Time Commander (The First Admiral Series) (6 page)

With the beam one hundred metres wide, anything caught within its path would be annihilated. Aboard the Star Destroyer, power would be drawn from the massive proto-star reactor and stored in an Agitation Condenser. In the Agitation Condenser, the bonds between the Trions were stimulated until they became sufficiently unstable. To take the instability too far would cause a massive feedback reaction and wipe out the Star Destroyer itself. When the Trions were ready for discharge, they were sent at enormous velocity down the solid barrel of the Trionic Cannon to be focussed on the target area.

When the beam was discharged it would travel through space until the kinetic energy behind it was dissipated. However, anything in the path of the beam would be destroyed. The stream of agitated Trions would latch onto anything they struck and try to bond with those Trions. The unstable Trions trying to connect with the stable ones created instability in the bonds of the stable Trions. This then created a chain reaction of instability throughout the target area, which broke down the bonds between the Trions on the target releasing a huge amount of energy and the molecular destruction of the target. The strike produced the distinctive appearance of the target flattening prior to annihilation that was the signature of the Trionic Cannon. When the target had been destroyed, the agitation energy of the Trions had been dissipated. The Trions involved in the explosion then became stable, once again, and found a new place within the Trionic Web. That way the Trions did not continue the chain reaction that could potentially destroy the universe.

On the flanks of the Ganthoran formation, the Trionic Cannon beam had cut a one hundred metre swathe through the ranks of warships. The beam had cut through the Ganthoran formation like a hot knife through butter, and had carried on through space until the kinetic energy had dissipated.

All along the path of the Trionic Cannon beam, Ganthoran Destroyers and Cruisers began to flatten and then explode; bursting like ripened melons in the cold empty, airless darkness of space. Having been struck by unstable Trions; creating instability in the structure of the vessel, the explosions seemed to take on a more significant level of violence. With a strike from unstable Trions, every atom and molecule in the vessel was exploding. Dozens of Ganthoran Destroyers and Cruisers were simply wiped away in a few brief seconds of horrifying violence and destruction. For the crews of the Ganthoran warships struck by the Trionic Cannon beam, there was zero chance of survival. Like their vessels, the atoms and molecules that made up their bodies became unstable, and the Trionic bonds broke down. Death, for the Ganthoran crews, was mercifully instant and painless.

The front ranks of the Ganthoran formation had been badly mauled by Parbe’an’s creative gunnery. Ganthoran vessels in the fourth and fifth ranks of the formation suddenly found themselves as the front line. As such, their stunned and horrified crews reacted wildly; opening fire blindly in the general direction of the Alliance vessels. Some of the Ganthoran weapon fire landed squarely amongst their own vessels, but some of the weapon fire began to hit Alliance Eagles.

On the three-dimensional War Table image, Billy Caudwell could see the damage done to the Ganthoran formation unfolding before him. The front three ranks of Destroyers had been torn to ruins. Damaged hulks and space debris from destroyed vessels was scattered everywhere across the Ganthoran formation front. On the flanks of the Ganthoran formation, two great empty lanes had been carved on either side. The surviving Ganthoran Cruisers and Destroyers were reluctantly attempting to plug the gap left by the beam of the Trionic Cannon. Nervously, their crews edged their vessels into the empty space left by the Alliance’s ultimate terror weapon.

In the centre, Ganthoran vessels were slowly breaking apart as Billy watched the ongoing battle. Many Ganthoran warships were still valiantly fighting back at the Alliance Eagles.

Damaged Ganthoran Destroyers were still deploying their tear-drop weapons pods and directing fire in the direction of the Alliance fighters.

“He’s got them in! He’s got the Eagles in!” Lokkrien spotted the first Eagles passing through the ranks of damaged and destroyed Ganthoran warships.

However, in his excitement to celebrate Admiral Parbe’an’s initial success, Chief of Staff Marrhus Lokkrien had missed the most significant tactical development of the encounter: The progress of the Ganthoran invasion fleet had been halted.

Double checking the numerals that danced along the top of the three-dimensional War Table image, Billy Caudwell noted that the range between the two formations had stopped moving.

At just over five thousand kilometres, the Eagles had succeeded in halting the progress of the Ganthoran formation. This is what Admiral Parbe’an had asked them to do, and they had succeeded in the first part of their mission. Now, it was a case of how long the Eagles could hold the Ganthorans away from the main body of Parbe’an’s force to allow the Alliance First Fleet to come to their aid.

