Fury to the Stars (Universe in Flames Book 2) (25 page)

She checked her virtual instruments. Even if that
behemoth ship spewed fifteen squadrons, they’d all be easily dispatched by this
alliance fleet. She casually targeted another ship with a missile, just to see
it disappear into another blue fireball when it impacted.

She cracked a smile.
I have to thank Yanis for
his wizardry in terms of engineering
, she thought.

It took another three minutes to dispatch what was
left of the incoming fighters, and for a moment it seemed like the action was
all over. But then something unexpected happened: broad, glowing bands of much
stronger firepower sizzled past her ship, lightly grazing her shields. They
were still holding at ninety percent, but she recognized she was facing
something new, something more dangerous. The Zarlack starfighters had all been
destroyed. That’s when an incoming transmission from Chase addressed the fleet.

“This is Captain Athanatos. The enemy’s supposedly
disabled defense systems have reactivated. These are your new targets. Seek and
destroy first, then we’ll take care of the capital ships.”

She had to give it to Chase’s instinct: he’d felt
something was wrong right away. He couldn’t have been more right! But at
present it still almost seemed like the situation was under control; the ships
being assembled were attempting to power up, but they weren’t firing at the
fleet or the starfighter wings at all. Perhaps their weapons systems weren’t
fully ready yet?

“Alpha Wing, you heard the captain. Attack these
sentries; follow instructions on your targeting systems.”

It took less than a split second to paint targets
and assign ships with the neuronal interface. She was delighted that she could
actually do all that, while additionally giving vocal commands with her mind,
silently aboard the bridge.

She then acquired the nearest sentry, the one which
had almost scored a direct hit on her ship a few moments earlier. She performed
a dance of speedy evasive maneuvers as its fire intensified upon approach.
Mentally on autopilot, she sent out her drones to fire and lower the shields.
Overenthusiastic with risks, though, she took a few hits on her own shields
which were lowered to forty-seven percent. With an internal promise to be more
careful, she added the firepower of her lasers, and finally degraded opponents’
shields enough for her to terminate the sentry with a couple of missiles.

*   *   *

On the bridge Chase got up from his chair, looked at
Sarah who was clearly highly focused on piloting the remote F-147. He shot a
look at the emperor.

“I thought you said that the codes you provided
would disable this shipyard’s automated defense systems.”

The emperor grunted. “It did. They were deactivated.
Someone has reactivated them. I can only surmise your spy is to blame. Argos
should not have been aware of our presence in the first place. We should not
stay here.”

This last statement made sense. Chase couldn’t put
his finger on it, but he knew without doubt something was wrong. He could feel
it in every fiber of his being.

“For once we agree, Emperor,” said Chase. Turning to
his communications officer, he added quietly, “Open a channel to the
Destiny
.”

“Yes, Chase, what is it?”

“This is clearly a trap. As much as I hate to say
this, I think we should retreat for the time being.”

“I agree. Sending the retreat order to the fleet.”

The Droxian and Obsidian ships turned about first,
as most of their starfighter wings had already re-boarded, victorious. The
Alliance ships also adhered to the retreat request, and recalled their
starfighter regiment back to their ship as well. But the
Hope
Alpha and
Beta Squadron, as well as the
Destiny’s
Alpha Squadron, were finishing
off the defense sentries that had seriously started damaging the
Destiny
as well as other Alliance destroyers.

Suddenly the entire shipyard got illuminated bright
red, as a major explosion shook a Droxian ship departing the nebula. The
resulting shockwave damaged the nearest Obsidian battleship, disabling it in
the process.

On board the
Destiny
, Commodore Saroudis
shouted altered orders to the fleet.

“Reverse position! Do not, I repeat DO NOT try to
exit the nebula. The shipyards shields are back up. Stay away from them!”

On the
Hope’s
bridge, Chase clenched both
fists and teeth. How could they have been so stupid? The fact that Argos’
forces engaged them earlier at the rendezvous point should have been warning
enough to scrap this mission. He cursed himself for insisting they destroy the
shipyard.

He turned to the emperor.

“Where’s the shield’s generator?”

The emperor approached Chase’s chair and projected a
3D map of the shipyard on his holo-display.

The emperor somberly pointed to a heavily shielded
node, situated behind the structure currently assembling the behemoth Zarlack
ship which had sent all the fighter waves their way. “Here, but you’ll need a
lot of firepower.”

“You saw what this ship can do first hand.”

“Let’s hope it will be enough. The power requirement
for these shields is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. You may need to have every
ship add their firepower to yours, if you aim to take it out.”

“Very well.” He turned to his communications officer
and had him relay the targeting coordinates to the rest of the fleet.

“Captain,” said his science officer, “I’m detecting
an energy build up in every Zarlack ship. This doesn’t look good.”

“What do you make of it?”

“I’ve never seen such energy signatures. I think
they’re intentionally overloading their engines.”

That was the end game here, of course! Argos would
have them trapped by their own greed. He could then blow everything up,
destroying most, if not all, of the task force dreaming to destroy his
shipyard. Even if that meant sacrificing it in the process, he saw a clear win.

“Dammit! Time to firing solution on that shield
generator?”

“Twenty seconds, Captain. I estimate we have less
than five minutes before the engines of the ships go critical.”

Chase did not like these odds. Even if they
destroyed the shields within a few minutes, they might not have enough time to
get out of here, without inflicting catastrophic damage to the fleet.

