by John Walker
“Oh dear,” Harcourt said. “Trenik? Any idea?”
“They are focusing their power to perform a beam attack,” Trenik replied. “I’ve never seen it operated in my lifetime but it’s an old system… and supposedly a potent one. I do not know if it will be able to reach us from here. I will perform a scan from my station and inform you momentarily.”
“Don’t you think that’s information you should’ve provided before the attack?” Sasha barked the question. “Jesus Christ, they would’ve been a bigger priority! Get us that data right now!” He muted the line, turning to Daisy. “That answers the question.” He reached out through the tactical comm to all other ships. “Evasive maneuvers! Now!”
“What is it?” Wilmarth asked, “what’s the matter?”
“Those satellites are about to launch an attack… and it might be particularly deadly.”
“How are we just learning about this now?” Wilmarth demanded. “Never mind. We’re moving.”
The order went out to all ships. The Broken Light climbed, using the bottom maneuvering thrusters since the front and back continued to compete. The various beams connected all the satellites as if charging them up before ten beams launched out toward the approaching fleet.
The Broken Light pulled well above the attack, but the others hadn’t been as quick to respond. At least one of the Gold Empire battleships took a direct hit, slicing through it as if it were no more than a floating chunk of rock. Sasha held his breath as the ship continued to move upward, much faster than the artificial gravity could keep up with.
Holy shit! We never do this! He hoped the Broken Light could survive the stress. They slowed, coming to a halt to look down on the carnage spread out over the field of operation. “Oh my God… ” Sasha clenched his fists. “Damage report… and find out how long it will take before they can do that again.”
I hope our pilots realize what just happened. They just became the only chance we’ve got of surviving this let alone winning. Get on it, people and make it fast. For the sake of everything, you gotta pull this off.
Chapter 12
Noah saw the flash of light come from well above them; some kind of beam attack bright enough to illuminate the entire bridge. It didn’t last long, maybe five seconds but when it was done, the comm lit up. Alarms blared all around them, messages requiring attention regarding other members of the fleet.
“What the hell was that?” Nina asked. “An attack?”
“The satellites,” Dorian replied. “Just a second before they went off, we got an order from the Gold Empire to perform evasive maneuvers. Lucky for us, we were already out of range. There’s no way they gave us enough time to get out of there.”
“They had no way of knowing,” Mac said. “However, I have analyzed the attack and can give you an accurate time frame before they will use the weapon again. We have six minutes. When that time runs out, they will charge again, and ten more beams will cut through us. The range is extraordinary, and our shields will not defend us against it.”
“Okay then…” Noah narrowed his eyes. “Can they aim them? Are we in jeopardy here?”
“They do have maneuvering thrusters,” Mac said, “and those ten are merely the ones in range. There are additional satellites. The good news is once the pilots start taking them out, they will limit the destructive force. These devices rely on each other to power up and fire. That is what we are facing.”
Noah gestured to Nina. “Let Stevens know. Those are his only priority. Dorian, how many ships were damaged in that attack?”
“Better question is how many we lost,” Dorian said. “And the answer…” He paused. “Um…”
“Out with it,” Noah said. “Come on.”
“Three battleships, one of ours, two of the Gold Empire. Four destroyers, one of theirs, three of ours. Multiple scouts…” Dorian coughed. “Sorry… they’re just… they’re gone, sir. Totally wiped out. All those people…”
“Stay in the game,” Noah barked. “We’re still alive and have a job to do.” He considered their next move. Part of him wanted to charge the satellites himself, tear through them right away. “How long would it take to get into firing range of those satellites?”
“Top speed,” Erica said, “four minutes.”
“We’d have two minutes to start shooting…” Noah took a deep breath. And time’s wasting. They still had enemy ships to deal with. The satellite attack evened the odds somewhat, giving those three battleships an opportunity though they were still outnumbered. “I’m relying on the fighters. Erica, get a firing solution on the nearest battleship.”
Nina leaned close, lowering her voice. “If those things fire again…”
“We’ll have ample warning,” Noah interrupted. “Plenty for Erica to get us out of the way.” I hope I’m right about that. “Besides, we’ve got people in position to take them out. We have to give them a chance while we finish our job. We can’t be distracted right now.” He unmuted the comm to the other ships, “double your efforts on the enemy ships.”
“We’re still here,” Wilmarth said, “damn close though. What an intelligence SNAFU that was! Trenik explained a little too late.”
“We’ll talk to him about that later,” Noah replied. “Right now, we’re taking out the last three battleships. Four of us with the destroyers… we should have this.” Tactical showed one of their targets had taken significant damage. He marked it. “That’s the one we need to focus on. All units, target and fire on that vessel with everything you’ve got.”
Get your ass moving, Justin. This won’t be of much use if you don’t.
***
Justin spun to the left, struggling to level out once he cleared the attacking unit. When he came out of the motion, he found himself inverted to the rest of the unit. It had happened to him before plenty of times, but it always managed to make his stomach tingle.
