The Forsaken Empire (The Endervar War Book 2) (23 page)

Next to the combat drone was the projected hologram. The figment was at his side, a captive to his machine memory. He let it die off in the vacuum. The lattice of light broke apart, blowing away like a gust of sand.

The hologram was a taunt, one that the Destroyer would surely remember.

We will meet again, the Enforcer said in an airless whisper. The Unity will return.

Chapter 22

They headed to the rendezvous point and found themselves in the middle of nowhere. Arendi was in her seat, sitting behind Alysdeon inside the starfighter, flexing her right hand. She was anxious. Closing her palm, she formed a fist and pressed it against the inside of her other hand.

From what they had been told, the package was inbound. It would arrive any moment now, supposedly unharmed. So to meet it, a greeting had hastily been organized. Their own vessel was hardly enough to take on any enemy threat. But flanking it was an army of supporting craft. This was no Alliance fleet, however. The neighboring unmanned ships were many, but they were loyal to one man, and one man only.

He had ordered them to patrol the space thoroughly. In response, the various squadrons had spread themselves far. They were ultimately ready to secure the package and silence any potential opposition. The master behind them was in complete control and expected success.

As their engine slowed to a crawl, Alysdeon saw the scans. The holographic icons were splayed out across the cockpit glass. she said, counting the legion of ships. It was a sizable force, with plenty more prepped for deployment. The existing drones marched along, numbering at over a thousand. But for now there was nothing else to do but hover through the space and wait.

I just hope it worked, Arendi replied, nestled in her own cove. He’s promising us a spectacular show.

She shrugged at the thought. Arendi didn’t care much for the Destroyer’s arrogance. But the man was millennia old. He was well trained in many things, particularly in infiltration and in killing. So he was rightfully confident confident that he could avoid detection and capture the target.

Arendi felt the machine tendons in her right palm. If there was anyone capable of penetrating the Unity, it was he.

Obviously, their target would not come willingly. We just need her alive Arendi said.

The words went against her initial instinct. Her mouth went dry, thinking it. But the white-haired woman was far more valuable intact. Farcia was leading the enemy. She knew their secrets. And so perhaps she, and she alone, possessed the answers.

The starfighter began to beep. Alysdeon placed her hand at her temple.

she said, rising from her seat. Her implants had registered the alert.

It came not from their ship but through the command network. The starfighter had synced its sensors with the rest of the fleet. Arendi leaned into the control console, verifying the data.

Confirmed. Hyperspace signal but it’s not here.

The disturbance was located farther away, less than a light-year from their location. But it was still out of immediate reach, beyond the original meeting point.

Arendi charged the engines. Behind them the accelerators boomed. The whole cockpit vibrated as the starfighter shifted into overdrive. Already they could see the preliminary readings. A single ship had exited the hyperspace portal, only to be followed by multiple contacts.

The Destroyer sent off his own message: The package is in the open

Seeing this, Arendi placed her hand on the console. She spread out her fingers as the microfilaments behind them pierced past the skin. The fibers then sank into the control board, giving her full access to the navigational control.

This is Valkyrie One, Arendi reported. Moving to engage.

Alysdeon readied the weapons. The whole fleet was doing the same.

***

At first, only a handful of enemy ships came through. Then it was a swarm. They poured forth from hyperspace. The fabric of space opened, letting through a tide of craft. Individually, the offending ships were like beads in the night. They carried no call sign and responded to no hail; they were deliberately covert. But collectively they sped forth, raining down into the area. The swarm had one goal in mind: to retrieve what the Enforcer had lost. They had crossed through hyperspace, in an attempt to follow and capture the target. The result had brought them here, into direct confrontation with the Destroyer. The enemy was out in pursuit in a wave that focused on a single target the wayward shuttle.

Arendi noticed the movement. The swarm was beginning to gain on the shuttle, even as it continued to flee.

Bombing run plotted, she said as their ship prepared to intercept. The Destroyer concurs.

