Imperial Destroyer—Pilum
Quintus stood with his hands behind his back, facing the tactical display.
Several minutes earlier Phalanx departed the nebula to engage the unknown approaching ship. What should have been an easy disable and board operation, was about to become a rescue operation for him.
He warned the fool Brutus not to leave the nebula and to allow the other unknown ship to depart. Quintus was certain the other ship they monitored entering the nebula would have someone aboard who knew what happened on Atlas Prime. Instead, for reasons unknown, the fool had pursued the fleeing ship and taken a devastating hit. Time was against Quintus. He still needed a way to dispatch a message to the Emperor and spread word of the Praetor’s treachery throughout his squadron and the rest of the fleet. The single largest issue was, many in the Empire desired war with the USS and he didn’t know how many of his crew might support the Lord Praetor.
Of course, his squadron was loyal to him, but they were also loyal to the Empire. If they longed for war with the USS, then he was as an obstacle to that goal. Brutus couldn’t have accomplished this much without wider support within the Navy. However, he couldn’t sit idly in the nebula while a United Fleet ship, an unknown ship at that, destroyed his flagship and not take action.
“Helm, take us out of the nebula. Full speed.”
“Weapons, load the severus antimatter missiles. Now is a good time as any to test these stealth weapons. If you might program them to detonate just beyond the ship that would be fine. I do not wish to destroy it.”
“Yes, Lord Commander, and lasers?”
“No. Lasers would certainly do too much harm. I intend to capture this vessel and its occupants intact.”
Pilum emerged from the nebula just as Phalanx veered off, stricken with damage from a face-full of antimatter weapons. The USSF and the Empire both seem to have made the breakthrough at the same time, quite the coincidence. Although the United Fleet warheads were blindingly fast unguided torpedoes.
The unknown vessel swung around and began to accelerate along a different vector.
“Analyze that vector and project likely destinations.”
“Calculating,” the navigator said. “Nothing for hundreds of light-years along that vector. It seems they are in a hurry to go nowhere.” He looked back at his instruments. “Lord Commander, our missiles were intercepted far beyond the desired range, it seems their PDCs are up to the task.”
Quintus shook his head. “After how much the engineers touted their stealth systems?”
“Indeed, my Lord.”
“Very well then, medium power only to lasers, precision targeting, aim for their engines. Once that ship’s main power is out, helm, take us within range. Inform the centurions to prepare for boarding action. I don’t want any surprise bursts of antimatter projectiles ruining us like Phalanx.”
“Yes, sir.”
Pilum cut loose with an effective barrage and soon burned through her targets polarized armor. It took longer than usual especially given the increased output of these new lasers. It was something to note.
“They’re using some type of new armor, flag it for intelligence and analysis,” Quintus said.
“Yes, Lord Commander. The vessel’s main power is offline and their main engine is disabled. Reading only minimal power now.”
Quintus motioned to his comm officer, who opened a hail to the unknown vessel.
“Unknown vessel, this is Lord Commander Quintus Scipio of the Imperial warship Pilum. Stand down and prepare to be boarded.”
****
Hammerhead
The message repeated.
“Unknown vessel, this is Lord Commander Quintus Scipio of the Imperial warship Pilum. Stand down and prepare to be boarded.”
Aaron leaped from his seat, Quintus Scipio!
“Lee, signal our surrender.”
“Sir? Imperials?”
“Now, Lee! Before he changes his mind. He has no idea who we are, we’ve got no identification transponders. We’re not at war yet!”
Quintus Scipio.
Whoever Quintus was, the Imperial agent on the planet gave his life to ensure Aaron would somehow find him. Now he had.
It was time for some answers.
He heard Lee signaling their surrender, everyone was fine apart from a few knocks. The laser strikes quickly penetrated the new armor and burned into the hull. He suspected that was largely to do with the power available to the polarized armor on this small strike craft. That they’d survived the strike at all, revealed volumes in terms of the level of protection it offered over the previous generation of polarized armor plating. Either that or the upgraded Imperial lasers were remarkable. Enough to disable them with precision strikes, yet no catastrophic damage.
The ship shuddered. Another craft—the boarding party—had likely connected to the outer airlock.
Followed by Miroslav and Lee, Aaron moved down the ladder to the small cargo deck. He stepped to the inner airlock and keyed it open, granting the Imperials access. They stormed the cargo bay and grabbed him first, a rifle butt to his gut and one to the back of his head. Perhaps they should have been gentler with their surrendered prisoners.
Lee took extreme offense to the umbrage. The first yowl told Aaron some poor Imperial trooper would be laying in a recovery bed for a month. He looked up and winced as a second trooper struck the far side bulkhead, a distinct crunch was heard. Oh dear, that one might be dead.
A trooper then held a rifle to Aaron’s head and Lee paused mid-swing. He’d poised to strike another trooper with his bionic arm when a commanding voice yelled from the airlock.
“Stop!”
The Imperial troopers froze—the one pointing the gun at Aaron’s head lowered it.
“Who commands this vessel?” the new voice asked.
Aaron raised his hand from the floor. “That would be me down here.”
“And you are?” the voice questioned.
“No one important.”
The head honcho nodded.
“Very well,” he said. “No one important, you agreed to surrender, why are three of my men near death? We could have destroyed your ship.”
Lee answered that. “You charged in here and assaulted us. We offered no resistance, you’re lucky they aren’t dead. Deal with me but I guarantee you, I’ll kill a lot more before you take me out. Starting with the one right in front of me.”
Aaron shook his head. “Lee, my friend forever, stand down, release the trooper.”
The Imperial looked toward Lee. “No harm will come to you, so long as you come peacefully. I give you my word.”
“The word of an Imperial means nothing to me. I surrender because my Commander asks me to.”
“Very well,” the Imperial said. He turned to one of his men. “Centurion, assist the Commander off the deck. Take him to medical. Have medical examine him and address whatever injuries he’s sustained. See after your injured men and place Lee and the other quiet one in a separate cell.”
With a sweep of his cape, the Imperialist trotted off through the airlock.
****
Quintus awaited the arrival of his guest. After having their injuries tended to, he summoned the Commander to his office.
The man’s green eyes didn’t hide their contempt for Quintus. Quintus ordered comfortable restraints be placed on the guest. They would not restrict his movement, so long as he moved slowly. If he tried to run, or move his hands wildly, the restraints would activate.
“Commander, sit please,” Quintus said, as his guard ushered the Commander in.