Christ, when am I going to acclimate to this?
The satellites discharged shortly after. The beams must’ve been three times the size of a fighter around. Had any of their ships been in the way, they would’ve instantly been consumed. Fortunately, the shuttle carrying the war dog payload remained well out of range but that was a small consolation.
How many times can they do that?
“Justin!” Nina called, “you guys have to start picking off those damn satellites! Right now!”
“We’re engaged with a shit load of fighters!” Justin replied. “The Gold Empire backup is only just arriving to help us out. Once they engage, we’ll have some breathing room. Right now…” He paused to dodge an attack, opening fire on a different enemy before rocketing around to his original course. “We’re kind of screwed!”
“Those things just wiped out multiple capital ships instantly,” Nina replied. “I know what you’re going through out there. I’ve been with you plenty of times. Get near those things and fight near them if you have to but make them your only priority. Every one that goes is one less that can charge that weapon up a second time.”
“Dammit…” Justin sighed. “Yes, ma’am. We’ll do what we can.” He switched over to the others. “Those things are devastating. I know we’re all busy.” A ship nearly collided with him. He climbed, grunting as he did then cut hard to the left while engaging his afterburners. “Get near the targets. Do what you can.”
Probably not the most inspiring speech. Justin zeroed in on the nearest of the targets. It happened to be thirty seconds away through some of the heaviest fighting going on around him. The one above it might take a minute but at least it had fewer forces nearby. I guess that’s where I’m going.
“Pol, you guys gotta get these pricks under control!”
“We’re engaging now,” Pol replied. “Get your forces on the targets. We’ll do the fighters.”
The Gold Empire fighters entered the arena with guns blazing, tearing into the enemy forces. Justin let out some of his tension once they started in. Fighters from the surface continued to come up, joining the
fight. Two stages would end that from happening. One of them continued to approach the planet.
The rest just blasted the hell out of the allied fleet.
“Katya, I’m making a run.” Justin started firing just before he was in optimal range. The first two shots missed but the third and fourth slammed home. And the thing happened to be shielded. That wasn’t on the scan! God damn these things! “Nina! They’ve got defensive barriers” He kept laying into it. “And I’m not going to be able to dent it with a single pass!”
“Keep at it,” Nina replied. “I’ll get back to you in a moment.”
Shit, I know she didn’t just say that! Justin felt like she forgot everything about being a fighter pilot in that moment. She must remember we don’t have moments… minutes… whatever other dumbass time frame they want to throw out! I need answers now! He veered off as he got too close.
Other fighters cast attacks on the thing next, but the shields continued to hold. Scans didn’t show whether they were even bringing them down or harming them for that matter. This is not good! The enemy fighters diverted their attention, attempting to break from the Gold Empire to intercept them.
And now they want a piece of us. Justin shook his head. “You’d better hurry, Nina. Whatever you’re going to do needs to happen now. We’re in the shit out here.” I hate to rush her but… well, I don’t have a damn choice. He went fully evasive, working to get another firing arc on the satellite.
I’ll buy her as much time as I can… With four ships swarming around him, a sense of hopelessness built in his chest. Which might not be much!
***
Nina contacted Daisy on the Broken Light. “Put me through to Trenik right away.” While she waited, she got Mac on the line as well. The conference began only a few seconds later, much to her surprise. She swore she would’ve had to wait longer to have any work done by the Gold Empire crew considering what they’d lost.
I’ll just be happy they’re all over it.
“Trenik,” Nina said, “I’ve got our war dog on the line. I need to know what we can do about these satellites. Our fighters have hit them, but they’re fully shielded. We’ve got less than four minutes before they fire again.”
“I…” Trenik started to speak and fell silent. “Oh. Harcourt, I think I have an idea.”
“What is it?”
“This device. The signal it threw to the ervas battleship. Those things are taking data from the surface, information from a command center to fire at specific coordinates. What if we use this to blind them temporarily?”
“How will that help me with the shields?” Nina asked.
“It won’t,” Mac said, “but it will buy us time before they can fire again. Is that correct?”
“Exactly,” Trenik replied. “Give us… one minute. We should be able to use the transmitters on this ship to blast them. With any luck, it will short them out completely, but I’d say it will give you another five minutes. In the meantime, continue to shoot them while we think of something else.”
I guess that’s better than nothing. “Hurry up,” Nina said. “Mac, do you think this might work?”
“Considering our lack of options, I say it will not hurt to try.”
“That’s a fair point.” Nina briefed Noah on their plan. “They claim they only need a minute.”
“I pray they’re right. I’m glad he’s proved himself useful on this trip.”
“More than,” Mac added. “His concept has given me an idea. I am turning on the war dogs. When that signal blasts, I will have them collect it. At their distance to the targets, they should make the jam permanent, buying us more time.” He paused. “You must be aware this is going to be very tight. One mistake, one slip and we’ll face that weapon again.”
“Understood,” Noah said. “I’ll just cross my fingers.”
