were about to impact one another, they both veered off course and the missile pursuing Chase locked onto the enemy craft and blew it out of the sky.
“Having fun?” Sarah asked.
“Just testing a theory. What’s your status?”
“I’m still engaging the corvette, but my lasers are barely making a dent. What do we do now?”
“I’ve reprogrammed some of the probes to intercept you; they should reach you in twenty seconds. In the meantime, let me help you a little.”
Chase entered firing range with the corvette and added his firepower to Sarah’s. It made a slight difference, but it would still take forever to get those shields down. And the longer they waited, the greater the chance they had of getting their jamming field damaged. Chase looked upon his HUD and started typing commands on his pad with blinding speed. A few seconds later, he hit the comm again.
“Okay I’m ready. This is what we’re going to do… I’ve put the probes onto a collision course. I’ll concentrate all my fire on a single point on the corvette’s shields and, when the probes arrive, you’ll need to shoot them and use them as mines.”
“That should be fun.”
“Yeah, I just wish I had missiles as well.”
“I see the probes. Get ready.”
Chase quickly rewrote the macro for hyper firing to speed it up even more, and then started firing hundreds of hits toward a single spot on the corvette’s shields. When the first probe was in range, Sarah shot at it. Its explosion took the corvette’s shields down by more than half. The second hit lowered them even more, and soon, they both fired full strength at the hull, scoring heavy damage with every hit. When a third probe arrived and it was time for the kill, both Chase and Sarah lit it up together and the corvette broke in two before exploding into jagged pieces and clouds of flames.
“Yipikaye, motherfucker!”
Chase frowned at the comm. “Yipi…what?”
“Oh nothing.” Sarah tossed her hair back. “It’s from a favorite movie of mine.”
Chase shook his head and smiled. “Alright, we should head home, analyze the flight data, and decide what our next course of action should be. Because I have zero doubt that we’re going to have more company soon.”
“So much for building F-140s to defend Earth.”
“We already have twenty more of them in the pipeline. We’re going to need to equip them with missiles or torpedoes though.”
“Amen to that!”
14
The flagship Dragon’s Claw was the jewel of the Obisidian fleet, a personal gift the Zarlacks had given the Emperor as a sign of their alliance with them. Most of the crew was Zarlack and while they seemed to react just fine answering his orders, the Emperor never really knew if he could trust them fully. A Zarlack officer entered the throne room. He advanced toward the Emperor and knelt quickly in front of him. Leaning on a wall behind the throne was a hooded man. He stood with a casual nonchalance, completely at ease despite his charged surroundings. It was most unusual. As far as the officer knew, all the major players had been accounted for. But try as he might, the officer couldn’t identify this new man; he was staying in the shadows with his arms crossed against his torso.
“What is it, Commander?” asked the Emperor.
“We’ve dispatched scout vessels to the last known coordinates of the fleet currently looking for the Alliance in the unknown regions. No ships were detected, but our long-range scans have detected debris from a battle and multiple Alliance signals. Shortly after arriving, the scout ships were destroyed.”
“So that’s where they’re hiding.”
“How come we only hear of this now?” asked the shadowed figure.
The officer stared at him in disbelief, then turned his sights back to the Emperor.
“Answer the question!” ordered the Emperor.
The Zarlack hurried to comply. “Yes, master! We found a transmitting beacon. They must have reprogrammed it to send an ‘all good’ signal; that’s why we didn’t investi
gate any sooner. As per standard procedure, we had to wait for three failed transmissions before sending a reconnaissance party.”
“In times of peace perhaps, but this should have been brought to my attention sooner!”
“I apologize, master; I’ve only learned of it now myself.”
“You’d better be more careful next time, or it will be your hide.”
“I...I understand, master. Thank you for your leniency.”
The hooded man made a noise that sounded like a disapproving growl, but didn’t move.
