“Fire,” he ordered.
A stream of pellets killed five of the aliens before they could react, blowing their bodies away from the ship and out into space. The remainder spun around with surprising speed — Charles couldn’t help wondering if they’d been enhanced in some way — and started to return fire with handheld plasma weapons. They didn’t seem to care about damaging the ship. Charles cursed the weapons under his breath as he dropped to the hull, then crawled forwards. Months of research had not yet delivered a way to duplicate the alien weapons for humanity, despite their obvious advantages. It was a very minor frustration in the great scheme of things, but it rankled.
He tongued his communicator as the Marines advanced rapidly. “We have engaged the enemy,” he said. Another alien shuttle drifted into view, heading towards the hull. One of the Marines launched a handheld missile at it before it could start unloading its boarding party. “Prepare reinforcements at the major airlocks, but do not deploy unless we call for them.”
And then he concentrated on sweeping the aliens off his ship’s hull.
The alien superdreadnaught was armed to the teeth, Henry discovered, as the humans starfighters closed in on their target. She practically bristled with plasma weapons, each one spewing out hundreds of bolts every minute. A dozen human starfighters died as they tried to slip into firing range, the remainder ducking and weaving so wildly that one of them actually slammed into the ship’s hull. It absorbed the damage and rumbled on, utterly uncaring.
“Break off,” Rose ordered, finally. “She’s heading right for the Old Lady.”
And she might prove indestructible, Henry thought, as they put some space between themselves and the alien ship. She has too much firepower for missiles or mass drivers to slip through her defences.
He fired a shot at an alien starfighter, then rejoined the badly weakened CSP surrounding Ark Royal. The aliens were actually landing on the ship’s hull, hacking away at her point defence and sensor blisters. He had to admire their dedication; they probably wouldn’t survive, but they’d fatally weaken the Old Lady. Ark Royal wouldn’t be able to retreat any longer…
Up close, it was clear the Old Lady was in serious trouble. One of her starfighter launch bays was wrecked, while atmosphere was venting from her lower hull. Henry couldn’t help finding that more ominous than anything else. The Old Lady had plenty of atmosphere — carriers were far larger than any other ship in the fleet — but her inner airlocks should have automatically closed, preventing much of the atmosphere from leaking through the gashes in her hull. If the airlocks had failed, the interior damage had to be severe.
“Shit,” Rose said, as a flight of alien starfighters descended on the carrier. “They’re going to shoot through the holes. Take them out!”
“Understood,” Henry said. The regular squadrons had been shot to pieces. Pilots flew with whoever they could find, no matter what squadron they were assigned to. Many of the survivors were doing well, he noted, or they would be dead by now. There were only thirty-two starfighters left in the fleet. “Moving in… now.”
The alien starfighters hung in front of the gash, pouring plasma fire into the Old Lady’s interior. Henry had no illusions. They would hit something explosive or important sooner or later, blowing through airlocks and exposing more of the crew to vacuum. He opened fire as soon as he was in position, blowing one of the starfighters into flaming debris. The second starfighter angled away, returning fire in a steady stream of glowing bolts, but the third starfighter hit its drivers and flew right into the carrier. Moments later, it slammed into the bulkhead and exploded, violently.
“Incoming missiles,” Rose snapped. “Engage them…”
Henry spun his starfighter around, too late. Rose picked off one of the missiles, but the second was far too close to be stopped. And then Rose shoved her starfighter forward and both the missile and her craft vanished in a ball of fire.
“No,” Henry said. She couldn’t have sacrificed herself like that, not now. There were pilots who needed her. But she had found the death he suspected she’d craved. “I…”
He shook his head. There would be time to mourn later.
“This is Henry,” he said, as he yanked his starfighter away from the ship’s hull. He’d never quite sorted out the difference between Prince Henry and Charles Augustus. “I am taking command of the starfighter squadrons.”
He glanced at the status display and shuddered. Five more pilots had died in the last few minutes. The aliens were regrouping themselves, while the Old Lady’s point defence had been critically weakened and the superdreadnaught was closing in, belching out missiles as if her commander no longer cared about holding back. And maybe he didn’t…
“Regroup here,” he ordered, silently thanking God that they’d duplicated the alien weapons system. If they’d had to replenish their weapons as well as life-support packs, they would have been wiped out by now. “And prepare to fight to the last.”
“War Hog is gone, sir,” Farley reported.
Ted nodded. The aliens had battered Ark Royal so badly he could feel his starship dying around him. War Hog had seemed to lead a charmed life; she’d been part of Operation Nelson, then Operation Trafalgar, without taking any damage at all. But now she was gone, blown away so completely there was nothing left. There certainly weren’t any lifepods drifting through space…
The bastards would probably use them for target practice, he thought, sourly. Surrender wasn’t an option. All we can do is fight.
He gritted his teeth as he looked down at the mounting damage reports. Entire compartments and sections were unsalvageable, sealed off to prevent the damage from spreading, while over half of the ship-mounted weapons and sensor blisters were gone. If the Marines hadn’t been trying to keep the alien boarders from hacking away at the ship’s systems they’d all be gone by now, leaving the ship blind and defenceless. Fusion Four had followed the previous reactor into death, crippling his ship. If the aliens managed to take out one or two more, he knew, they wouldn’t have to take out any more of the weapons. The Old Lady would be defenceless anyway.
“Warn Doyle to move into position to cover us,” he ordered. The last frigate… she wouldn’t last long, but perhaps long enough. “And continue launching missiles and projectiles towards the superdreadnaught.”
He took a long breath, tasting smoke in the air. That was far from normal. The air circulation system had to be breaking down too. He keyed his console, sending a warning to all hands to keep their breathmasks at hand. If the circulation system was dying, considering just how much damage the ship had taken, the air would rapidly become toxic.
“Aye, sir,” Farley said. “But we’re not breaking through its defences.”
Ted nodded, reluctantly. The alien commander seemed to be mad; he was keeping his ship crawling towards Ark Royal, as if he intended to hammer her to pieces at point-blank range. Some alien weapons did have very short ranges — the magnetic bottle holding the plasma together rarely lasted long — but it seemed a little extreme. At least there was no sign the aliens had developed mass drivers. Ted couldn’t understand the oversight — mass-producing mass drivers was a relatively simple — yet he couldn’t help being grateful for it. The Old Lady was in no state to survive a single direct hit.