Black Legion: 05 - Sea of Fire (21 page)

Lord
Ruhollah wiped another drop of blood from his mouth and then groaned at the discomfort.

“I am here with specific orders from my father to ensure these Terrans pay the price for their blasphemy.”

Tirbazus looked amused.

“Blasphemy? Are they not mercenaries working for a legitimate member of the Imperial family? Is it their fault that they were left here after the death of Cyrus? Perhaps helping them home would have saved lives, coin, and the eternal enmity of thousands of Terran warriors.”

Lord
Ruhollah laughed at that.

“Rubbish. The Terrans have no business in the Empire, and that is why the God King has granted me this task. Yes,
Ariaeus has seniority, but if I suspect him of treachery, or if he fails at any point, it is my duty to take over. And trust me, I will.”

Tirbazus shook his head.

“You are a young fool, My Lord
Ruhollah
. Ariaeus has many faults, but his knowledge and understanding of the Terrans is not one of them.”

Lord
Ruhollah moved away, but when he turned his attention to Tirbazus, he could see the amusement in his eyes.

“Ariaeus has spent years among their people, and his time as the right-hand ally of Cyrus gives him a unique position, one that could be vital in the long-term future of the Empire. You do understand the political rifts in the Empire right now? There are many Satraps just looking for a chance to usurp power, and this little game of cat and mouse with the Terrans is betraying Imperial weakness.”

Lord
Ruhollah shook his head and snorted.

“Internal politics mean nothing to me, Satrap. The politics of you Satraps is a thing my father always despised. With the click of his fingers, he can send a hundred battleships to any of your worlds and raze them to the ground.”

He spat the last word out and blood slipped out and struck the floor. One of the nearby local retainers recoiled at the great insult, while another moved out from the shadows and wiped away the blood before another word could be spoken.
Lord Ruhollah moved onto the first step and put his hand down to a jeweled hilt at his side. Tirbazus needed to say nothing as Kallinos and Koni, the two mercenaries in charge of the ragtag group of ships moved to his flanks. Lord Ruhollah looked at them both and then stopped, immediately suspecting treachery.

“You’re relying upon mercenaries to protect you now? If one of them lays a hand on a member of the Royal line, you will be executed on Babylon Prime.”

Koni, the leader of the Ionian Corsairs moved down a step and placed his hands on his hips. His expression was of pure joy, as if he’d just won some grand prize.

“Oh, we are not here for protection, young
Medes
.”

The use of
Medes
was intended as a slight, an insult to his sullied Imperial heritage, of which all of them were aware.

 
“Ariaeus has paid us well, and his money is paying for my warriors and my ships to fight alongside Tirbazus and the entire Hayastani Royal Fleet. We have forces that are the equal of the Carduchians.”

The mercenary licked his lips.

“You have no idea what is happening, do you? While you play king, your royal cousin Ariaeus has arranged for fleets in two Satrapies to deal with the Terrans. Maybe they will survive the fight with the Carduchians, maybe they won’t.”

“Exactly,” added Tirbazus, “and whatever remains, will either die there or struggle through the Sea of Fire. I doubt a single ship will get through the great barrier, but if they do, well…”

He then looked to both of his mercenaries.

“Our combined forces will utterly destroy whatever is left. All without leaving my domain.”

Lord
Ruhollah gave
Kallinos the same look Ariaeus had given her upon first seeing the female half-breed. He ignored Tirbazus, as though his words were nothing more than the mumblings of an old woman.
  

“And what about you? Are you here as well to take coin from whichever male takes your fancy? It doesn’t surprise me that Ariaeus would look to the likes of you.”

Kallinos shook her head and then stepped down toward him. She continued to his flank, and then without warning dropped down low and kicked into the back of his legs. Tirbazus laughed, not so much at seeing the arrogant noble fall to the ground, but more that this was the second time Kallinos had humiliated a member of the Imperial elite. Kallinos pointed to the fallen noble.

“I do not take insults from a bastard such as you. Try that again, and I shall take what little manhood of yours that remains.”

With a quick flick of her hand, she brought out a short, cruel looking blade. It was barely longer than a finger, but its curved edge gleamed in the bright light.

“Enough, Lord
Ruhollah,” said Tirbazus.

He walked down the steps and signaled for the two warriors to move back.
Lord Ruhollah lifted himself to his feet and faced off against Tirbazus. Kallinos slid the weapon back into a dark pouch on her flank and stepped away, but kept a steady eye on the noble.

“You would be wise...”

“To do what?” interrupted Tirbazus, “I’ve seen more than enough of this royal blood for one day, and it is proving a little too thick for my liking.”

He pointed to the doors at the end of the chamber.

“I have my goals and so do you. I suggest you rejoin Lord Ariaeus and find a way to ensure these Terrans do not make it to my territory. Because I promise you, if a single Terran ship enters Hayastan, I will destroy it, along with every other ship I find, and the credit will go to the Royal Satrapy of Hayastan, not Ariaeus, and certainly not you.”

* * *

Light Cruiser ‘Antaeus’, Terran Rearguard, Carduchian Wilderness

The noises from within the room were enough to send Xenophon to the other end of the ship. Much that he wanted to, he refused to leave his post and waited patiently, listening to the reports coming in from the command deck. His earpiece buzzed with information from the Kentarchos.

“Xenophon, you’ve got three minutes to give me a new course before we reach the point of no return.”

“Understood. Any news from the Strategos?”

Even though they were half a ship apart, Xenophon could easily tell the man was under a great deal of stress. There was a great battle already underway, and nearly a third of the fleet was potentially leaving them out on their own.

