Theogony 3: Terra Stands Alone (38 page)

“
Captain, I am picking up new power sources approximately 50,000 miles out from us,” said the defender. “They weren’t there previously, or if they were, they were operating at minimal power.”

“Are they weapons?” asked the commanding officer.

“Not like any I have ever seen,” the defender answered. He paused while the ship shuddered from a mine that detonated close aboard. The
Destruction of Olympos’
shields were holding, so far, although they were down to 54%. “They are too far to be mines and too close to be missiles.”

“Then concentrate your fire on the mines,” the commanding officer ordered. The ship shuddered again, harder
this time.  “That one was far too close!”

“Yes, sir,” the defender said. He glanced at the shield readout. 31%. Far too close indeed.

“Do you know what the new power sources are?” the captain asked the attacker.

“No, sir,” replied the attacker. “They
just started moving in our direction, but they are only accelerating at a couple of Gs. They are unlike anything I have ever seen before.”

“Missile separation!” called the defender. “The new power sources are some sort of
new missile launcher!”

“Defend the ship,” the commanding officer ordered, “and destroy those things...whatever they are.”

“The bombers are launching, ma’am,” said the OSO. “The computer estimates that over 1,800 missiles were just launched.”

“That’ll help,” replied Captain Griffin. “Our 30...” she paused as a dreadnought missile detonated on the
Terra’s
shields, shaking the ship. “Our 30 launchers aren’t going to be enough.”

“Shields at 23%,” said the DSO. “More missiles incoming. Counter-missiles firing.”

“Are the bomber missiles going to hit?” Captain Griffin asked.

“
Looks like most are on target,” said the OSO. “Some are being intercepted, some are going after ships that have already been destroyed, and some are just going to miss, but most are headed for the Drakul fleet.” After a couple of seconds he added, “Aw, shit. The Drakuls just launched counter-missiles on the bombers. Those guys are going to get pasted.”

The ship rocked. “Shields are down!” called the DSO.

“Laser hits forward, midships and aft!” added the duty engineer. “Damage control crews responding.”

Please hit
them, thought Captain Griffin, and please hit them soon.

“Another hit aft,” said the
duty engineer as the ship skewed violently. “Main engine room 2 is decompressing!”

Sooner would be
better...

“Captain, several of those slow craft are transmitting something,” said the defender. “They may be the leaders of the five groups.”

“Good,” said the commanding officer. “Kill them first.”

“Mother
fucker!” exclaimed Colonel Khalili. She stared at the screen as if she hoped it would change.

“What is it?” asked Colonel Larson.

“We just lost
Lancer 16
. The Drakuls must have decided that we were legitimate targets after we launched on them,” Khalili replied. “The counter-missile batteries that don’t have incoming missiles to defend against are mopping up the bombers.” She switched to the squadron frequency. “
All Lancers, evasive maneuvers!
”

“How are they going to find their way home if we get separated?” asked Colonel Larson. “We’re the only
Lancer with a tactical system. They’ll never find their way back.”

“If we win,” Colonel Khalili replied, “each bomber has a locator beacon, and hopefully
there’ll be a shuttle left that can run around and collect everyone. If we lose...” she let the thought trail off.

“If we lose, it might be a lot more comfortable just running out of oxygen here among the stars than it would be succumbing to the
‘tender mercies’ of the Drakuls.”

“Yeah,” Khalili replied, “that’s p
retty much what I thought—” The rest of her sentence was lost as a 5.25 meter laser struck
Lancer 01’s
cockpit, vaporizing both members of its crew.

“
All Intruders, take evasive action!
” their lead, Intruder 501 commed. It immediately went through several sharp turns and was lost amid the backdrop of the stars.

“What the fuck was that?” asked Lindy. “Take evasive action
, and then they bolt out of here? I lost
501
. We’re never going to find it again, either. How the hell are we going to find our way home?”

“Beats the hell out of me,” replied Salty. “They never said
—”

The crew never saw the counter-missile missile that destroyed the aircraft formerly known as
Bureau Number 152591. Developed to intercept missiles that could fly at a sizable portion of the speed of light and employ a number of countermeasures, the Terran aircraft wasn’t a challenge to the missile’s targeting system; it impacted the cockpit canopy and detonated, killing both men instantly.

* * * * *

“The bomber flight was a success,” said the OSO. “It looks like we destroyed
eight of their 10 battleships, most of their battlecruisers and almost all of their cruisers. All of the group leaders have been destroyed, though, and the remaining aircraft are scattered throughout local space. It’s unlikely we’ll ever find them all...assuming we survive to look for them.”

“Did we get the dreadnought?” asked Captain Griffin.

“I don’t think so, ma’am,” replied the OSO. He glanced at his system display. “No ma’am, we didn’t. There was a battleship in between the dreadnought and one of the attacking groups, and it intercepted the majority of the missiles. There isn’t much left of the battleship, but only a few missiles got by it to hit the dreadnought. The dreadnought’s shields are down, and it’s wounded, but it is still in the fight.”