Alysdeon replied.

Neither of them was accustomed to flying such a small craft. But both women had seen their fair share of battles. This was no different. The enemy needed to be beaten.

Alysdeon had linked with the starfighter’s weapons control via her neural implants. In her grasp was an arsenal of fusion bombs.

she said. To her, the oncoming torrent was rife with viable targets.

She didn’t hesitate to fire. In fact, no one did. The two opposing forces were about to collide. Together with the Destroyer’s ships, the starfighter flew into the emerging horde. In their view were dozens, and then hundreds, of enemy drones. They were small and fast, like their own craft. Clearly, they were designed to strike and evade. But in another moment, the sight became a blur against the glaring light. The bombardment had begun. It ravaged from both sides, as the white-hot beams blasted into the night. Navigating through the chaos, Arendi dodged the oncoming fire, syncing her own mind with the starfighter’s flight computer. The maneuvering thrusters kicked the craft in and out of the attack. The barrage itself jolted the vessel, sending bits of plasma over the cockpit.

Shields holding, Arendi said. The entire control board was shaking from the impacts. To retaliate, Alysdeon launched the payload. Their position put the ship directly in the path of the oncoming threat. She dropped the fusion bombs, and one by one they went off. The fiery wall split through the tide of enemy ships.

The Destroyer followed up with his own maneuver. His drone army was honored to die in battle. The legion and its individual vessels were bent on self-destruction. They crashed into their targets in another round of explosions and bled the space dry of void. The mounting clash resulted in an uproar in the middle of deep space. It left the starfighter open to pursue.

Closing in, Arendi said.

They were coming upon the package a gold and white ship that was now under attack. Although the main battle was behind them, the escaping shuttle had taken damage. Several craft from the enemy force had surrounded it and were penetrating its shields.

To try to prolong the affair, the shuttle was performing evasive maneuvers and was diving into a spiral. But it wouldn’t be long before the protective fields collapsed, and the hull was exposed. The threat was closing in.

Alysdeon acquired the targets. Six enemy drones were following the shuttle, so she fired at them with the main gun. The barrels on the starfighter pumped back with each shot. The phase bolts released from the cannon and sliced at the offending ships in a full barrage.

The Destroyer was following Arendi’s every step. His legion was behind her, responding with targeted strikes. A squadron of supporting ships had appeared, and it fired from the same position. The beams pierced one enemy drone and then another.

Alysdeon fired again. The bolts rammed into the targets, splashing across the shields. The successive hits forced the enemies to pull away. The starfighter continued to pursue. It streaked through space with the pulse of its kinetic drive.

As for the shuttle, it stumbled along, wounded. Warnings appeared over the scans. Not only had the protective fields just collapsed, but the craft was venting plasma. Arendi could see the neon mist rise from its primary engine nacelle. Any more damage, and it might explode.

Arendi messaged the shuttle, fearing the worst.

Status? she asked.

The response came over the comm, not in a voice but encrypted in the Destroyer’s own personal code. The infiltration unit remind
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had assumed control of the shuttle and replied back with the dire news.

Hull damage, he reported. Overload detected shutting off primary power.

Without its main propellant, the craft began plummeting. The gold hues around the exterior blinked off and became a dull gray.

And Farcia? Arendi asked. Is she safe?

Unknown, the final message said. She’s either dying or unconscious

The communication faded out in a bout of static. Arendi looked out at the shuttle, wondering whether its life support was still on. The escaping plasma might have stopped, but behind the craft was a flutter of debris. It flew along in a mess of shards, glacially spinning.

However, the real concern was the woman inside. Perhaps the Alliance and even Arendi preferred Farcia dead. But she couldn’t risk it. Not yet. She didn’t know the enemy’s intentions, so she needed to act.

