Talosian Chronicles 5: Raptor Squadron (25 page)

Star Dancer
and
Prometheus
took up a parking orbit around the planet Atlas in the Centauri system. There, they began unloading the wounded, the extra soldiers they had taken, and said good-bye to three new friends.

Shies M'orel and her two consorts made themselves more than just passengers during the trip home. They spent time moving around the ship, speaking to people that had had a hard time in the battle, they spent time in the make-shift clinics Beth had set-up, helping the staff to take care of the wounded. Shies was there when Laorna passed, and it was clear the Benesian woman had helped ease Laorna's pain at the very end. When she finally closed her eyes for the last time, Shies said a prayer for her.

"Ambassador, it has been a true pleasure to have you with us these last few days. On behalf of the crew, have a safe journey," Ian said kissing her cheek as was custom.

"It has been a treat for us as well, Admiral." She smiled sadly and cocked her head gently to one side. "Ian, we will be returning to this sector as our Ambassador to your people. There is something coming, something very dark. When I return I will be bringing many women with me, and they will become your people; and your soldiers. I don't understand this vision because our people do not fight, yet I know these will. They will be fighting here, for all of us."

Ian looked at her in confusion. "Are you certain, Shies? I know you have the gift of foresight as well, but none of our people have seen anything like that yet."

"Speak to Janet Laskar and your wife. Although Jenny is not aware of the dreams yet, they are the reason for young Sara's early arrival. Very soon, Janet will need your help dealing with the anxiety this will cause her. I cannot see any more than I have already spoken of, so I cannot say more, save this; prepare your world, Ian. Begin preparing your own defenses and building your own weapons. You will need them," she finished as a tear slid down her cheek.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Apache
Squadron

Deep Space Transit Vector

Imperial Space

"Majors, we will only have five minutes to destroy our pursuers and return to Hyperspace if we wish to break the lock they have on us; theoretically. Again, we do not know their exact capabilities," Gouyen explained.

"Well, it's still worth a try," Jana said. "If nothing else, we'll learn more about their tracking capabilities."

"Agreed, if we're caught in a trap, we should try to learn as much as possible until we can escape it," Carl replied. "We might also want to consider building some decoys; equip a missile or something capable of mimicking our signatures to help confuse them."

"At present, we do not have enough replicator materiel to build the devices you mentioned. We would need to resupply from a gas planet rich in hydrogen. Asteroids or other planets would work as well, but it would take longer to build up sufficient replicator stock," Alfred explained.

"How much time are we talking about here?" Cathy asked. "We are being chased."

"Using a hydrogen rich source, it would take roughly eight hours to build up the needed supply. Building the devices would take two days and require the use of the hold; we would have to jettison the land rails," Gouyen replied.

"Wait, we can't empty our holds; where would we put the teams living there?" Carl asked.

"The devices would be built only in the holds of the
Zulu
and the
Apache.
That is why it would take two days. Our existing missile supply do not have sufficient power systems for the task, we would have to build each device from a design," Gouyen explained.

"Well, let's worry about what's behind us for the time being. If we need to, we can work on the drone idea later," Jana said. "So, how are we gonna take out four light cruisers in under five minutes with them being suspicious of a trap?"

"Can we pull it off in a straight up fight with them?" Thomes asked.

"Probably not," Gouyen replied. "The Imperial ships will most likely exit hyperspace spread out widely in order to reduce the potential of ambush as well as to maximize their scanner effectiveness. This will make them difficult for us to destroy in the time required."

"Do not target their ships," Sizani said. "We place ourselves in position to fire anti-matter into the event horizon of their interface."

"The timing would have to be perfect; we'd actually have to fire the missiles before they began translating," Thomas said, thinking.

"I was not thinking of using the missiles, my friend. Because of our position, we allow the mass drivers their maximum possible speed. If we can place ourselves within ten light-seconds of their interfaces, we can destroy them as they translate," Sizani explained. "We use the remaining time to get clear of the area so we, ourselves, can return to hyperspace."

"That is possible," Gouyen replied.

"It would require that our hyperspace engines be completely off-line during the attack in order to avoid damage. After the attack, we would need to select a new heading and proceed at maximum power. I would suggest we leave another tracking probe here in order to assist us in our own jump as well as what the Imperial response would be," Gouyen replied.

"Do we have enough time to set this up?" Carl asked.

"Yes, but we need to get into position immediately, the enemy will arrive here in seven minutes," Alfred replied.

"Let's do this. Good luck everyone," Jana said as she returned to the cockpit. Gouyen and Officer Redfeather, the
Apache
's gunner, followed her.

The first thing Jana did was shut down the hyperdrive engine.

As Redfeather climbed down into the gunnery station, Gouyen was setting their new course. "Major, we've worked out the most probable positions for the enemy to interface. Each Raptor will take one of those positions. We still need a new heading to go in after the attack though."

"What is the second closest Alliance controlled area?" Jana asked.

"There is an abandoned Cronian military prison facility in the Shamini system. Alliance forces withdrew from the system during the invasion. The Empire never took it because there is no value in it. The only functioning equipment there are a listening/tracking station. At present, it is the closest point in Alliance space."

"If the others agree, use it. If nothing else, it'll get us out of the lion's den," Jana replied.

Shortly, Gouyen reported. "Course set. Two minutes to enemy arrival. Velocity restrictions on the mass drivers are removed. Anti-matter rounds set for twelve second self-destruct."

"That should be plenty. Are you ready down there Redfeather?" Jana asked.

"As ready as I will ever be, Major," the man replied.

"Shawn, I am putting up a marker in your display where the event should occur. I will adjust it as I can. I will tell you when to begin firing at it," Gouyen replied.

