Dawn of a New Age (6 page)

“Kit?” Kath whispered as K’Alan stepped over to her station.  “You speak so informally to the leader of your people?”

“Only because I’m married to her,” K’Alan smiled broadly.  He activated the shipcall.  “Lancer, Falcon, and Hawk squadrons, scramble and meet in the flight deck in twenty minutes in full flight gear.  This is not a drill.  I repeat.  This is not a drill.”

“Jump engines are ready, Captain,” Sarah reported from an engineering station.

“Good,” Thala nodded tersely.

Minutes ticked by slowly.  The bridge crew focused on the task at hand and K’Alan fidgeted nervously.  The wait seemed almost forever.  Soon the jumpgate loomed ahead of the White Knight, its iridescent gray energy swirling angrily.  Thala closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steadying her nerves for the first jump in a new ship.

“Jump!” she ordered.

K’Alan ran off the bridge towards the flight deck as the ship lurched towards the yawning jumpgate.

“ETA to Duterius Prime, Ms. Barros?” Thala asked.

“Thirteen minutes, Captain,” Tyla reported.

“Brentax,” Thala growled.  She punched the armrest for emphasis.  “I can feel it.”

1.30.2136

1600

Duterius Prime

Capitol Building

T
HE High Gentlewoman of the Duterian people fumed as she watched the monitors show wave after wave of enemy fighters firing on her people.

“What’s happening to my planet?” she demanded.  She said it softly.  So softly, in fact, she doubted anyone heard her.

“K’Itea,” S’Era Bryce, K’itea’s most trusted advisor came up to her.  S’Era was not only her advisor, but she was also the sister of her husband.  “The White Knight will be here in 15 minutes.”

“I hope that’s soon enough, S’Era.”

“Excuse me, High Gentlewoman,” another aide puffed as he came up to her.  This aide was far older than S’Era.

“What is it, J’Anai?”

“Planetary defenses are almost down.”

“Damn,” K’Itea swore as the Capitol building rocked with the impact of a proton shell.  Dust fell from the ceiling as the room shook.

“We must evacuate to the shelter, K’Itea,” S’Era took K’Itea’s arm.  “It’s imperative that you are safe.  You are the leader of our people.  We need you.”

“Yes, of course you’re right, S’Era,” K’Itea nodded.  She looked her sister in law in the eye to make sure she understood how important the next order was.  “Make sure Elam gets to the shelter.  He’s too important to me to lose him.  Your brother still doesn’t know about him.  J’Anai, signal the evacuation then head to the shelter yourself.”

“No, my child.  I will remain up here and try to maintain the planetary defenses as long as I can,” the elderly aide said.  Only J’Anai could get away with calling her child.  He had trained both her and K’Alan when they were children.  In many ways, he was a second father to her.

“May the gods look over you and protect you, old friend,” K’Itea said softly as she took his hand.

“And may they protect you as well, High Gentlewoman,” J’Anai smiled at her.  “I think you shall see your husband very soon.”

K’Itea did not have a response to that.  She sniffled once and fought back tears.  She did not think it would be seemly for her attendants to see her cry.  She was the leader of the Duterian people after all.

“Come, K’Itea,” S’Era took her friend’s arm.  “Let’s get you to the shelter.”

K’Itea took one last look around her command center and sighed.  She nodded and led the way to the shelter.

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1610

SLS White Knight

Launch Bay Alpha

Mario was still zipping up his flight jacket when he ran into the launch bay.  He skidded to a halt next to K’Alan and looked at his friend.  He could tell from the look on K’Alan’s face that whatever was going on was serious.

“What’s the drill?” the colonel said.  “We never get a drop this quickly.

K;Alan clapped Mario on the shoulder and shook his head.  He stepped into the center of the circle of pilots and cleared his throat.  This was one of the hardest mission briefings he had ever given.

“As you know, we are on fast approach to Duterius Prime.  Some of you, like myself, call it home.  The planet is under attack by forces unknown, but we presume Brentax involvement.  Planetary defenses are almost down.

