Wandering Engineer 6: Pirates Bane (61 page)

Resistance stiffened as they hit the main concourse. Gustov knew
he was in trouble; he didn't have the numbers to handle an attritional fight.
He had five sets of powered armor, but no other heavy weapons and limited
ammunition. He had two wounded already.

Some of the security bots took cover, returning fire with the
marines behind them. A repair bot survived long enough to jack into the ship's
systems and upload additional viruses Sprite and Defender had crafted. Before
the AI could use it as a node to jack into the system it was destroyed during
the chaos of battle.

<----*----*----*---->

“Captain! We've been boarded!” a rating said, sounding fearful.

“Then get someone there and kill the bastards!” the Captain
snarled, turning around to glare at the rating.

“This isn't supposed to be happening to us,” the exec muttered.

“Well, it is anyway. Better deal with it Mister! Someone kill
that damn tin can!”

<----*----*----*---->

“Virus package two uploaded. The bot didn't get a chance to
upload the other packages before it was destroyed,” Sprite reported.

“Effect?” Irons asked, shifting power around a damaged EPS
junction. He traced his fingers back to the previous junction and cut the
plasma stream back, then rerouted around the damaged systems.

“Minimal. It was a sub node. We aren't seeing anything. I'm
thinking it is a dud Admiral,” Sprite said.

“Very well,” he replied. “It was worth a shot.”

<----*----*----*---->

“Sir, we can't shake her,” the helmsman said.

“Oh yes we can,” the Captain said, coming over. He knocked the
smaller man to the sid
e and
grabbed the controls. He cut the ship to the left and then waited a beat, went
back, then down and then back hard.

The battlecruiser jinked. Bounty's tired helmsman missed the jink
a moment late; she got enough around for her undamaged starboard weapons to get
a partial shot at the destroyer. Fire wracked the heavens as grasers spat,
coherent light and force beams ripped and tore at the dorsal tower of the
smaller ship as she tried to find cover. Her shield’s heat sinks overloaded and
failed as they melted down.

“Admiral, we've taken a heavy hit, Bounty has lost her shields,”
Bounty reported.

“Not good,” Enric said unnecessarily, climbing back into his
couch. “This is getting old. I need seat belts,” he grumbled.

“We've lost our dorsal point defense Admiral, structural damage to
dorsal surfaces and the tower. I don't think we can handle a jump sir,” Bounty
reported.

Irons frowned. His last ditch plan was to jump for Pyrax from
where they were. Now that was out.

“If you are thinking of boarding personally think again,” Sprite
said. “We're fresh out of shuttles remember?” she said.

“Wasn't on my mind, but now that you mention it...”

“We're bleeding fuel,” Enric reported. “And life support. Damage
control is trying to work on it but they are running into flash welded valves
and some ruined piping,” the rating reported.

“We're having trouble keeping station Admiral. Estimate two
minutes until we're out of RCS fuel,” the helmsman called out.

<----*----*----*---->

“There done,” Admiral Rico snarled, smiling wolfishly. That last
hit hadn't been a knockout punch, but it had hurt the ship. Not badly, but that
would come soon enough. He was tempted to take her intact, he wanted to meet
the bastard who could pull this off. And find out what the hell had taken it to
this. Hathaway deserved a long
slow
death.

“Sir! Jump point emergence!” a rating called out.

“Reinforcements?” the Admiral asked, turning to look over his
shoulder.

“Not ours sir! It's from Pyrax!”

<----*----*----*---->

“Admiral! Jump point activity! The Pyrax jump point! There is a
ship there, a big one!” Miss Nobeki reported looking up. “Adrienne is making a
run for it,” she said. Hope stirred in her voice.

“What the hell?” Irons asked. “Who?”

“Who cares?” Sprite asked. “Should we be looking a gift horse in
the mouth?” she asked. “And shouldn't we be putting some distance between us
and that BC?”

