Refuge 9 (Fire and Rust Book 5)

by Anthony James

  “We got the jump on the enemy and hit many of them with missiles before they could turn on their stealth,” he said. “Now we can read their positions from the heat.”

  “Pound for pound our ships beat their ships once you take stealth out of the equation,” said Kroll.

  “The battle network data gives us a fifty-two-ship numerical advantage,” said Kenyon. “We’ve destroyed sixteen of theirs and they’ve knocked out ten of ours. They have other warships hidden by stealth and we don’t have precise numbers.”

  “Yes!” exclaimed Lieutenant Murray. “Three more confirmed kills reported on the battle network!”

  “They’ve got the mothership and that’s worth a dozen light cruisers if the Raggers use it properly,” said Griffin. “Where is it?”

  “Hass-Tei-112 is accelerating straight to where his own side’s presence is strongest,” said Shelton. “I’ve added a highlight on your tactical, sir.”

  “Running like a skinny-ass bastard to hide from us,” said Murray. “I’ve made the comms team on the Revingol aware of Prime011’s significance.”

  “That’s our target down,” said Jackson with evident relish.

  “Pick another and give them the same treatment,” said Griffin.

  “What about the mothership, sir?” asked Shelton.

  “That one’s Admiral Yeringar’s call. It might be that he organizes a dedicated sub-group to knock Prime011 out of the fight. I don’t want to piss him off by acting out of the team.”

  “I gotcha, sir.”

  The Broadsword’s railguns thumped with discharge and Griffin heard the booming detonation of Ultor-VI propulsions. He switched on the missile overlay for the Gradior and noted that the Fangrin were giving it everything. Despite the recent evolution in the ULAF fleet, the aliens still had the edge when it came to outright firepower, armor and, most of all, numbers. With the alliance holding strong, it no longer seemed like such an issue.

  “I think we’ve got a break-off group of five enemy ships coming for us or the Gradior, sir,” said Dominguez.

  It was a good spot and Griffin altered course in order that the Broadsword could deliver a payload of missiles from its lower and rear clusters while the fronts were mid-reload. One of the rear railguns was disabled as a result of the earlier damage, leaving only one available. Lieutenant Jackson made good use of it and put a slug straight into the flank of a Ragger light cruiser at eighty thousand klicks. The rear clusters were operational and she fired a salvo, after which Griffin once again changed the spaceship’s heading in order that his weapons officer could make use of the front railguns.

  “Dare I say it, but these Raggers are bad in combat without their stealth, sir,” said Shelton.

  “Captain Conway has been saying exactly the same thing about their ground troops, Lieutenant. We should be thankful they’re out of practice.”

  Between them, the Broadsword and the Gradior put two more of the approaching Ragger ships out of action. The others were becoming harder for Dominguez and Shelton to keep track of.

  “The missile heat is dissipating from them, sir,” said Dominguez. “We’ll lose sight of them soon.”

  “I won’t let that happen,” said Jackson. “Ultors on their way.”

  “The Gradior has been hit by railgun fire, sir,” said Kenyon. “Two strikes on their underside – source unidentified.”

  “Shit – a stealthed warship,” said Griffin.

  “I’m on it, sir,” said Dominguez. “They fired their railguns – next time they do it, I’ll have them.”

  The presence of a hidden spaceship was an unwelcome reminder of what a game-changer the stealth tech was for the Raggers. Griffin introduced a new random element into the Broadsword’s evasive maneuvers in the hope that it would throw off the enemy’s aim. Captain Isental did likewise and the two heavy cruisers spun and turned.

  Meanwhile, the exchange of missiles with the known Ragger ships continued unabated. A plasma warhead slipped past the Shredder interceptors and struck the Broadsword on its deflective nose plating. The impact reverberated through the walls and Lieutenant Kroll desperately hunted through the damage logs.

  “No hull breach,” he said, relief in his voice. “Minor damage to our nose plating.”

  “The Gradior took another railgun shot, sir.”

  “Where’s that damned stealth ship?” Griffin demanded.