“Yes,” he finally answered, “The Strategos is furious. They are under attack by mercenaries and Carduchians, and all of this is being orchestrated under the command of the ship we ran into recently.”

The Legion had run into many ships, but this piqued Xenophon’s interest. He began to speak when the door finally opened and out came the Scythian. The first thing Xenophon noticed were dark stains on his hands. At first, he suspected the worst, but as the shadowy figure emerged from the shadows, he could see it was nothing more than the light playing tricks.

“Kentarchos, I’ll be in touch within the minute.”

Xenophon then turned his attention to the expert interrogator.

“Well?”

The Scythian waited as he considered his words carefully. Finally, his mouth opened, and Xenophon almost choked with anticipation at what he was about to say.

“The Carduchian is their regional squadron commander. His name is Golnaz, and his mission was to harass our ships. His orders changed at the arrival of a new Imperial ship, the Boubak. He was then given new orders to assault and pin us at the rear, while their alliance of ships attacked the Titans under the command of Darbabad Forouzandeh.”

“Alliance?”

The Scythian nodded.

“Yes. The Imperials have organized multiple forces to slow our advance. Right now the Carduchians are attacking, but mercenaries and a number of Bactrian vessels support them. Their ships are already attacking the Strategos, and there are more ships waiting on the other side of the border.”

Xenophon was almost relieved at what he heard, not so much that he now had information, but more that his convictions had been proven correct. The decision he had made on his own weighed heavily on his mind.

At least the price was worth it.

“Tell me about the border?”

“The Hayastani have mobilized their own forces plus mercenaries. They will not cross the border, but they will attack any ship, Terran or Carduchian that crosses without permission.”

Xenophon’s mind was already moving on to the general strategy. Chirisophus was clearly in a great deal of trouble, and the fleet itself was in danger of a complete defeat.

“What about the Sea of Fire? Do you have a way through?”

The Scythian nodded.

“Yes, there are three points at which the border can be crossed. The two nearest cross two border fortresses. The third is unprotected, but the Satrap is waiting there, along with his entire fleet.”

Xenophon considered the information but not for long.

“You have coordinates for these locations?”

The Scythian nodded slowly.

“And the information, is it accurate?”

For the first time the interrogator looked positively offended at the suggestion.

“My information is always accurate. My people are experts in the arts of combat, intelligence, and subterfuge. If I say that my information is accurate, you can take that as a guarantee.”

Xenophon knew the man was right, but with the fate of so many now in his hands he had to be certain. He tapped the earpiece and connected to Roxana who was on the command deck.

“Roxana?”

There was a pause, and then her voice. It was dull, emotionless, and bitter.

“Yes?”

“I have a plan. We have a route out, but I need reconnaissance drones sent to three points. Get them ready. I’m taking no more chances than I have to with this one.”
       

CHAPTER TEN

Light Cruiser ‘Antaeus’, approaching Bijar Prime, Carduchian Wilderness

The stars appeared to slow as the rearguard moved into position. There was total silence on the command deck, and even Roxana had nothing to say. The VOB system was active, and they had the perfect view from which to watch the rest of the Terran ships. The second light cruiser Drakonis was the nearest ship, and from here it was easy to see the combat damage sustained in the previous space battle.

“How much longer?” Xenophon asked in almost hushed tones.

Kentarchos Cadmus looked to him, and now Xenophon could see the sweat running down from his forehead. Stress was like a powerful drug that pulled the very life out of a man, and the commander of the warship was clearly under a great deal of it.

“Less than a minute, and things are looking dangerous there.”

Information arrived to the ships in real-time, and icons and markers floated around on the VOB system. Most of the imagery was located in front of the fleet, that being where the battle was taking place.

“Latest data from Valediction shows the enemy has deployed into two forces. The mercenaries are formed up in a single block to engage the Titans, but the Carduchians are coming in from random angles in hit and run attacks.”

Xenophon’s brow tightened.

“And the Bactrians?”

Clearly the Kentarchos had almost forgotten about those ships. He looked back and forth at the data coming in and then to Xenophon.

“Exactly where you said they would be.”

He pointed to the small starmap still loaded on the display to their right.

“Block the fleets escaping to the border. Yes, that makes sense, assuming we intend on traveling in that direction. Still, it seems a little pointless; there is no way to block an entire sector of space.”

The ship’s tactical officer caught the Kentarchos’ attention and gave him the signal.

“Hold on, here we go,” said the Kentarchos to the rest of the crew.

One of the navigators began the countdown, and a low hum reverberated throughout the ship. The Kentarchos looked to Xenophon, took in a deep breath, and then spoke.

“You’d better be right about this. We’ll only get one shot. You have to be very persuasive.”

The arrival at Bijar Prime happened in an instant. One moment the entire fleet was traveling at the speed of light, and then in the next they had dropped to conventional combat speed. In a beautifully timed jump, the entire force arrived behind the Bactrian ships. Even Xenophon was stunned that they had managed to materialize less than twenty kilometres directly behind their massive engines.

“Perfect,” he said quietly.

The Bactrian ships might have been something of a real treat for Xenophon and Roxana to look over. He glanced at his friend and found her frowns had already faded, and she looked on in amazement at the vessels before them. There were not many, just seven ships, but each of them was an antique, a living fossil of a bygone age. The largest of them was the Grand Battleship, a vessel of similar layout to a Terran battleship, but designed in a decadent artistic style. Great curves, columns, and spires extended out at the most bizarre angles.

“I never thought I would see the day,” said Roxana, “I’ve seen pictures of these ships before on Attica. But never did I think I would see them in the flesh.”