Irons shook his head vehemently no. They had to stay in the ship's
blind spot. “No, helm, stick with her. Keep firing. Don't let up. Bounty, raise
the party crasher. See if we can get an IFF,” Irons replied. He knew light
speed would limit transmissions, but it was worth a shot. Hope briefly surged
within him. They still could pull this off.

“She's moving out at flank speed. Mass and energy readings are
consistent with a Resolution class Heavy Cruiser Admiral,” Bounty reported.
“She has cut her drive and gone into stealth, signal lost. I have an
approximate plot for her." The AI put a blinking icon on the plotting
table. "Before she went into stealth she flashed her IFF signal. She's
identified herself as..."

“Firefly,” Sprite said with a smile in her tone. “Based on her
course and speed she did a short jump, coming in a million kilometers outside
the Pyrax jump point and off the Pyrax straight line course. She is coming in
hot and fast. She'll drop her stealth when she gets into range I bet.” She
smiled. "Sometimes the gods of space smile on you."

Irons didn't have the time to dwell on the improbability of last
minute saves. “Bounty, flash our IFF and then give them a sitrep. Let them know
I'm on board. Give them Echo's last known location as well as the fighters.
Alert Echo and the fighters of Firefly's arrival,” the Admiral ordered.

“Aye sir,” Bounty replied.

<----*----*----*---->

“It's the enemy sir!” A nervous rating said as the blood red
image faded on the plot like a ghost. “Resolution class consistent with the
ship the enemy found in Pyrax!”

“What are they doing here?” someone asked, tone sounding
frightened. "How did they do it?" His voice quavered. It was too much
for many, most having never faced a real fight in their lives.

“Who knows! We've got to run! We're too damaged to fight them
now!”

“I know,” Rico replied between gritted teeth. He briefly pondered
the timing; it was an incredible coincidence or was it some sort of planned
act? Or was the universe just pissed at them? Either way, it didn't matter. He
knew it was over, he had to run. He would probably not survive to face the
board of inquiry, but he had to try, he had to try to get his people out.
“Helm, set course for the Beta 103c5 jump point. Get us there quickly,” the Admiral
ordered. B103c5 led back to the empire. Unfortunately it was a long series of
dead systems before they reached an occupied system. He frowned, turning the
problem over in his head before he set it aside. They had to get there first,
and the way this day was going...

“We'll do our best sir.”

“I know,” the Admiral said, setting his jaw. He could hear and
feel the defeat in their voice and manner, there was nothing he could do about
it. “Send out an all ship's signal to recover at that jump point."

"There are only two gunships and a corvette underway
sir," a rating said.

The Admiral grimaced and shook his head. "Very well. All
hands not on their duties or damage control, repel the boarders!”

<----*----*----*---->

"Admiral, they are running for B...." Ensign Patter
said, looking away from his station to Admiral Irons.

"Yes, I see it," the admiral said mildly. The BC was
lumbering along, trying to flee, which seemed ludicrous. It was still happening
though.

"But Sir. Firefly doesn't have route data for that system. We
have it in our navigational data base but it will take time to pass it to
Firefly with our communications spotty. If they can jump out we will lose
them."

Irons had already written the fleeing Horathian's off. He had no
interest in a stern chase across the system for small fry. "Yes, Ensign. I
know but do you really believe they will reach the jump point on the other side
of the system with FIREFLY here?"

"No sir. But some of the smaller ships will get away."

The Admiral studied the plot again. Most of the small fry were
gunships, they were already abandoning each other in their dash, not caring
that they couldn't escape without a hyperdrive. The one vessel that might make
the jump was a beat up Apollo corvette. She wouldn't get far though, there was
no system in range for her to get to along that jump line. She'd die like the
gunships, alone and out of fuel. "Let them run. They'll just die tired.
Besides, we have a much larger target to take down."

"Aye sir. Firefly has launched fighters. Some are covering
our forces, others are covering the enemy ships that have been disabled.
Apparently they agree with you sir."

"A stern chase is a long one, especially when the rabbit has
a head start. No, let them run. Focus on what is in front of us."