  “I missed the railgun coil charge,” said Dominguez. “The enemy ship isn’t where I thought it was. I need a direction.”

  “I’ve got that data from the Gradior,” said Kenyon. “It’s on your console.”

  “I see it. Waiting for the next coil charge.”

  Lieutenant Jackson put another Ragger light cruiser out of action, ripping it apart with plasma missiles. At the same time, Lieutenant Shelton detected the approach of yet more of the enemy spaceships. Griffin swore – he wanted some breathing space in order to concentrate on the hidden spaceship. It wasn’t to be.

  Additional bad news came on the comms.

  “Three of our spaceships vanished off the battle network,” said Kenyon. “They were not under direct attack from the Ragger fleet.”

  “The Sekar battleship,” said Griffin, guessing the cause at once. “Where is it?”

  “A couple of Ragger ships also disappeared, sir,” said Shelton. “There goes a third.”

  “And another of ours,” said Kenyon. “Shit, what’s going on?”

  Griffin felt his confidence eroding. The Sekar had entered the arena and the early signs were that this new ship was every bit as deadly as its reported size suggested. Worst of all, it appeared to be equipped with a weapon capable of snuffing out warships before it was visible on the sensors.

  “At least it’s indiscriminate,” said Kroll.

  “That doesn’t make me feel too much better.”

  With no choice other than to destroy the known opponents in front of him, Griffin got on with it.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Railgun coil charge detected!” said Dominguez in triumph. “All yours, Lieutenant Jackson.”

  “I see it,” said Jackson. “Ultor-VIs launched.”

  A thick wave of missiles burst from the Broadsword’s portside and forward launchers, and they raced towards the place Dominguez had pinpointed. The enemy ship was less than five hundred klicks distant – not much in the context of space warfare.

  “We’ve got those bastards,” said Jackson, anticipating the kill.

  The Ultors didn’t impact. The Ragger spaceship vanished off the tactical and, with their target unavailable, the plasma missiles shut down and flew straight.

  “They got taken out by the Sekar,” said Griffin.

  “The coordinates of their spaceship have come up on the battle network,” said Kenyon.

  “I’ve got them,” said Dominguez.

  The Sekar warship was a few thousand klicks above Glesia and coming from the planet’s blind side. Griffin realized what had been bothering him earlier – he knew nothing about the tharniol sphere, but he wondered if the ships ejected from it were deposited back in the position they’d been originally. Fate had thrown Attack Fleet 1 and the Raggers together from the outset, and left the Sekar ship to come hunting once the engagement was underway.

  “That’s…big,” said Shelton.

  Around the planet it flew, a vast construction of darkness that was visibly indistinguishable from the background of space. The Broadsword’s sensors possessed all sorts of tricks to identify targets and Dominguez had shaded the Sekar battleship in green. Griffin did his best to understand the shape of the vessel – it tapered from back to front and had an appearance that was somehow jagged, like the design of the outer hull was in no way important to its creators. The sight of it made Griffin go cold – this was an opponent neither the Raggers, the Unity League or the Fangrin could defeat.

  “We lost another two,” said Kenyon.

  “There’s no sign of a weapon discharge from the Sekar battleship,” said
Shelton. “I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

  “Those assholes have a lot of incoming,” said Dominguez.

  Both the Raggers and the allied fleet launched missiles towards the Sekar spaceship. Griffin toggled the missile overlay and saw that several hundred warheads were heading directly for the enemy craft. Amongst the usual plasma explosives were four high-yield nuclear missiles.

  “If this battleship is anything like the one we encountered last time, those missiles are going to do squat,” said Kroll.

  “I know it,” said Griffin. “We should get out of sight around Glesia. Pass the recommendation to the Revingol.”

  “On it, sir.”

  Griffin studied the tactical at maximum zoom out. The majority of the fighting was taking place a million or more klicks from Glesia. They had a long way to go in order to avoid line of sight targeting - assuming the Sekar even required a visual to lock and fire. And it wasn’t just the Sekar that AF1 had to worry about – the Raggers weren’t going to sit back and watch. They’d take whatever advantage they could from the situation.

