“That much we agree on.”
“Might I ask for your assistance?”
“Our closest fleet is two weeks away.”
“Ah . . . that it is. However, there are those ships you’re hiding ten light-years rim-ward. We know the Emperor doesn’t travel light. How fortunate for us he’s here on Earth for these final round of talks.”
“You wouldn’t be a pain if you weren’t aware of those ships. Tell me what you need, and it will be done.”
Shepherd knew the ships were no threat to the USS. Not while Lord Commander Quintus Scipio commanded them. They were there as a show of force, don’t mess with the Emperor.
Since Shepherd being a full military man himself understood the need to protect his own, he held no ill towards Quintus for trying to conceal them nearby.
The only unfortunate result was he now owed the Lord Commander of the Imperial Navy another huge favor.
Shepherd already owed Quintus a debt that could never be repaid.
Chapter 18 – No Quarter
“I prefer to get out of here alive, even if we don’t have any sub-light engines left” – Aaron Rayne
Bridge
Phoenix
The figure on the holo-viewer nodded. “I wish you good fortune, Commander Rayne.” The comm closed.
On approaching the wormhole, they’d been hailed by Pilum. No doubt, Sub-Commander Arias Decimus was keeping his Lord Commander appraised of any new developments. Decimus might be an Imperial officer, but in many ways, he reminded Aaron of Vee. Just as Vee was loyal to Aaron, Decimus was to Quintus Scipio. Without Decimus watching his back aboard the Imperial flagship during the battle of Atlas Prime, Quintus would now be lord in whatever afterlife he believed in.
The holo-viewer flickered, now showing the swirling energies ahead of the ship. Raw natural power. An explosion fixed in time, and in all its magnificence. Only at maximum resolution could Aaron see the hypnotic swirl of the energies surrounding the event horizon.
He scanned the bridge. They were all transfixed by the holo-viewer.
Sergeant Dawes stood stoically to the rear of the bridge with his arms folded across his chest. The two corporals stood by his side.
Aaron stood and moved to the front. “This is it everyone. We know that several weeks ago Constellation went through and returned intact. We’ve already learned all we can from our side of the wormhole. The Outer Rim Alliance has already made their intentions clear. If it’s one thing I am certain of—right off the hilt—they’re a legitimate target if they’re waiting on the other side. We won’t hold back. They gave no quarter to Endeavor. We’ll ask none and we’ll give none in return.”
He moved to the command chair.
“Lieutenant Lee, energize all weapon systems, polarize the armor. Lieutenant Zane, stand by with the kinetic barrier and gravity wave dispersion. Ensign, prep for micro-jump maneuvers or full warp, depending on the situation on the other side.” Aaron turned to the marines. “Sergeant, you and your men have had basic damage control instruction. You know what you have to do. Feel free of course to remain on the bridge until that time comes, also . . . strap in.”
The crew set to work. The marines took a seat at stations to the rear of the bridge.
“Railgun magazines are loaded,” Lee said. “All systems at full power. All weapon batteries remain retracted until further orders.”
“Stealth protocols and defensive barrier ready,” Zane said.
Flaps followed on.
“We’ve got full drive power on standby, and micro-jump primed,” he said.
Aaron nodded. He glanced over at tactical. Rachael was operating the secondary tactical station to Lee’s left. If she was nervous, she betrayed no signs. Over at ops Ayres assisted Zane.
Aaron settled in the command chair and ran his hands along the arms. He clasped the battle harness across his chest. A holo-display of the tactical situation floated in front him, which he could manipulate it accordingly.
Flaps was looking at him expectantly.
“Ensign, take us in,” Aaron ordered. “And onward to great glory,” he added.
Aaron whispered it, not intending anyone to hear, but as Flaps turned away, the ensign held a sly grin.
***
Aaron’s teeth chattered as the deck and bulkheads rattled. The effect increased throughout the approach to the event horizon.
On entering, a strange sensation distorted the passage of time and it seemed almost instant. Space and time was still. There was no motion. No sound.
Everything seemed to freeze.
Phoenix surged from the mouth of the wormhole and burst through the other side. It was serene.
Peaceful. The transition took sixty seconds
Warning alarms slapped his eardrums and yanked him from the blissful moment.
“Multiple contacts!” Lee called.
Miroslav glanced sideways “Interdiction field detected!” The next report came from Ayres at ops cutting off Miroslav.
“—bearing three-two-one mark zero-six-zero, range, 120 thousand kilometers!”
“Thirty-six of them. Missiles in the black!” Lee cut back in.
Thirty-six hostile contacts populated the tactical board. Speeds, vectors, projections.
The ship ahead was the immediate threat—120 thousand klicks.
“Take us down relative to tango-1, Ensign,” Aaron said. “Evasive maneuvers at your discretion for now, work us toward the edge of the interdiction field. Lieutenant, take out those missiles. Forget those ships for now. Target the interdiction drones. Havoc heavy missiles, fire at will. XO, stand by.”
A lone sheep that’s what they were. A lone sheep which had suddenly appeared among a pack of starving wolves.
And the wolves dove in to secure the first bite.
The Outer Rim Alliance ships blockaded the wormhole around an area of space roughly three million square-kilometers, aided by an interdiction field preventing warp maneuvers out to that distance. There were some obvious gaps in the blockade.
No doubt, clusters of those dreaded antimatter stealth mines. They hadn’t found a way to detect them yet.
The attackers engaged ruthlessly. Explosions ripped the void. Phoenix streamed point defense fields of fire outward in all directions. The ship’s missile launcher batteries unleashed a fury of havoc heavy missiles at maximum firing rate.
After the initial chaos, Phoenix had joined the battle with her full might. Railgun salvoes blasted relentless from her guns, in solemn defiance of her attackers.
She leapt forward under powerful acceleration and vectored under the nearest ORA ship’s bow, a mere ten thousand kilometers. That ship was the first casualty of the fight, as a deathly accurate salvo of tungsten slammed into it and ripped through and through its superstructure, followed by several missiles.
Phoenix veered hard over to starboard. Flaps executed a series of maneuvers designed to keep the ORA ships guessing as long as possible.
Lee had his hands full monitoring the point defense screen, shooting down interdiction drones and firing at other targets of opportunity. Rachael assisted him in prioritizing the targets.
A close detonation from a shaped charge rattled the ship from bow to stern.
“Lee . . .” Aaron pressed. They had to destroy those interdiction drones and warp the hell away from this circle of doom.
“Working on it, Commander!” came Lee’s strained reply.