“And, he’s managed to stop the Ganthoran advance,” Billy said.

“
He’s what!? Well done, Parbe’an, well done, Third Fleet,” Lokkrien announced.

Around the War Table, the gathered Third Admirals stamped their feet to indicate their support for Third Fleet. Billy Caudwell was not quite ready to join in with their premature celebrations. It had been a good start for the Alliance forces, but breaking into and halting the Ganthoran formation was only likely to be a temporary victory. To win the battle, the Ganthorans had to be defeated and driven off.

The Eagle pilots had run the gauntlet of the initial contact, and had broken through the first ranks of Ganthoran Destroyers. It was a great achievement for Parbe’an, but now the world of the Alliance Eagle pilots changed dramatically. From the great vastness of open space, the Eagle pilots now found themselves confined and constricted amongst the alleyways and lanes created by the hulls of the towering Ganthoran warships. The Eagle pilots had now lost the advantage of stand-off capability, where the greater range of their pulsar-cannon could keep an enemy at a distance. They had also lost the advantage of their mass formation tactics. The Eagle pilots could no longer form up in Attack Wings and lay down the devastating carpet of firepower that had helped them break into this formation. This was where the superior numbers of the Ganthoran Axe-Blades would begin to tell.

From the War Table aboard Aquarius, Billy Caudwell saw one of the first of the Eagles falling to the Screaming Death. The Eagle, having penetrated the first line of defence, was hit by one of the wildly fired weapons from a Ganthoran Destroyer. As the Eagle darted forward to find new targets for the pulsar-cannon, the wave from the Screaming Death struck it squarely on the front slope of the wedge design. As Billy Caudwell watched intently, it appeared as if someone had thrown a loosely constructed Eagle into a high velocity wind tunnel.

As the Eagle sped forward, the whole structure of the fighter seemed to peel away, in small pieces, from the frame and be strewn in its wake. After a few seconds, the rapidly peeling Eagle exploded in a red roaring ball of flame. The pilot of the Eagle had failed to eject, and had perished in the inferno of his fighter craft. There were to be many more such casualties before this battle ended.

From the numerals dancing down the side of the three-dimensional image, Billy could see that Third Fleet had lost just over forty Eagles in the initial contact. This was a massive improvement on the one in five losses that the Tactical Computers had predicted. Billy had expected to see over eight hundred Eagles lost in a few seconds. Instead, Parbe’an’s gunnery had cut those losses down to a fraction of that figure. That advantage was about to be negated.

Having forced a pathway through the front ranks of Ganthoran Destroyers, the Eagles started to fight their way through to the “Six-Cigar” Carriers in the centre of the formation. The Ganthoran General, however, had recovered quickly from the initial stunning success of the Alliance attack. The Cruisers and Destroyers he had kept at the rear of the formation were being ordered forward, whilst from the one hundred and twenty landing bays of the “Six-Cigar” Carriers, a blizzard of Axe-Blade fighters were being launched that seemed to stream endlessly into the lanes between the Carriers and the Cruiser escorts.

Like a great torrent, they swept forward to hunt down the impudent Alliance Eagles amongst the warren of lanes and alleyways made up by Ganthoran warships. The Alliance Eagle attack wings, having broken down into the traditional ten fighter squadrons, met the great onrushing swarm of Ganthoran Axe-Blades head-on. As with most fighter-on-fighter conflicts, the first few moments were vitally important. Both the Alliance Eagles and Ganthoran Axe-Blades opened fire at frighteningly short range. The rapid-fire of the Alliance Eagles’ pulsar-cannon tore great gaps in the ranks of the onrushing Axe-Blades, whilst the Ganthorans also scored hundreds of devastating hits on the Eagles. Out in the depths of space, the battle that was about to rage around the hulls of the Ganthoran Cruisers and Destroyers began like a fireworks salute. As if hundreds of rockets had been fired into the night sky, the destruction of hundreds of Eagle fighters and thousands of Axe-Blades heralded the start of the battle.

Like a myriad of tiny stars twinkling in the night sky, the initial contact of the fighter pilots was marked by thousands of deep red exploding death blooms in front of the Ganthoran Cruisers and “Six Cigar” Carriers. The Ganthoran Destroyers had been ordered to hold station and provide as much of an obstruction as possible for the Alliance pilots. The bigger and less manoeuvrable Destroyer would fare much better as a static weapons platform rather than as a large fighter craft.