"Aye aye sir."

<----*----*----*---->

"Captain, we're receiving a signal. A sitrep. Processing
now," Firefly said. They had transited the fourteen point five parsec
journey in Delta band in just shy of twenty five days. Their original plan had
been to jump short of the jump point, drop into stealth, assess the situation
using their passive sensors, and then either kick up a hornet's nest by picking
off anything in range as they turned and made a run for it, or went in deeper.

It had seemed arrogant and suicidal to jump in like they had
planned, Commander Firefly had argued briefly against the mission parameters.
The Captain had argued that to date the Horathians hadn't fielded anything
larger than a destroyer group. Apparently that was no longer the case.

The plan had changed the instant the sensors had reported the
ongoing battle. The Captain had muttered something to the effect of 'no plan
survives contact with the enemy' and then had elected to wade in, dropping
their stealth after they processed the tactical plot. She had picked up speed to
aid the unknown destroyer fighting the hopeless battle against the battle
cruiser. It seemed suicidal, there was no way a destroyer should have been able
to fight a battlecruiser, but they were doing it anyway.

“It looks like we missed the party,” Captain Mayweather said
dryly. She frowned, looking around as CIC updated the plot. The space around
the jump point was quite the mess, dotted with drifting ships and wreckage.

Four IFF's lit off as friendlies which surprised her. One was the
destroyer, an Arboth class, the same class as Damocles and the ship they had
recently captured in Antigua. She was exchanging fire with a battlecruiser, a
ludicrous sight.

“What's going on?” the Captain asked mildly.

“Looks like the party isn't quite over Captain,” Commander Logan
replied, pointing her index finger to the ships. “Bearing ten mark sixty is an
Apollo class. Disabled. It's reading as ours. Two Cobra class fighters are
headed to it, one is tractoring the other.

“Ours? Did they forget to change their IFF?” Purple Thorn asked.

“No, ours. Fleet Friend or Foe beacon checks out. We've got a few surviving
gunships and a corvette on a different IFF frequency. They are fleeing the
battle space now,” Firefly reported. “The IFF's have the Admiral's signature. I
am sending you the sitrep from the ship AI, a Lieutenant Bounty now.”

“Interesting,” the Captain replied scanning the document quickly.
Apparently the Admiral had recruited some friends and taken over several pirate
ships and then had performed his own spoiler raid. She smiled wolfishly. From
the looks of it, he hadn't done half bad. “Guns do you have the range on the
BC?”

“Yes. We're at extreme range,” she reported.

“Then give them a send off. Fire forward missile tubes. A single
broadside,” she ordered. “Target her engines and weapons. Let's try to take her
alive,” she ordered. "Firefly, CIC, tie us into Bounty's tactical net. We
need to coordinate our fire."

"Aye aye ma'am."

<----*----*----*---->

“Missiles incoming one eighty mark ten astern!” the tactical
officer said, looking up. “We don't have any point defense covering that angle
anymore Admiral!”

Rico held on as the ship bucked like an angry mule. Panels fell
from the ceiling. Wiring sparked as they hit bits of metal and shorted out. He
frowned, brushing away a glowing fiber optic line and staring. The plot blinked
and then went out.

“Stern sensors are down. We've lost half our drive. We can't out
run them sir,” his Chief of staff said softly.

“Only one duty left,” the Admiral said, pulling out his pistol.

<----*----*----*---->

“Captain, we've received a communication from the Arboth. She's
the Bounty. Admiral Irons is confirmed on board,” Firefly reported, updating
the main plot and then the plot on their individual HUDS.

Commander Logan and her Captain exchanged looks and grins.
“Figures he'd be at the bottom of all this,” the Captain said wickedly. Shelby
nodded.

“He sent an updated sitrep. The damaged Apollo on our Y axis is
also one of ours, the Echo. Fighters as well. His courier ship Phoenix, Collier
Lassie, and many enemy ships are adrift, damaged, disabled, or destroyed.”