Space Chronicles: The Last Human War (37 page)

He missed
.

As they passed over,
the doctor got a glimpse of the intense fighting below.

“Bring us around for another pass. Try to get a little lower this time. These guns aren’t calibrated. I’ve got to sight em manually.”

Dr. Hadje followed instructions turning as hard as possible. The scout craft swung around in a tight three-hundred-sixty degree turn. The enemy transport passed briefly through their view. It was still under attack by Tanarac fighters, and despite burning in numerous places, it continued to fight back.

“Slow down a little. Drop down more
. . . a little more. That’s good. Hold steady.”

Kob leaned forward to aim manually, ignoring his heads up display.

“A little more left. GOTCHA, bastards!”

The scout sled trembled as Kob fired continuously
through ranks of Heptari troops.

“Pull up
. Pull up!” he shouted.

Dr. Hadje reacted instantly, but t
he scout vessel soared far up into the atmosphere and banked around for another pass. He over-controlled.

“Sorry
. I couldn’t see that hill through the muzzle flash.” He apologized for almost flying them into the ground.

“Get
us down, Doc. We’re too high. Quick!”

Kob called out instructions a moment too late. A bright beam of energy from the Heptari troop ship slammed into the nose of their sled, shearing most of it off, including their weapon.
The doctor could barely control the damaged scout sled as he searched for a safe place to land.

“Behind that hill
,” the young officer said and pointed to a large pile of mine tailings just north of the battle zone.

The doctor pulled back on the antigrav stick, landing the sled next to a gnarled old tree that had somehow survived hundreds of years of mining all around it.

Kob pushed a button on his control panel and the wall behind the pilot’s seat slid down into the belly of the craft, revealing a secret closet. He grabbed four side arms from this compartment, handing two of them to Dr. Hadje and tucking a spare one into his uniform belt.

“They’re armed. I turned the safeties off. I’m gonna go help our troops. You stay here. Shoot anybody who comes through that door.
Well, only if they’re green.”

The younger Tanarac
opened the main cabin door but stopped just before exiting the scout craft. He turned to face the doctor directly.

“I mean it, Doc
tor Hadje. You gotta shoot to kill. Don’t think you can negotiate with lizards. They’ll kill you, if you try. You understand?”

The doctor
nodded, despite questioning his own ability to kill in cold blood.

“General Tragge, the command ship dropped her shields. She’s coming through!”

The general tapped his finger on the arm of his chair as he contemplated Heptari strategy.

“Why would a Heptari command ship take such a risk?”

A nearby aide offered his opinion. “Sir, maybe they think they have us outnumbered enough to take us out.”

“No. Heptaris don’t risk central command. This is out of character.”

The general rubbed his chin. Suddenly, he stood up and began issuing orders.

“Have all capital ships disengage from current actions. Concentrate fire on that command ship. We’ve got to get her while she’s coming through the shield. Ludic, can you slow her down? We need time.”

“Yes, sir. I can layer the second shield into the outer band
, but, if she gets through, sir, then there’s nothing between her and our shield generators.”

Ludic waited for the general’s decision.

“Do it. We’ve got to make this opportunity count.”

The general’s adjunct was puzzled by the risky decision.

“General, if you don’t mind me asking, how is this an ‘opportunity?’ Can’t the other Heptari ships take out our shields while we’re attacking the command ship?”

“Yes, but they won’t. It’s against their nature. I’m betting all their ships will come to the defense of th
eir command center. Rotaga is taking a big gamble. He sees himself joining the group of royals who rule Heptari. It’s called the Codae. Those big ships coming through the asteroid belt are the Codae’s royal warships. If Rotaga wins this war before they arrive, he becomes royalty. If not, they’ll kill him . . . his family, too.”

“I still don’t see why this is an advantage for us, sir. Even if we take out Rotaga, if the other Heptari ships do fire on our generators, then we’ll have no shields when the royals arrive.”

“Heps never risk central command. Rotaga dropped his shields. That’s something he would never do under normal circumstances. I believe his entire fleet will come to defend the command center. If we knock out that one ship, the rest of their fleet will fall apart. Rotaga is presenting us a golden opportunity. We’re seizing the initiative. Besides, I have a plan.”

“Sir, she’s entering the compound shield now.”

The nearest satellite showed a clear view of the big command ship as it penetrated the compound planetary shield. A dozen Tanarac warships of all sizes circled below, blasting its unprotected belly. Spirals of molten metal and small clouds of debris spun wildly off into space while Heptari heavies rushed to confront the Tanarac attackers, just as the general predicted.