  Or so Griffin thought.

  “Sir, Prime011 is accelerating hard away from Glesia,” said Shelton. “Whoa that thing is faster than the Hurricane.”

  “The other members of the Ragger fleet are altering their movement patterns,” said Dominguez.

  Griffin guessed what they were up to. “Hass-Tei-112 doesn’t like what he’s seen from that Sekar ship so far. Or maybe he already knows exactly what it’s capable of. He’s making a run for it and leaving most of the other ships to act as a smoke screen.”

  “First wave of missiles about to strike the Sekar battleship,” said Shelton.

  The distance was extreme and the sensor feed didn’t provide any great detail. A flash of white appeared and lingered. The bright plasma fires grew with each new missile strike and then a pulse of gamma radiation added to everything else. Amongst it, the Sekar ship was lost and Dominguez did what she could to get a reading through the heat and radiation.

  “I think the Raggers lost another spaceship,” said Shelton. “I have not been able to confirm.”

  “One dropped off our battle network,” said Kenyon.

  “Dammit,” said Griffin in anger. “The battleship is still operational.”

  “I can’t read it amongst the interference,” said Dominguez.

  The Broadsword’s sensors couldn’t provide clarity. However, one or more of the other ships in AF1 had evidently gathered enough data to convince Admiral Yeringar that further attempts to destroy the Sekar battleship were futile.

  “The order has come through from the Revingol,” said Kenyon. “Every member of AF1 is to make for Glesia unless it’s impossible to disengage from an opponent.”

  This was the moment with the greatest opportunity for chaos and failure. Three sides were locked in combat and it was impossible to predict what was going to happen. A withdrawal was always difficult and with so many spaceships trying to blow the crap out of each other, this one was going to be messy.

  “What’s happening with our current opponents?” asked Griffin.

  “One is banking away and heading for deep space,” said Dominguez.

  “I’m locked onto another,” said Jackson. “It’s got us targeted. Want me to hold?”

  “No. Destroy it.”

  “Missiles launched.”

  “Captain Isental informs us he is heading for Glesia,” said Kenyon.

  “And we’re coming with him.”

  The Ragger light cruiser was no longer important. The quantity of Ultor-VI missiles heading towards it was enough to destroy or disable the vessel. If it required finishing off, the Broadsword and Gradior could do that well enough using their aft weapons.

  “Target destroyed,” said Jackson.

  “One less thing to worry about,” said Griffin.

  The view on the tactical had changed significantly over the last few seconds. Already a clear space was forming between AF1 and the Ragger fleet. Prime011 and its escort were travelling at high speed and showed no sign of slowing. The other Ragger ships continued launching missiles at AF1 but didn’t pursue.

  “They’re buying Hass-Tei-112 some time and then they’re planning to get out of here as well,” said Dominguez. “I wonder if they know something we don’t.”

  “I’ve been wondering the same thing,” said Griffin. “They went for deep space before we committed to Glesia.”

  “Hass-Tei-112 is just looking to save his own ass, sir,” said Shelton. “He’s a bigwig amongst the Raggers. I’ll bet this is his own personal fleet and his own personal mission on Glesia. Now it’s gone bad, he’s looking after number 112.”

  Shelton’s explanation was convincing and Griffin agreed with it. He didn’t know enough about the Raggers in order to predict how they’d behave, but Hass-Tei-112 had such a manner of superiority that it was easy to believe he’d run at the first sign of real danger.

  Seconds went by and Griffin kept the Broadsword on full thrust. The Gradior was a little faster and it pulled steadily away.

  “Captain Isental recommends we jettison our ballast,” said Kenyon. “He’s a real comedian.”

  Griffin didn’t expend effort coming up with a clever reply. His brain was fully occupied on the tactical and the sensor feeds. The Sekar ship was moving away from its initial position – not at any great speed, but enough to make it harder for AF1 to get out of sight behind Glesia. Had the engagement with the Raggers taken place a few hundred thousand klicks nearer to the planet, it would have been far easier to get blind side. Unfortunately for Griffin, the Broadsword had been fighting at the edges of the arena, making his journey longer than the others. The heavy cruiser would be exposed for a long time.