“Commander, assemble whatever fleet we can in the next few hours, then jump toward the coordinates. We will crush the Alliance resistance once and for all.”
“Thy will be done, master.”
“Dismissed.”
The commander rose and left the throne room, not daring to look back. Once the door closed, the hooded human spoke again.
“You’re too lenient with your troops.”
“Maybe you are too harsh with yours?”
“You’re still alive, aren’t you?”
The Emperor bared his teeth and looked like he was about to say something, but he decided not to escalate the conversation.
“What message would it send to the universe if people knew the Emperor was dead?”
“I don’t really care. What does matter, however, is that we get to this fleet, find the Alliance, and finish them off.”
“Which is what we’re doing. I’ll report back to you once they are dealt with.”
“No!”
“What do you mean, no?” the Emperor asked.
“Not only will I be coming with you, but I will command the fleet personally.”
“Like hell! These are my ships and my troops. I am in command.”
“Caution, my old friend, or should I remind you that even emperors can be replaced.”
“You misunderstand me, I meant…why would you bother?”
The hooded man almost smiled. “While I have no doubt you are a better fleet commander than those you sent before…” He grabbed a bag from his feet, took something out, and sent it rolling toward the throne. It bounced on the floor and came to a stop just in front of the Emperor. He stared down into the terrified, lifeless eyes of Admiral Zan. “They had a rather sizeable fleet but they still got defeated, which implies a superior strategy rather than bigger numbers. We did, after all, almost annihilate the Alliance in a few hours. As for this fool, he had that coming, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Perhaps. They probably lost half their own fleet in the battle though, so they’ll be easy pickings now.”
“Still, I sense something else.”
The Emperor didn’t answer and silence rang out between them. He stopped looking at the admiral. He knew full well that complaining about why he was dispatched without his authorization would put him in more jeopardy than he was already in.
“What do I tell my officers?” he finally asked.
“Whatever you want. As long as they understand that I will be leading them once we reach the target system.”
“I don’t understand.” The Emperor frowned. “You always stayed hidden, in the shadows. Heck, you’ve given me command of this flagship, the biggest and strongest ship ever built. Now you suddenly want to be in charge?”
“First of all, your understanding is not required, never forget that. If the Obsidian Empire defeated the Alliance, it is because of me, my associates and the bulk of our forces that I graciously lent toward achieving that goal. Second, I will be giving orders from the throne room. You’ll be on the bridge, observing, or in your quarters, getting blown by one of your many wives. If it’s the former, try to learn a thing or two, will you?”
A deep rage burned down to the Emperor’s very core. He didn’t like to be treated like an underling. But for now, he had no other choice but to obey.
“Very well.”
“I’m going to check something else now. Like I said, I have a weird feeling about all of this…”
With that, the hooded man disappeared back into the shadows.
15
Chase landed on the Destiny and went directly to the bridge. When he stepped out of the lift, he went straight toward the captain’s chair where Saroudis was receiving a report from an officer.
“How did the test flight go?” the captain asked.
“The flight was a success, but we had company.”
The captain froze. “What kind of company?”
“Zarlack.”
Saroudis took a deep breath and let out a long, exhaling sigh. “I had wished for more time to prepare before our next engagement.”
“Yeah, so did I. We have to start thinking about strategies and how to repel the next assault.”
“Yes we do, and we must prioritize our workforce into building ships and defense systems.”
“Agreed, Captain. I’ll look into the F-140 flight data to see what else we can optimize, and find a quick way to equip them with missiles. They’re fine against fighters, but taking down higher class vessels with their current firepower is not a viable option.”
“What ships did you encounter?”
“A corvette with an escort. We dispatched the escort easily, but had to pool all our resources and tricks to get rid of the heavily shielded corvette.”
“Understood. But make sure adding missiles to the F-140s doesn’t take too much time; we can always use these craft for dispatching other fighter vessels and get rid of the bigger ships with heavier weapons with the fleet.”