The giant
enemy flagship continued descending, unfazed by surface damage.

“Sir, Admiral Klav’s flagship is closing on the rear of Rotaga. Looks like he’s gonna target her good engine.”

The lower midsection of the Heptari command ship pushed out of the static field, and several of the ship’s heavy cannons opened fire on the armada below.

One small Tanarac warship was completely vaporized in the first blast. Three nearby heavy warships with Ludic’s modified shields survived, although
, all reported damage.

Admiral Klav’s voice rang out on the War Room speakers as he directed his forces. “Target her cannons!
Destroy those damn cannons!”

T
he admiral’s ships concentrated firepower on the unshielded cannon emplacements, that is, all Tanarac ships but one.

Admiral Klav’s flagship did not join the attack against the Heptari cannons. Instead, he closed on the rear of the enemy vessel while she was still without shields. Two Rahl heavies struggled to catch him, but the admiral approached optimal targeting range for his gunners before they arrived.

General Tragge kept close check on his diminishing fleet. This attack cost him half his remaining heavies already.

The enemy command ship finished its push through the combined planetary shields and began raising her own protective fields. Rotaga’s vessel
showed on a War Room monitor with several highlighted areas displaying shields that had already reached full strength. But, there were also many areas where surface damage prevented shield deployment. One such area was her stern. She was vulnerable!

Admiral Klav opened fire. The remaining primary engine on Rotaga’s vessel exploded.

“Got her!” the admiral shouted. “General, she’s lost main propulsion. Let’s finish her off.”

The admiral’s ship slowed and maneuvered past the stern of the command ship as he began an attack run along her rear quarter. He knew the command ship’s shields might fully integrate at any moment. This could be his last chance to complete the job.

The admiral’s gunners fired on any target of value—shield projectors, communication arrays, light gunnery positions, engineering sections. They sliced deep holes into the interior of the command vessel.

A trailing Rahl caught up with Admiral Klav’s ship, forcing him to extend his shields to cover his engines and reducing overall shield density.

Rotaga’s main batteries blasted the admiral’s vessel at point blank range, even before gunners on the nearby Rahl could target the admiral’s engines.

The admiral’s ship didn’t stand a chance.
One third of his flagship blew completely off, yet even in the ship’s death throes, the admiral’s gunners never stopped firing into the command ship’s vital sections.

A volley from the trailing Rahl completed the destruction of the brave Tanarac ship
.

The Heptari command ship was now completely below the compound planetary shield. She was heavily damaged, having lost both her main engines, but some of her shields remained active. Rotaga’s flagship continued firing at the Tanarac fleet while maneuvering on local-space, plasma engines.

Everyone in the War Room knew she was hurt, but she was definitely still in command.

Ludic offered an idea.

“Sir, I lower shields to a closer orbit. Make em run the gauntlet again.”

The general ignored Ludic.

“Order our ships to withdraw,” the general said in a controlled voice.

“Sir?
” The general’s first officer immediately complied, although puzzled by the order.

General Tragge issued a fast series of orders in the voice of a leader who was in complete control of the situation.

“Comm. Release safeties on all ground batteries. Target the Heptari ship’s unshielded sections. On my command,” General Tragge waited while his fleet followed orders to clear the area. Protective Rahls moved into formation to defend their weakened central command ship.

“Fire!”

Three huge beams of concentrated energy raced up through the atmosphere, impacting against the Heptari command ship. Two Rahls moved immediately to interpose themselves in the line of fire.

General Tragge now answered Ludic and his first officer.

“We couldn’t use ground batteries with our shields up. I have Rotaga right where I want him, trapped below our compound force field, unable to run and with degraded shields.”

The general stood up. He shook a fist at the view screen and
lost his composure for a moment as he shouted defiance. “What are you going to do now, Rotaga? You gambled and lost. All batteries—fire on recharge!”

The ground batteries fired again. One of the Rahls lost its shields in the impact and quickly moved out of the line of fire to a position above the command ship. Oddly, it came in direct physical contact with the big command vessel, something rarely done in space.

Another simultaneous blast from the ground batteries followed. A second Rahl broke into several parts, one of which rolled into the side of their own command ship and tumbled along the surface, tearing away observation towers, arrays and any other protrusions in its path.

The command ship began a slow turn, its plasma engines glowing red, but they were not strong enough for combat level maneuvers.

“Sir, we got a lizard heavy closing on Ground Battery Two.”