“That will not help anything,” Mac replied. “And I doubt it will make you feel better given that it isn’t a comfortable state to perform that action.”
Nina rolled her eyes. “There you go.”
Erica twisted the ship suddenly, turning like she was doing a donut in a ground vehicle. As she came around, she opened fire on one of their targets. One of their allies joined them, doing a serious number on the battleship in question.
And I thought I had some skills, Nina thought. Erica’s off the chain.
Dorian announced, “an enemy battleship has been disabled. I’m not sure where their destroyers have gone… ah, there they are. Facing off with the Gold Empire smaller vessels. They got caught up.” He sighed. “We’re having a hell of a time getting larger ships near the surface.”
“Understandable,” Noah said, “that’s their only objective: keep us away. They’ll do pretty much anything to maintain their line. But we’re pushing through… if only we can keep those satellites from ripping us a new ass again, we should be fine.”
As close to that as possible, Nina thought. After the first volley, we lost more than I’ve seen go up in all my years of flying. We can’t survive another hit from that thing. With any real luck, they wouldn’t have to. If our luck settled on the good side rather than the middle, I might have some more faith.
“Justin,” Nina reached out. “I’ve got an update.” She let him know the plan. “Shouldn’t take them more than a minute. Keep hitting the thing and do what you can until then. We’ve got plenty underway to help you out.”
“As long as it’s snappy,” Justin replied, “we’re not exactly holding hands out here!”
“Roger that.” Nina leaned back in her chair, regretting her decision to take the commander role more than ever. I want to be out there. But this gave her a chance to do something far more substantial, to make a bigger difference. Just not in the weeds anymore. It’s strange…
She felt both in control and totally without it. Not flying meant acting as a bystander, the coach in a big game. But every leader must have felt a compelling urge to stand in front of their people to show them how it should be done. If not, they probably aren’t the right people for the job.
Nina clung to that. It seemed like it might just help.
***
Trenik worked quickly to set up the signal. Fortunately, they already had the device hooked into the transmitters of the Broken Light. The bad news was they were about to drain a significant amount of power, enough that they may find themselves temporarily disabled. Which meant they may not be able to move or they wouldn’t have defenses.
I suppose those are better than total annihilation from the satellites.
“I recommend we move very high above the range of the attack,” Trenik said, “in the event this does not work, we may not be able to maneuver again for several minutes.”
“Got it.” Harcourt nodded before reaching out to the bridge. He let them know what they were about to do. “I understand you don’t like it, but this may be the only way we can save ourselves. Please know we’re doing everything we can to make this possible… to save what’s left of the fleet.”
Trenik tilted his head. He felt confused as to why Sasha would even question the process. Considering the alternative, he should’ve been all about it. But instead, like most military men, he had to ask unnecessary questions, delaying the process. This could be a fatal moment of ego.
The ship began to move up, which filled him with some hope. They can listen after all.
“Okay, it’s time.” Harcourt moved over to him. “You sure about this?”
Trenik shrugged. “I am not sure we have a choice either way. Shall we?” He reached out, his hand hovering over the console. Harcourt chewed his lip, brows furrowed. They hit the terminal at the same time, sending the signal out.
The device hummed, vibrating so fast it made Trenik’s teeth shake and his ears pop. He pressed his hands against his head, crying out as the sensation became worse by the second. Lights dimmed… went out. Deep within the vessel, something whined then stopped suddenly. That would be the reactor rebooting.
Trenik kne
w they had two minutes before all systems would return to normal. During that time, they were vulnerable. Only not to the ervas satellites. Those would not be able to maneuver high enough to cause any real trouble for them. At least… I hope not. He wished he’d seen them in action before.
As it stood, he only knew of their existence. Any capabilities had been rumor at best.
In less than two minutes, we’ll find out what they can do… or we’ll know what we’re capable of. One way or another, it should make this battle interesting. And possibly be the last thing I think about. That’s… far more exciting than I care to admit.
***
“I’m hit!” Katya shouted. “Solid blow through the shields.”
“Get out,” Justin said, “pull up and let your shields have a chance… your automated repair. You can’t do any good if you’re vulnerable.” He moved to escort her, blasting an enemy fighter from her tail then adjusting his course with a quick spin that made his guts ache. As he came around, he fired again, catching a second target.
His opponent veered off, colliding with one of its colleagues. The two detonated a moment later, sparks flying in all directions.
Justin joined Katya. “How’re things looking?”
“I still have full control,” Katya replied. “Nothing feels off. But my shields are borked. Starboard side seems to be down. I think one of the emitters is hosed.”
Justin checked the scanner to see how bad the path would be back to the Morrigan. Debris fields, dozens of fighters, and larger vessels moved about, turning the place into a constant bunch of chaos. “You can’t go back…” He sighed. “Fly the edges. Keep out of range. Do what you can, okay?”
“I’ve got this. Don’t worry about me. I’ll try calling some shots for you guys. Should help.”