"Thank you Gouyen, that will help greatly," the gunner replied. "I have your marker locked, I am ready."

"Early exit, event forming to the rear! Shawn: turn around and begin firing!" Gouyen said urgently.

Jan heard and felt the heavy cannon under them begin firing, and quickly asked for a rear view.

She felt her heart sink when she saw that the rounds were falling short of the target. The Imperial ship had exited hyperspace more than twelve seconds early.

"Adjusting duration of the rounds," Gouyen reported as the light cruiser began to emerge.

As Jana watched, the bright white line of rounds from the mass driver dimmed slightly and extended out to hit the ship, tracking along it and into the event horizon.

The explosion was very bright and the optics of the raptor dimmed. Jana reset her view and pushed the throttle control all the way forward. "Target destroyed, going to maximum power."

"Major, two of the other targets are emerging later than expected and further away. They will not be destroyed in this manner," Gouyen reported.

"Fuck! Are we close enough to the others to help?" Jana asked.

"Adjusting course, linking to
Acadia
AI for coordination," Gouyen reported. "Check speed, reduce to point five."

Jana got back to work flying and reduced her acceleration profile.

A few seconds later, Jana felt the scream from the mass driver again, louder this time as the top mounted gun was also used.

"Targets destroyed. All raptors, return to escape profile and go to maximum power," Gouyen said. "Two minutes, forty-nine seconds to jump, initiate hyper-drive unit start-up."

"That puts us over the time limit by almost forty-five seconds," Jana asked as she began the hyperdrive start-up procedure.

"Correct. It is possible we may not lose the tracking lock, however, the attempt should still be made," Gouyen replied. "Recommend we do not fly in formation, rather more spread out, to lessen mass and energy signatures."

"So where are you taking us again Jana?" Carl asked.

"Gouyen says there is an abandoned Croanian Military Prison the Empire hasn't bothered with yet that is the closet point to us right now. I thought that if we were successful in breaking the tracking lock the Empire had on us, it would be a good place to head for. If we haven't broken the lock, then we can always change course and make for our original destination as planned," Jana replied.

"I've taken this opportunity to do a little research on our destination," Sizani said. "It would be an ideal location for a base from which to strike out at our enemies. With a little work it could easily be made very difficult for the Empire to attack."

"How so?" Cathy asked.

Sizani nodded. "The system is little more than a massive asteroid field, it has three planets, two are hydrogen rich gas planets, and the last is a massive ice world. In a pinch, the ice world could be used to produce hydrogen as well as a few other rare elements.

"The large number of asteroids could easily lend itself to the setup of multiple automated weapons systems, targeting and tracking sensors. The system itself was used to mine the materials used to build Croanian warships. Most of the original equipment is still there, it has just been shut down. Given it's spacial location, it would be an ideal place from which to stage missions deep into Imperial held space."

"That is definitely something to think about. Why don't you write up a report on your idea and send it off to the Admiral. If we were to do something like that, we'd need permission from the Croanians anyway. My only concern would be the Empire noticing the increase in activity in the system. If they attacked before we could get the defenses set up, it could be a very bad thing," Jana replied. "The other issue I'd have is that given our current location, how hard would it be for the Empire to figure out exactly where we went?"

"I have been thinking on that as well," Sizani replied. "If
Zulu
and
Apache
were to go to two separate occupied worlds and stage an attack, it would greatly confuse the issue for the enemy. They would have to spread out their forces in an effort to attempt to either capture us, or reacquire the hyperspace lock. Meanwhile,
Acadia
and
Dynasty
proceed to the Echelon system and begin fortifications pending Alliance approval. If the Alliance does not approve, then we can all simply return to base. However, I feel this is an opportunity that should be considered since it has presented itself to us."

"If we were to build an entirely new facility under the ice of the third planet, the composition of the ice itself would help in masking our presence. Alliance records of the chemical analysis show a large occurrence of deuterium and tritium; these two substances would serve to scatter the signatures of our activities there while leaving the original facility appearing abandoned. Provided it was deep enough under the ice, a substantial base could be built in this system," Alfred replied.

"We still have the problem of two destroyed Raptors and a team leader to replace," Cathy said quietly. "Team
Ithica
will have to return to Hades, and the Raptors can only be built at Phoenix Base."

Jana nodded her agreement. "Yes, they will. Let's wait and see what Command has to say about this plan. Once that's decided, we can figure out how to get the teams back there and replace the two missing ships." She paused in thought. "Okay, how about this; we hold off making a decision until we know if we're free of the lock. Until then we look for targets for
Zulu
and
Apache
and plan out how to build the base. If we're lucky, we'll get word on this whole plan before we know if the Empire is on to us or not."

The rest of the Majors agreed and began their tasks. Major Sizani compiled his report and sent it off to both Admiral Williams and Admiral T'rolith. In the meantime, Jana and the other team leaders searched for likely targets for them to hit to distract the Empire from the Echelon system.

The next day, the AI in the group reported that it appeared that the Empire had lost them, but they were beginning to search in this direction. The clock was now running for the plan. If they were going to build this base, they needed to distract the Empire as soon as possible.

With the agreement of the other Majors, Jana and Sizani changed course for the targets they had decided on. One was a poorly defended Imperial supply point. The other was a minor reinforcement and repair facility. They were both in the same general direction they had originally been heading before destroying the light cruisers, yet both targets were also some distance from the other. By destroying these facilities, it should thoroughly confuse the Empire as to the squadron's actual location.

Finally, two days from Apache's attack, which would be the first of the two, orders were received from Command in the form a prerecorded data burst.

Jana had Gouyen decode it and play the message in the common area.