  “Maybe we should head for deep space like the Raggers,” said Dominguez.

  “We’re committed to Glesia, Lieutenant. It’s too late to change course.”

  “How are we planning to beat the Sekar anyway?” asked Kroll. “Are we aiming to blow up our tharniol detonators like we did last time?”

  “I think the plan is to evade it long enough for some of us to make it to lightspeed,” said Griffin.

  “Some,” said Dominguez, putting extra emphasis on the word.

  “I told the Revingol’s comms team about the detonators,” said Kenyon. “So Admiral Yeringar knows the enemy’s weakness.”

  “He could ditch a couple of ships on the surface and set them to explode,” said Kroll. “Though it would take unbelievable luck to pull off something like that.”

  “We lost another spaceship,” said Kenyon.

  “What about the Raggers?”

  “No sir. They have not suffered any additional losses.”

  “Too far out?”

  “I believe the enemy weapon has a range of about a million klicks,” said Jackson. “Not one of their kills has been executed further than that.”

  “We are a third of a million klicks from the Sekar warship,” said Shelton.

  Griffin didn’t like to rely on luck coming to his rescue. At the moment, he was having to do just that and he tapped his knuckles twice on the side of his flight helmet.

  The Sekar battleship began circling Glesia at an altitude of five thousand klicks and increased its speed in order to keep the warships of AF1 in sight. An allied spaceship vanished from the battle network and shortly after two more went the same way. Griffin resisted the urge to punch his console.

  “I saw that last one,” said Dominguez in disbelief. “Here’s the replay.”

  Griffin couldn’t help but watch the feed. On it, he saw a Fangrin heavy cruiser with Glesia as the backdrop. Without warning, the cruiser was turned into a grey smear of rapidly expanding particles.

  “Disintegration,” said Kroll. “The entire crew dead – just like that.”

  “Sir, I’ve got Captain Conway on the comms,” said Kenyon. “He’d like an update.”

  Griffin had too much on his plate and didn’t know why his comms man cou
ldn’t handle the request himself. He was about to make a sharp comment when he had a thought.

  “Put him on the bridge open channel.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Captain Conway, don’t talk, listen,” said Griffin. “That Sekar battleship you saw in the tharniol sphere is in the process of wiping out the fleet of warships you just saved. I need you to think carefully – did you pick up any intel while you were in the facility that might help us?”

  “We only fought ground troops, sir. The death pulse killed the Sekar, but the base control entity said it would stop firing once the teleporter was repaired.”

  “You repaired the teleporter?”

  “Yes, sir. The final pulse went off a few minutes after we returned to the surface. There should be no more Sekar in the base. The death pulse hardware fires when it detects them.”

  “Hass-Tei-112 told us the range was a few hundred klicks,” said Griffin.

  Conway wasn’t slow on the uptake and he guessed where this was leading.

  “I must warn you, sir – the Refuge 9 entity said it planned to send the death pulse unit to other Ravok bases. The hardware may no longer be here.”

  “It’s got to be,” said Griffin. “Otherwise we’re screwed.”

  “Yes, sir. Another thing – the death pulse dances to its own tune. We never figured out when it was going to fire. Maybe it has an irregular recharge or maybe it waits until the threat level exceeds a threshold.”

  “Let’s hope it works on threat, because this enemy warship is a big one.”

  Griffin cut the channel. “We’ve got to lure that battleship closer to Glesia and as near to the Refuge 9 facility as possible.”

  “And hope the death pulse fires?” said Dominguez.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll pass that on to the Revingol,” said Kenyon.

  “How do we tempt a warship we can’t hurt into behaving like we want it to?” asked Shelton.

  “With skill and luck,” said Jackson.

  “We have to hope the Sekar will skim the surface as they pursue our fleet,” said Griffin.

  “And somehow that’s got to happen near enough to the subsurface facility and we’ve got to hope the death pulse fires at just the right time?” asked Kroll. “We’re going to lose half the fleet. There must be a better way.”