“I agree. Maybe a simple modification of Earth missile technology could be done without spending too much resources and time.”
“Let’s hope so. What else do you have to report, Lieutenant Commander?”
“Well for one, Sarah’s fighting skills are very good. She’s one hell of a pilot.”
“Sarah, is it?”
“…I meant Commander Kepler.”
“No, you didn’t.” The captain permitted a corner of his mouth to curl into a smile.
Chase’s face flushed and he dropped his eyes to the floor. He had never been in this situation before and didn’t know what to do besides wait for the captain to break the ice.
“Don’t sweat it; we all have feelings. And she’s definitely not bad to look at.”
Chase hesitated. “Yes, sir.”
“Now, on to more pressing issues. Our quadrinium reserves are evaporating quickly. We need to think about devoting part of our effort into replenishing them and seeking out any other possible allies before the Zarlacks come in full force.”
“Allies?”
“Surely the Zarlacks have made enemies in this part of the galaxy, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
“What about more Alliance survivors?”
“I’d like to hope more ships survived and maybe some escaped the attack back home but, without knowing for sure, isn’t it exactly the kinds of fool’s errand we ought to avoid with the limited time we have?”
“Not more so than trying to make friends with alien races that may see us as yet another enemy.”
“There’s wisdom in what you say. What would you propose?”
“I’m thinking Daniel and I could go back home with one jump capable ship and a couple of squadrons as escorts. Try to locate any surviving ships and bring them back here.”
“You’re my most experienced fighters. To put you both in danger with no guarantee of reward doesn’t feel like sound strategy to me.”
“I understand, sir, but, to have even the slightest chance of making such a mission succeed, don’t we need our best people?”
“Correct, but I need one of you to stay here. We need a seasoned wing commander should the battle start before the search party returns.”
As much as Chase hated the idea of going without Daniel, he knew that Captain Saroudis was right. They couldn’t put all their eggs in one basket. But Chase had no doubt that the current force of the fleet would be insufficient against the next wave to come. After
all, what kind of enemy commander would send a similar or smaller fleet after the one that had disappeared? No—the enemy would at least double or triple their forces. They’d come with bigger ships and bigger guns. To beat such a threat, the Alliance would need bigger ships and bigger guns as well.
“Alright, but we also need some sort of ace in the hole. Be it tactical or technological, we must have some way to level the playing field should the next wave be bigger than what we think we can handle today.”
The captain nodded. “Agreed. In fact, both our and Earth’s scientists have been considering this. So far, the only thing the people of Earth could propose is nuclear weaponry, but we know from our own history that’s too much of a risk.”
“In the hands of humanity, yes, but in ours? We’ve come a long way since those dark times—”
“No, no, no!” Captain Saroudis cut Chase’s argument short. “The moment we try to rationalize this subject with how evolved we’ve become, the sooner we get back to where we were a thousand years ago, at the brink of destruction. I won’t be responsible for the destruction of Earth, not now that we know that it’s our true home.”
“Look, Captain, I understand your position. Heck, I don’t want that any more than you do, believe me. But think of the alternative.”
“What alternative?”
“Simply put, these weapons are on Earth. They could get detonated anyway should we prevent the next wave of the attack. Wouldn’t they be less dangerous if we used them a farther distance from the planet?”
“What are you thinking about? Mines?”
“Kind of…but we add a few elements of surprise.”
“Now you’ve got my attention, soldier, tell me more.”
Chase began pacing distractedly, thinking aloud as he planned. “First of all, we shield them so they can’t be destroyed with tampering or a few shots; we don’t want our own weapons turning against us. Second, we give them engines, maybe even some jump engines so they can make micro jumps. It’ll be just like the modifications we added to the F-140s, but with simpler engines that have an even lower range and smaller fuel chamber.”
Universe in Flames – Ultimate 10 Book Box Set: An Epic Space Opera Adventure Page 21