Two Syne-class cruisers chased the Rahl as it flew toward the unprotected ground-based cannon.
Smaller Tanarac vessels fired at the big enemy ship but had little effect. The enemy warship reached firing distance and blasted the Tanarac cannon.

“Sir, Ground Battery Two has been knocked out.”

The Rahl changed course, heading directly toward the next ground-based cannon just over the horizon. One of the fast Tanarac cruisers surged ahead of the Rahl and came around sharply to a new path . . . a head-on collision.

The Heptari ship maneuvered violently to avoid impact with the aggressive little Syne. The course change bought precious seconds for the ground battery.

After avoiding collision, the Rahl resumed its original heading, but the second Syne was already in position to copy the tactic of the first. Again, the enemy heavy was forced to change course, gaining more time for the ground battery.

Another simultaneous volley from the two remaining ground batteries rose toward the Heptari command ship. They targeted a hull breech made by Admiral Klav’s attack
near the engines.

Rotaga’s flagship
swelled its full length. Unseen internal explosions ripped through the vessel. Moments later, the Heptari center of command rolled on its axis, exposing the attached Rahl that had lost its shields earlier. The unprotected Rahl wasted no time pulling away from the dangerously rolling command ship and immediately headed out to space.

Several staff in the War Room, as well as the commander of a
nearby starship, noticed this uncharacteristic retreat by the enemy starship. The Tanarac warship set course to catch the fleeing enemy ship.

“Order that ship to disengage.” General Tragge interrupted
the pursuit. “We need their firepower to finish off Rotaga.”

Far below, the two aggressive Synes continued their relentless harassment of the Rahl that was trying to destroy Tanarac’s ground-based cannons. They were not able to damage the heavier ship, but defiant head-on runs prevented it from accomplishing its mission.

Another ground burst climbed into the sky. The combined beams impacted just behind the bridge of the Rotaga’s flagship, separating it into two enormous sections. Bodies of unfortunate Heptari crewmen, and vast amounts of unidentifiable debris, spilled into space from the ship’s decompressing interior. Small secondary explosions raced the length of each half. The flagship’s heavy cannons fell silent.

With the loss of central command, remaining Heptari ships disengaged and headed out to space. Tanarac forces followed but stopped just below the planetary shield, as ordered.

One last Rahl could be seen in the distance, as it passed through the shield far above the Central Jungle. Two Syne cruisers circled it, firing weapons as fast as they would recharge.

General Tragge activated his intercom and personally gave the order for them to disengage. The Syne group commander pleaded for permission to “finish the job”, but the general smiled and repeated his instructions.

A collective sigh of relief broke out in the War Room. He did not share the feeling. He knew his job was far from finished.

“Get me Ground Command. I want the status on those Heptari commandos.”

With his shields still at risk and the enemy’s royal fleet arriving soon, it was critical to protect those assets from Rotaga’s ground troops.

“General Krit here. Three Hep transports made ground. We got on scene right away at Shield One. That risk has been neutralized. The other two shields are still under attack. Troops at Shield Two have the Heps contained, and we’re mopping them up now. We’re still en route to Quarry 33. Nothing but a bunch of Taskers trying to hold them.”

“Isn’t Quarry 33 where Minister Hadje is located?” General Tragge wondered if the doctor was safe.

“Yes, sir. He’s been in regular contact with us. I don’t know how they’re doing it,
sir, but they’ve managed to hold the lizards inside the compound so far. Those Taskers must be a tough bunch.”

“What’s the ETA for your troops?”

“Bout twenty, General. We’re landing between the quarry wall and shield station. When the Heps break outta the compound, we’ll be waiting for them.”

“Why aren’t you dropping directly into the compound to help the Taskers?”

“My first priority is to secure those generators. Sir, I’d love to go nail lizards inside the compound, but I have to secure a perimeter first. It’s up to you. Do you want to change my orders?”

“No Krit, your orders stand.”

The general did not allow personal feelings to interfere with proper military strategy.

“But Krit, if you get a chance, Hadje is a personal friend of mine, and I’d appreciate any help you can give him. Tragge
, out.”

General Tragge looked at his status monitor. It was bleak. He was down to two fully operational heavy starships and three more heavies were functional with limited maneuvering capability. Of course, he still had plenty of light ships, but they wouldn’t make much difference against what was coming.

All three planetary shields were operational, and he silently thanked Vaal-al that he still had two of his three planet-based heavy cannons. It wasn’t much, but he was thankful for what he had. He checked to make sure the Heptari space fleet was in still in full retreat.