The Eagles and Axe-Blades, having survived the volleys of weapons fire from the initial impact, rapidly descended into the free-for-all dog fight.

Aboard the Aquarius, Billy Caudwell could see on the three-dimensional War Table image that the fighter battle would rapidly degenerate into the thousands of small personal battles for survival. It would be everyone for themselves out there amongst the hulls of the Ganthoran warships.

The individual Eagle pilots scattered in every conceivable direction from the initial contact point, to be rapidly pursued and hunted by several Ganthoran Axe-Blade fighters. Down every lane, channel and alleyway between Ganthoran warships, the Alliance Eagles raced away, followed by Ganthoran Axe-Blades.

Like water flowing through a series of irrigation ditches, the battle between the fighters seemed to fill every available space in the front ranks of the Ganthoran formation. Alliance Eagles would dart and weave violently to avoid the weapons fire of both pursuing Axe-Blades and also the self-defence fire of the static Destroyers. It was a murderous path for the Alliance Eagles to follow. The support from their Star Cruisers was beyond them deep in the heart of the Ganthoran formation. The Star Destroyer could continue to terrorise the flanks of the Ganthoran formation, but that was of little use to the Eagles.

Watching from the War Table aboard Aquarius, Billy Caudwell could see the running battles between the Eagles and the Axe-Blades. In his heart of hearts, he knew that there would only be one outcome for the massively-outnumbered Eagles. Whilst, in the darkened War Room, the Staff Officers no longer stamped in appreciation of Parbe’an’s skill and daring. The Eagle losses had been rapidly mounting during the hunt between the Ganthoran warships, and now there was no cause for celebration.

“How long until we initiate Trion Drive?” Billy asked.

“
Another eight minutes, sir.”

It was an answer Billy Caudwell did not want to hear. He wanted to be at the battle site giving support to the Eagle pilots who were currently fighting for their lives amidst the Ganthoran formations. Time and again, he watched some brave Eagle pilot being pursued through the twisting alleyways of the Ganthoran formation. As the pilots flew magnificently through the great metal jungle of Ganthoran warships, they would strafe the larger vessels, causing bursts of flame and metal to burst out from the hulls. They would engage the dozens of Axe-Blades pursuing them in the snarling, scratching, uneven fight. Sometimes, the Eagle would succeed in knocking down large numbers of the Ganthoran fighters, but eventually, the sheer weight of numbers would tell, and one of the Ganthorans would get a direct hit on the Eagle.

One Eagle pilot had been especially successful, and had brought down a Ganthoran Cruiser. The pilot had been pursued by over twenty Axe-Blades through the alleyways of Ganthoran warships. With amazing courage and skill, the Eagle pilot had strafed a group of Axe-Blades who were pursuing another Eagle. His burst of pulsar-cannon fire had dispatched three Ganthoran fighters from the group, giving his comrade a few moments of breathing space. Then, with breathtaking audacity the pilot had set his own course for a Ganthoran Cruiser. With waves of Screaming Death snapping at his heels, and over twenty Axe Blades trying to destroy him, the brave Eagle pilot strafed the side of the Cruiser, and overflew the massive beast.

Having over flown the Cruiser, the Eagle pilot swerved around to attack the Cruiser from the front.

Running the gauntlet of weapons fire from the Cruiser, several surrounding Destroyers and the pursuing posse of Axe-Blades, the Eagle pilot sent a huge burst of rapid-fire pulsar-bolts, from all six of his cannon into the front of the Cruiser. Whether by accident or design, the Eagle pilot managed to hit the open-mouth vent at the front of the massive Cruiser. The pulsar-bolts had then raked through the fragile and vulnerable fans that generated the electro-magnetic drive of the Cruiser. The direct hits on the fans quickly de-stabilised the entire drive system. Compartment by compartment, the Cruiser began to disintegrate and explode. Flying down the length of the stricken Cruiser, the pilot managed to keep his Eagle just ahead of the exploding compartments as they detonated. The pursuing Axe-Blades, however, were not as fortunate, or skilful, as the gallant Alliance pilot. Most of them were caught in the explosions of the dying Cruiser.