“Can we jump as soon as the shields are down?”

“The composition of this nebula is highly unstable,
Captain. We could blow up upon opening a jump corridor. I... I can’t recommend
it.”

Chase felt rage fill his soul. His mind raced,
trying to think of a way out of this. He tapped Sarah on her shoulder. She
hummed as she opened her eyes, and made an automatic happy gesture. “Yes, I’ve
just dispatched the last defensive sentry. The rest of the starfighters are already
on their way back to the ship.”

“Reroute them to the
Destiny
.”

“What?! Why?”

“No time to explain, just do it!”

She relayed the order with her mind, and informed
Commodore Saroudis.

“Done. Should I bring in the StarFury as well?”

“No, I will need you to pilot it towards that
shielded installation.”

“What’s the plan here?”

“Honestly, it’s the biggest gamble ever. If we had
time I would send you over to the
Destiny
, but I don’t think we have any
other choice.”

*   *   *

On board his capital ship, Argos looked at his
tactical holo-display and snickered. The Alliance was trapped. He could end
them all right here and right now, but first he had to make sure the EAD
Hope
would survive. He opened a channel to his tactical officer on the bridge.

“Are you absolutely certain that the added
explosions in that kill box will not take out the shipped that I tagged?”

“Pretty sure it should survive.”

“Pretty sure? I need absolute certainty!”

“Technically, I cannot guarantee it. It will depend
on the state of their shields and proximity to the
Black Death
.”

“Which happens to be exactly where the EAD
Hope
is heading right now.”

“I see that, so there’s no way to be sure.”

“Get me the
Black Death’s
captain right now!”

“Communication’s established.”

*   *   *

Chase called Commodore Saroudis and explained his
plan.

“This is insane, even by your standards, Chase. But
under the circumstances, I don’t see that we have a choice. You do understand
that this is a suicide mission for the EAD
Hope
?”

“I do, but what other minuchoices do we have? If we
don’t try this we all get vaporized anyway.”

“Actually it’s entirely possible that not all the
ships would get destroyed if we stay at the outskirts of the shield’s limits.
Your ship has the stronger shields. If you use the maximum power of your main
guns, you’ll be entirely disabled for one full minute, and that’s the real
risk. Your shields won’t have time to recharge enough to protect you from the
multiple explosions.”

“It will give the battle group time to escape the
nebula. If things get too hot, I’ll try to jump.”

“My science officer tells me that could go either
way, because of the highly volatile composition of this particular nebula.”

“I’ve got the same report here, Commodore. But we
really don’t have a choice.”

“Very well. In case this doesn’t go well…” He
paused. “It’s been an honor serving with you, Chase.”

“The honor was mine. Athanatos out.”

Sarah locked her beautiful green eyes on Chase,
shining, but full of fear.

“Well, so much for protecting you by ordering you to
stay put.”

Sarah didn’t know how to answer, what to say. She
just raised her shoulders in response.

Chase commed Yanis.

“Listening, Cap.”

“I need the main weapon at full charge. Extract any
ounce of juice you can siphon off of anything else too, any other systems,
including life support if you have to.”

“Chase, we’ve discussed this. It will disable us for
at least a minute, perhaps more. If I tax the systems that much we’ll be
sitting ducks, and it could even disable the ship for good.”

“Right. But if we don’t do it, everyone in the fleet
will die.”

Yanis didn’t immediately answer, but was audibly
breathing heavier. “I can give you a hundred and twenty percent power. You’ll
have it in one minute.”

“Make it twenty seconds.”

“You’re impossible… and it was nice knowing you.”

“Likewise,” Chase replied with a grave tone.

For the next fifteen seconds, the entire bridge was
pervaded by a deadly calm. Everyone abruptly understood the emerging reality;
that this could very well be the last minute of their lives. Chase checked the
holo-display. The rest of the fleet had assembled at the outskirts of the
shield boundary, ready to enter full, sub-light power the moment the shields
should fall. If.

“I’m ready, Chase. You may fire anytime.”

Chase took the neuronal devices from Sarah’s temple,
kissing her passionately as he did so. He wished he could make that kiss last
forever. It was powerful, but all too short. A tear ran down her cheek.

“I thought you wanted me to fly the StarFury?”

“No. I’ll do it... I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He put the neuronal link to his temple and accessed
the
Hope’s
main weapons. He selected full-firing mode and fired at his
target with everything he had.

Every light in the bridge started to flicker.
Systems dimmed fast.

The EAD
Hope
fired a gigantic, pulsating ray
of light towards its target. It impacted with shields and started draining
them, slowly but surely. Simultaneously, Chase vectored the StarFury near the
stream. He flew only a few feet away from it, accelerating to maximum velocity.
He redistributed all the power he could to the ship’s engine, and when it was
about to collide with the generator’s shields, he made his StarFury jump. The
ship exploded feet away from its target, overloading its dual quadrinium
chambers. The surge took out the rest of the shields, just in time for the
remaining main weapon blasts, already lessening in intensity, to tear through
the shield generator like paper. It exploded, just as every system on the EAD
Hope
shut down cold. No more life support, no shields, nothing.

They were dead in the water now. Sitting ducks.

*   *   *

The explosion shook every ship in the fleet. The
shields protecting the shipyards blinked for a couple of seconds before
dissipating. The commodore gave the order to the fleet to exit the nebula at
maximum thrust.