“Our primary goal is to repel the attackers.  Attack targets of opportunity only after you have driven off the attack force.  Falcon and Hawk Squadrons, you are to patrol the entire planet attacking any hostiles.  Silver Eagle squadron, we will concentrate on protecting the Capitol City.  We hit space in five minutes.  Mount up!”

The pilots rushed to their fighters, donning helmets and saying prayers as they did so.

“You’re worried about Kit, aren’t you?” Mario said, as the two friends climbed into their Starhawk.

“How could I not be?  This is an attack against my home, Mario.” K’Alan growled as he placed his energy bow in its charger.  He looked over at his friend.  “Right now, all I can be concerned with is saving my home.  I can’t let myself worry about Kit.”

“It’s not gonna be easy, Kal. Look at the situation monitor in the launch bay,” Mario pointed at the display.  “There sure are a lot of them.”

“I know,” K’Alan said.  He punched up the weapons display and primed all weapons.  “All weapons primed and ready.  Comms and scanners are online.”

“Engines are online,” Mario reported, then added soothingly, “She’ll be OK.  Kit’s a fighter.  She’ll pull through.”

“She better.”  K’Alan flicked on the comms system.  “Strike Leader to bridge.  Lancer, Falcon, and Hawk strike wings requesting permission to launch.”

“Transferring launch control to fighter wings,” Kath called from the bridge.  “You may launch when ready.”

“Well, she sounds cute,” Mario grinned.

“You think she sounds cute, just wait ‘til you meet her, buddy,” K’Alan laughed.

“Just keep your mind on Kit, old buddy, let me worry about the young cute ones.”

K’Alan laughed as he checked his straps and gripped the control yokes.  “All fighters launch on my mark.”  He took a deep breath to steel himself before the g-forces of launch.  “MARK!”

He felt the g-forces push him back in his chair as Mario hit the thrusters and they hurtled down the launch tube.  Fighters soared out from all of the launch bays and formed up into squadrons.  Each squadron formed a pyramid with the squad leader’s Starhawk as the capstone.  Each squadron located a phalanx of enemy fighters and got to work.

K’Alan took a deep breath and started firing.

1.30.2136

1621

SLS White Knight

The Bridge

Thala scowled in her chair.

“Status report!” she barked.

“Duterius Prime is in flames, Captain,” Masha reported coolly from tactical.  “Planetary defenses are totally down.  Our fighters are cutting through the enemy, but there are an awful lot of them out there.  I estimate that we’ll suffer very heavy casualties.”

“How many of them are there, Lieutenant?”

“For every one of our fighters out there, they have five,” Masha reported.

“Damn!  Kath, open a channel to K’Alan’s Starhawk.”

“He’s on the line, Captain,” Kath replied.

“K’Alan, I’m mobilizing three more squadrons to try and help you out a little.”

“Much obliged, Captain.  Scramble Lancer, Crusader, and Warhammer squadrons.”

“Consider it done.  They’ll be out there helping you within five minutes.”

“Thank you, Captain.  Bryce out.”

“Kath, sound the alert.  Masha, try to locate that base ship.  I want to know what we’re dealing with.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Captain, incoming transmission from Duterius Prime,” Kath reported.

“Holo.”

“No holo available.  It’s audio only.”

“Put it on the line, then.”

“Captain Ker’sal, this is J’Anai Sirrus of the Duterian cabinet.  I’m not sure how much longer we can—“  The commline fizzled to static.

“Kath?  What happened?”

“Transmission was cut off at their end, Captain,” Kath reported, her tone terse and clipped.  “I’m trying to reconnect.”

“Captain, the Capitol building just took a direct hit,” Masha reported.

“Life signs?” Thala asked, suddenly very concerned.

“Inconclusive.  There’s too much dust, debris and low-level radiation for the sensor to be accurate on life signs.”

“Great,” Thala grumbled.  “Relay that info to K’Alan.  Tell him to make searching the Capitol building for survivors a priority when the attackers have been driven off.”

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1652

K”Alan’s Starhawk

“K’Alan!”

“I see him, Mario.  Angle down so I can get a clear shot.”

“Hang on to your stomach,” Mario called.  “This is likely to be a bumpy ride.”

K’Alan gritted his teeth and tracked the raider on its strafing run.  His thumbs were lightly caressing the firing stubs, just waiting for the shot to line up.

