There was a Jupiter class assault carrier, the biggest ship in the E.D. F fleet, only four of them existed, and even losing one was a devastating blow for the Navy.
Two Jefferson class heavy destroyers also drifted, once thought of as a sturdy and capable warship. As well as the remains of a few Washington class heavy cruisers, which were identified by their raised rear sections and angled rail-cannons along their flanks. Dotted about the remains of the larger ships were several Ghandhi class destroyers and Mandela class light cruisers, obviously they were the escort force.
“How many are there?” Michael whispered.
“I count 27 vessels in all; of various sizes.”
Michael simply stared at the holoviewer; the scale of the devastation was hard to comprehend. Once proud vessels now reduced to smashed wrecks, the thought saddened and depressed him in equal measure.
After a few moments of silent contemplation Vargev suddenly spoke up, “any signs of life; at all?”
“None,” the Solarian replied solemnly.
Not a soul had survived it, Michael thought. He silently offered a prayer to all the brave people now lost in that horrendous graveyard. Even Vargev was moved as the holoviewer displayed the broken, blackened, smashed hulls of the various ships, silently drifting. Not a light twinkled, a power conduit crackled, nor even the fiery glow of an intact booster, it was like they were ghosts of what they once were.
Michael could just make out a single very small shape moving amongst the wreckage; it was barely visible amongst the comparatively enormous hulls of the wrecks.
“What is that?” He pointed out squinting at the screen.
The holoviewer zoomed in again.
There it showed the frozen remains of a mutilated E.D. F Naval officer, obviously he had been blasted out into space during the battle.
The frozen, yet perfectly preserved body slowly and silently drifted past the hull of a heavy destroyer; it was missing a leg, just reduced to a frozen crimson stump.
The body slowly rotated to face them; it began to reveal its features to the holoviewer. It’s left cheek; it’s bloodied, cracked, and frozen lips. It’s left eye, frozen open, unblinking.
It continued to rotate; as it did it revealed its horrific visage. Half of the man’s face had been torn away; showing the inside of his skull, bloodied, crimson and perfectly preserved, mashed pieces of bloodied brain matter and tissue remained inside the corpses frozen head.
It continued its slow rotation.
Michael turned away wanting to be sick, “murdering Krenaran bastards.” He muttered over pressed, angry lips.
Chapter 11
“Continue on course,” Michael said, wanting to put the awful grisly scene behind him.
The fleet accelerated again; jumped back into plasma drive and resumed their journey towards Delta base. Two hours later something began to show up on the ships sensors.
“We’ve just picked up something large and unmoving,” the Solarian sensor operator said.
Michael turned toward the officer; please don’t let it be another one of those ship graveyards he thought. His mind was still reeling from the sight of the dead Naval officer; it haunted him, and would for many days yet.
There was a tense silence amongst the staff on the command centre, as the Solarian officer studied his readings. “It has what appears to be some kind of defensive ring around it,” the officer said.
The news immediately made Michael feel better, as he realised what the officer may have found. He made his way over to the monitor, and decided to see for himself.
“It’s Delta base,” he almost cried out in jubilation. “We’ve arrived.”
He quickly walked back over to his chair, and seated himself again. “Signal the fleet to drop out of plasma drive on my order,” he said with authority driven by enthusiasm.
Immediately the Solarian command staff got to work, hands flew over consoles as crewmen contacted other ships notifying them of the situation; all this within minutes and with consummate skill, the entire command centre buzzed into life.
“The fleet confirms it is standing by,” Televis said.
“Major, order alert status, we don’t want any surprises. And Televis signal the fleet to do the same,” Michael shouted out his orders as though he was already a seasoned Captain; despite he had only been in command of the Liberty for a few days. Technically Nikolai out ranked him, however since Michael was much more highly trained in ship based operations the Russian allowed the Naval officer the infraction.
The command centre darkened noticeably, light from the myriad displays shone out; casting shadows across the oval room. Above every console a red light shone unblinking; bathing the command centre in a dark ruddy glow. The entire room took on a menacing air showing what the Liberty was really designed to do; and that was to remorselessly, and uncaringly destroy absolutely everything in its path.
Michael gave the nod, “drop out of plasma drive.”
Together; the Liberty and the entire fleet dropped out of plasma drive in a huge flash, lighting up the surrounding space.
“Bring up the viewer.”
The holographic viewscreen shimmered into life once again. Clearly depicting the enormous form of Delta base; it had changed much from when Michael had last seen it, it looked broken, badly damaged. The outer defence perimeter was still standing, although barely, huge breaches were clearly evident; rents were torn across its surface, blackened craters smashed into its hull. Its once proud rail-cannons that had kept the station and its occupants safe for so long were now merely ruins, the turrets blasted apart with horrifying power. Some gave off a fiery glow, still ablaze; indicating a recent attack. Here and there explosions sent out great plumes of flame, which lit up parts of its blasted surface as the munitions within succumbed to the heat.
Some of the inner laser towers were still operable on the base itself, though many looked like blasted blackened craters torn deep through the hull, where Krenaran weapons had silenced them in strafing runs.
Great tears and rents ripped across the surface, where particle cannons had done their work. They looked like great open wounds, and in some, flames continued to lick out into the blackness of space as uncontrolled fires continued to rage.
Michael gazed at the devastation before him, not really believing his own eyes. “Who could do this to Delta base?” His voice cracked with emotion. “It’s one of the most heavily defended facilities in E.O.C. A territory.”
Vargev shook his head, not really believing the scene either.
“Life signs, tell me there are some life signs,” Michael needed some sort of confirmation, a hint of anger welled up at what he was watching.
His mind was running through a myriad of thoughts all at once; he hoped and prayed Jana and Theo were still alive, however looking at the scale of the devastation in front of him, his heart sank.
“Some, isolated pockets, but faint,” a Solarian said.
This news made Michael feel slightly better, but not much, they could still be alive over there, “any power on board, environmental systems?” he asked, the urgency growing in his voice.
“Only on some decks.”
“What about docking facilities, are we able to dock with it?”
“Negative, the docking ports are all damaged beyond repair.”
Figures; Michael thought. The Krenarans didn’t want anyone escaping; wanted them all on-board like a tin of sardines to take pot shots at. He grew angrier, studying the shimmering image on the viewer intently; suddenly he spotted something that gave him a glimmer of hope.
“Magnify that spot,” he said pointing towards the display.
It was a wrecked fighter bay, probably taken a direct hit from one of their torpedoes Michael wondered; it left a huge blackened breach in the station’s surface.