Plotting a new course, Arendi said. The starfighter made a wide turn, breaking off its pursuit of the enemy ships. She returned to her priority. The maneuver would place the craft right on top of the battered shuttle. Arendi then extended the shields. The protective barrier expanded, becoming an invisible capsule that quickly enveloped the other ship. The goal was to protect it, so the starfighter would act as the shield. It left them exposed. Arendi swayed with the impacts. The surrounding shield strength was quickly diminishing in the face of the harassing enemy threat.

Compensating, she said, rotating the craft on its axis. The starfighter rolled and charged its main cannon as the stabilizers kept the ship in position.

Alysdeon fired at the incoming enemy craft. She missed and shook her head.

Alysdeon replied, as the starfighter was struck again.

Arendi heard the armor around her creak. Perhaps the enemy had changed their goal and now wanted Farcia dead. In seconds, the swarm was diminishing. The legion’s self-destruction had annihilated many of the surrounding ships. But even so, the foe remained relentless. The surviving enemy craft regrouped for another perhaps the final attack. If the initial objective could not be met, then total destruction would suffice.

No Arendi said, watching the maneuver in fear. Collision course detected.

It was one enemy contact, and then four. The ships were closing in and were less than a minute away.

Alysdeon reacted by boosting all remaining power to the shields. But both of them knew it wouldn’t be enough. One direct hit would probably demolish both the starfighter and the shuttle.

her friend said.

Arendi agreed. They still had time. Her hand remained on the cockpit’s control board. The metallic fibers from her fingers clung to the surface. She considered her options as the enemy ships fired another salvo. But in the end, all the starfighter needed to do was wait.

Arendi heard the message through her internal comm. It was a laugh.

The Destroyer was watching the battle unfold. He was mildly amused by the struggle. But like them, he knew what was at stake, so he didn’t hesitate. His legion swiftly went to work, orchestrating the next maneuver. One squadron intercepted the approaching enemy, while another fortified itself around the starfighter.

Arendi watched as the individual craft arrived and followed their path. The ships were small, each shaped like a trident, but together they formed another physical shield. Their combined presence offered a protective boost. The surrounding force field around their starfighter had been amplified thirty times, maybe more.

Stand by, the man said with another laugh. This next action may sting a bit.

He watched from every angle of the battle. His mind was entrenched in the controlling network behind the legion. The battle remained in pure chaos, but the odds of victory were still in his favor. The swarm, while formidable, was ultimately a nuisance beneath him. The Destroyer was irritated by the sight of it and had grown bored with this scuffle. So, to satiate his appetite, he escalated the battle with the next attack. His drone army had simply been the first and fastest strike he could offer. Now other weapons were in place to finish the fight.

The resulting blow came from hyperspace, in an aurora of violet. Through the breach emerged a single ship. It was no rudimentary drone, however. This was a fortress primed for battle. In command was the Destroyer; his mind was at the helm.

His personal dreadnought loomed above the fray, a cudgel of machine metal. The mass stretched on as the enemy clustered below like fleas. In another moment the vessel opened every bay door across its armored hull. The ship then fired, obliterating the battlefield.

Arendi witnessed the immediate impact. It was colossal. The vacuum became its own pale opposite. Antimatter charges were going off. The Destroyer had armed the vessel with the volatile explosives and sent it flying into the enemy swarm. He reinforced the strikes by releasing more supporting drones to buttress his legion. His aim was to bomb the entire area into nothing. To the Destroyer, the whole space was infested with his foe a nagging annoyance. At the same time, he sought to avoid any friendly fire. He had carefully calculated the bombing patterns and made sure to keep his attack contained.

Despite that, Arendi felt the sting.

The shield strength around the starfighter was falling. In a matter of seconds, the ensuing blow had knocked away several protecting drones. All around them, the white light was blasting through the cockpit. The attack blinded the scans.

Alysdeon held on tight.

Arendi almost nodded. The answer was a possible yes. Every warning alert on board the starfighter was going off. The antimatter charges were scorching space and annihilating both enemy and ally. The Destroyer had been given the name for a reason. He sought to cleanse the entire area of any potential threats.