“Power down all weapons. Switch to shimmering field and then depower the shields,” Vota ordered. “Bring the weapons back online as soon as you switch.”
Her crew immediately went to work. The Sentinel ships had both defensive kits, the shields and the shimmering field, but they could only power one of them and the weapons, or power both without weapons. Vota was tempted to try focus all power on defenses and forsake her weapons, but she knew that unless she took down that battleship, it would keep pouring fire into her ship and overwhelm both of the Jewel’s defenses before they could attempt to skim. The shimmering field technology was one that the Empire stole from the Ra’a’zani. It wasn’t as effective as the shields at stopping incoming fire, but it would dissipate any impact, lessening the force of the attack. Vota only hoped that that would be enough for them to survive long enough to get away.
The Jewel’s weapons fire died off as the crew of the ship worked to switch power from the weapons to the shimmering field, and Vota wondered what the Erasi battleships thought about her ship’s silence.
As the Erasi battleship grew close, the shields on the Jewel dropped below 20%. Just as Vota was about to ask the status of the power switch, the shields went down, and she saw her crew working to bring the weapons back online. Suddenly the fire from the Erasi battleships stuck far closer to the Jewel’s hull, but the shimmering field did its job and dissipated the enemy fire.
A sudden lull in the battle appeared as Vota assumed the Erasi were trying to figure out what had happened. And that lull gave her people enough time to bring her weapons back online.
“We’ll be in point-blank range in twenty seconds for ten seconds as we pass the battleship, Ship Master,” her Sensor Handler said.
Vota nodded. The Erasi battleship had been slowing down, presumably preparing to change course and follow her ship as she went past theirs.
She watched on her c-board as fire kept pouring into her ship. Damage reports started popping up as the fire accumulated and the Jewel started venting atmosphere. Vora had nothing else to do until they entered the point-blank range of her ion turrets. Point defense kept taking down enemy missiles that now came in smaller waves, but every now and then a few would get through and hit the shimmering field or the hull where it had failed. Her proton beams kept firing on the Erasi battleship in front of them, blasting holes in the hull where their shields failed or hitting the shields where they didn’t.
Then they entered the optimal range of her ion turrets, and she raised her head from her c-board to look at her crew.
“Fire ion turrets,” Vota ordered, and immediately six ion beams designed to punch through energy shields struck and punched through their shields. The entire side of the Erasi battleship suddenly found itself without shields.
“Fire k-turrets.” Just as the two ships were passing one another at a distance of no more than eight thousand kilometers, or about 26 light-milliseconds, the Jewel’s two k-turrets fired.
Massive kinetic shells left the Jewel as streaks of light. Traveling at one third the speed of light, the two shells struck the unprotected Erasi battleship. The result was spectacular; the ship tore apart as it broke into three pieces, with explosions throwing each of those pieces flying in different directions.
“How long until we can skim?” Vota asked.
“Twenty seconds, Ship Master,” the Navigation Handler said as he oriented the ship towards the course that would hopefully lead them through the Erasi ‘blockade.’ The two remaining battleships kept firing and speeding towards the Jewel, targeting their drives. By now, the Jewel was littered with gashes and scorch marks on its hull, and its drives had been reduced to almost half of their max output.
“We can skim on your command, Ship Master. I can’t guarantee that we will make it, but it’s the best path I could find.”
Vota closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Skim,” she ordered.
The Empire Sentinel ship Jewel powered up its skim drive, and two powerful fields sprang into existence, one in front of the ship and one behind it. A moment later, space bent around it and the ship entered the skim, traveling faster than the speed of light.
Several moments before, one of the remote-controlled cargo ships that the Erasi used to blockade the Empire’s ship changed course as per its programming. The sudden change in course put it in the path of the Empire’s ship that was traveling at amazing speed. The moment the Empire’s ship struck the cargo ship, the space nearby was filled with a bright light, and then an incredible explosion sent pieces of both ships flying in thousands of directions.
Every single ship or station in the orbit of Tarabat watched as the Empire’s Sentinel ship fought against the Erasi. They didn’t know the reasons as to why, but they all watched in awe as the Empire’s warship stood against three Erasi battleships. They watched as the Empire’s warship destroyed the Erasi battleship, and then it disappeared, its wake leaving one station without power for long enough that its power-core destabilized, blowing a ship-sized hole in its side. And then there was a bright light, followed by an explosion and a rain of debris that pelted the stations in orbit, killing thousands.
Interlude I
A long time ago
Axull Darr stood on a hover-plate and sped through the streets of the Enduring’s city. He guided the plate with his mind Sha, using the interface he himself had designed. The people walking on the streets looked at him with surprise and annoyance as he sped pass them; after all, no one was ever in a hurry among the People. Why rush somewhere when you had all eternity to get there? Axull disagreed with that mentality. Time was precious, and there were so many things to discover, to invent, or to learn.
Most of the people were perfectly fine with taking their time, contemplating on decisions and projects for years before they actually did something. Axull was not like them. He never stopped to contemplate as the rest of his people did. He jumped from project to project, always learning, always furthering his abilities. It was how he had risen so far for being so young. Axull was barely two hundred thousand years old, still in the first phase of his life, and yet he had achieved almost as much as a Grand Exatt, the oldest and the wisest of the People.
He finally reached the transport hub and found a free one. He entered and picked the symbol for the world-ship’s main landing bay. Immediately, the chamber started moving, guiding him through the air over the city and then into the wall on the other side. The trip didn’t take long, and soon enough he reached his destination. The iris opened and he guided his hover-plate out of the tube and into the bay.
Immediately, he noticed the newcomer, a shuttle with the markings of another world-ship. He approached the new shuttle just as a part of its side dissolved. Axull spotted his friend and raised his hand to wave. Waiss Gast, Axull Darr’s best friend, glanced in Axull’s direction and took to the air, flying over the people leaving the shuttle and those that were there to meet them.
Waiss landed in front of Axull with a big smile and reached over to give him a hug, nearly making Axull fall from the hover-plate.
“Axull, my friend, it has been too long,” Waiss Gast said.
“It has,” Axull agreed. He glanced behind his friend at the two large wings that were growing out of his back, and were in the process of being covered with Waiss’s Shur At. “Those are new,” he commented.
Waiss looked back excitedly. “Yes, I grew tired of having to use anti-grav harnesses all the time. So I had them grown. Most of the flesh is in fact a biological anti-grav, but the wings themselves can help with maneuvering.”