“Damn,” said Captain Griffin softly. “I really hoped I wouldn’t have to do this.”
Growing up, Captain Griffin had watched a movie where one of the characters had to make a painful decision, based on the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. She had never wanted to be in that position, but she knew the power of the dreadnought. She couldn’t hope to match it with the
Terra
or anything else that Terra had remaining in its arsenal, which is why she had made her suggestion at the meeting.

Kamikazes.

People under her command that would sacrifice themselves at her word for the good of the race. Just like the Japanese at the end of World War II, it was their last card, played in desperation, and their only remaining hope to even the odds.

In a previous battle with the Ssselipsssiss
, she had seen the effectiveness of kamikazes against ships that had turned off their drives. A stealth fighter pilot could attack from behind and drive his or her fighter into the engines of the enemy ship. While fatal to the pilot, if it was done correctly, it would also be fatal to the ship, as it would take out all of the power to its offensive and defensive weapons systems.

“Holy shit!” cried the DSO, watching the ball of expanding plasma. “The dreadnought just hit the
Septar
with a broadside of missiles and lasers, ma’am. The
Septar’s
gone.”

If the dreadnought wasn’t neutralized immediately, all hope was lost. Hell, all hope was probably lost, anyway
, with the dreadnought and smaller ships that were still in play. The converted bombers had closed the odds but hadn’t been enough to even them. You play the cards you’re dealt, she thought with a mental shrug, and she still had this card to play. Sending people to certain death broke her heart, but it was the only weapon she had left.

“
Kamikaze flight, go, go, go!
” she commed. “
Get the biggest ships you can!
” A tear rolled down her cheek. She didn’t think that she would ever be the same again.

Damn, though
t Lieutenant Sally Watts, I’m really going to have to do this. She didn’t want to die; in fact, she wanted nothing more than to watch her two-year old son Stevie grow up. She had everything to live for. In a world that’s free, though, not in a world ruled by Drakuls. When the call had gone out for volunteers, the intent of this mission had been very clear. Fly a stealth ship into the engines of a major combatant and blow it up.

Chance of survival: 0%
.

Her mother had tried to talk her out of it,
a little bit, but her mother understood the meaning of sacrifice. Her father had left when Sally was just a little girl, and her mother had spent most of her life sacrificing for Sally. Sally’s life was a circle; she had been left with a baby boy herself when her latest bad choice walked out on her.

This was where she
broke the circle and made it better.

She had volunteered to lead the five stealth
fighters. Her task force was a small group, but that was all the ships they’d been able to make and get stealth modules for. Although there weren’t many of the fighters, it was hoped that their sacrifice would have a much bigger effect on the outcome of the battle. She looked over at her WSO, Lieutenant Jon ‘Angel’ Aniello, who was assigning targets to the other four members of the group. He pushed the button that transmitted the instructions and turned to look at her.

“Time to go save the world,” he said. He gave her a half smile; like Sally, he was a single parent trying to make a better world for his child. “The dreadnought’s ours, let’s make it count.”

Sally tried to smile back, but couldn’t. She thought about her son one last time. Yes, it would be hard on Stevie growing up with only a grandmother and no parents, but Sally’s mom would make it work. She always did. Knowing that all of his needs, including college, would be paid for helped. Was it enough? Sally didn’t know, but she hoped so. It was the best she could do to ensure his survival and future success.

“Kamikaze 01,
copies
,” she commed. Steeling herself, she looked at Angel and gave him a half smile. It was all she could do. “
We’re on our way.
”

* * * * *

“Ma’am, the
Pacific’s
engines just blew up!” called the DSO. “The lead Drakul battleship wasn’t out of the fight, they were just playing dead. They opened up on the
Pacific
from in close and shredded it. The ship is unpowered and venting.”

Captain Griffin looked at the
system display. “
Bastards!
” The battleship was trying to sneak around for them next and hit them when they engaged the dreadnought. “Helm, full power,” she ordered. “Aim to cut in front of the battleship!”

With a final broadside at the dreadnought still trying to extricate itself from the minefield, the
Terra
began turning toward the battleship. “We’re going to finish off that bastard if it’s the last thing we do.” With the dreadnought almost out of the minefield, it probably would be, she added to herself.

Admiral Bullig
watched in satisfaction as the Terran battlecruiser detonated under the hammering of his weapons. As he hoped, the Terrans had shifted their fire to the bigger threat when he stopped firing at them. When he fired again, it had been from minimum range, with all of his lasers and missiles targeted on the engines and engineering section. Most of the last 1/3 of the ship was now reduced to scrap metal, and the ship was dead in space. There would be food stock to pick up from it later, once the last couple of Terran ships were destroyed.
That
was how you killed an enemy ship.

“Sir, the enemy battleship has broken off attacking the
Destruction of Olympos
and is moving toward us,” the defender said.

“Shift fire to the battleship,” he ordered. “All lasers and missile systems.”

“Shifting fire,” the attacker said. “Missile tubes at 30%.”

“Noted,”
Admiral Bullig acknowledged. If he could just kill the battleship or hold it off until the
Destruction of Olympos
was clear of the minefield, the battle would be won. He wasn’t worried about the other battlecruiser.