“He’s headed for the Capitol Building, Mario.  Will you hurry it up, please?”

“Hey, I’m flying this thing as fast as I can..  If you’re not happy about how fast I’m flying, you can always get out and push,” Mario growled.

“Switching to quad lasers,” K’Alan said, ignoring the barb.  He flicked a switch on his weapons display.

“You should have a clear shot now, Kal.” Mario said softly.

K’Alan grunted as he fired.  He kept his finger on the firing button until the raider was reduced to ash.

“Hey, buddy!” Mario called.  “You can let up.  You got him.”

“Yeah, I did,” K’Alan said, a tear in his voice.  “But we’re too late.  Look.”

“Oh, Lord!”

1.30.2136

1643

Brentax Duhari class cruiser Torellia Corvax

Bridge

M’Bek Tarmos, Supreme Commander of the Brentax Empire, smiled with sadistic glee as he watched the carnage on the forward view screen.

“Supreme Commander,” the weapons officer reported.  “The planet is in flames.”

“Excellent, T’Marik. And the Capitol City?”

“The Capitol City has been reduced to rubble, Commander,” T’Marik said with pride.

M’Bek leaned in his chair and looked at his cold kamarat root tea, and he sent the cup skidding along the floor of the bridge.  He looked at the young Brentax female standing by the door.

“Y’Ada, fetch me a new cup of tea, and clean up this mess,” M’Bek barked.

“Yes, sir.”

Much to his delight, she set right to work cleaning up the spilled tea from the deck.

She might just be my victory celebration,
he thought with glee as he watched her.

“Supreme Commander,” T’Marik caught his attention.  “I have some schematics of the Star League ship for you.”

M’Bek sighed, wishing he could watch the young woman finish her work. 
Yes,
he thought. S
he will definitely share my quarters with me this evening.

“On screen,” he barked.

Images of the White Knight scrolled across the screen along with size and weight statistics.  Unfortunately for M’Bek, there wasn’t any information about weapons or engine systems, but he would take whatever information he could get.

“So, it’s big,” he growled.  “Why can’t I get any more information than that?”

“The hull is made of an alloy that we’ve never seen before.  Scanners are having trouble locking onto the ship let alone probing it,” T’Marik shook his head.  “And before you ask, I’ve tried everything I can, but nothing I try can get through that hull.”

“Very well,” M’Bek rumbled.  When he looked over and noted that Y’Ada had finished scrubbing the floor and was fixing his tea, he growled.  “Status of the planet?”

“Planetary surface destruction is ninety-one percent.  Eleven percent over the success guidelines for this mission,” T’Marik reported proudly.

“Very good.  Have our raiders do one more strafing run then have them retreat back to the ship.  Tonight, we celebrate the destruction of one of the Star League’s homeworlds.”

And tonight, Y’Ada, you will be mine,
M’Bek thought with glee.

1.30.2136

1650

SLS White Knight

The Bridge

“Where’s that base ship, Masha?”

“I haven’t been able to locate it yet, Captain.  I think it’s probable that they’re hiding in the asteroid belt near Duterius Six.”

“I want them found.  Is that clear, Lieutenant?”

“Yes, Captain,” Masha said.  She checked her scanners again.  “Captain, they’re retreating.”

“Track them.  Kath, recall the squadrons.  Have them refuel and relaunch to join the search for survivors.  Scramble teams to search.  Jewel, prepare for heavy casualties.”

“Aye, Captain,” came the call from medbay.  “How heavy are we talking?”

“Call in all off-duty medical personnel.  It’s likely you’ll need all of them.”

“Understood.”

“Captain, K’Alan is requesting permission to search the Capitol Building for survivors.”

“Acknowledge the request and wish him good luck,” Thala sighed.

“Aye, Captain.”

“Captain,” Masha growled.  “The enemy raiders are escaping into the asteroid belt.  We are losing sensor contact.”

“Let them go, Lieutenant,” the captain said after a moment.  “As much as I want that ship, our priority is finding and rescuing any survivors.”

“Captain,” Kath called.  “I’ve got ten search crews ready to launch and begin the search.”

“Clear them for launch, Lieutenant Commander.”