Frozen Soul, and other works

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Chapter 200 - Survivors

(Dharram Enclave, Coldana Prime)

“They’ve broken through the western wall!”

Colonel Lurhak Hardminer cursed under his breath as he looked at the command plot. The moment they heard that the X’thari were coming, they had known that the world was doomed, but they weren’t going to simply go down without a fight. Plans had been put in place, quickly fortifying as many areas as possible. He and his marines had dropped from the Fires of Khazad-dum and the other ships of the fleet to support the local militia. The populace of Coldana had been pulled back into thirty-seven enclaves around the world. Three billion sentients crammed into thirty-seven enclaves originally rated to hold no more than twenty million each.

They knew they were doomed, but they had come together, and decided to make sure that the damned bugs bled for their world. Every man, woman, and child who could hold a gun was armed, and those thirty-seven enclaves became holdouts that would give any rational enemy pause. Millions upon millions of people in too tight a space with nothing to lose? That was the kind of situation that armies broke upon.

But the X’thari had numbers uncounted, and threw themselves against the enclaves in waves. Thirty-seven enclaves had started the siege. Two days after it began, Norwurh, the last enclave to be completed, found that they had rushed the job a bit too much. The X’thari found a weakness in the walls, an access to the sewers that had not been properly sealed. They came up out from under the ground inside the enclave, killing everyone over the course of several gruesome hours. There was nothing anyone else could do, except listen. They all knew that would be their fate, eventually.

Norwurh was the first to fall, but it wasn’t the last. One by one, an enclave would suffer a breach. Maybe it was through the sewers, or maybe they managed to break through a wall, but there would be a breach, and the X’thari would pour through. There would be a few hours of screaming, and then silence. Even in defeat, though, the enclaves made the X’thari burn, setting off fusion bombs as a last act of defiance, bleeding more of the Swarm’s strength.

There were only ten enclaves remaining. Little more than seven hundred million souls and dropping, from a population of three billion. But they were still here, and they were still fighting. Now, it looked as though it was Dharram’s turn to fall. And then suddenly, hope emerged.

“This is the BSS Flux Capacitor to all Consortium forces remaining on Coldana. Relief forces inbound, including ground troops. Send target information on this frequency.”

Hardminer’s head whipped around at the comm setup that they had half-forgotten, the one that had connected them to the Fleet, before they were wiped out. The entire command post was shocked for a moment, and before he shook his head. “Well, what are you idiots waiting on? Give them our location! And get the reserves over to the western wall! We have to keep those bastards out of the bunkers as long as possible!”

“Flux Capacitor copies, says to expect reinforcements in twenty minutes!”

Twenty minutes? They would have to be practically jumping directly into orbit for that to be true. The X’thari ships were still encircling Coldana, keeping anyone from getting off the planet or acting to unite their enclaves against the threat. But if they said they would be here in twenty minutes, then his troopers would damn well hold twenty minutes! He grabbed his rifle, and gave the orders for the command staff to join the lines. They had bugs to kill.

Nineteen minutes later fire trailed through the night sky as ships forced their way into Coldana’s atmosphere. Twenty minutes after the initial call for aid, explosions rocked the ground as three assault craft, supported by fighters, both of a type Hardminer had never seen before, strafed the X’thari positions, concentrating on taking out heavy weapons sites. The next trail of fire was a modified Marine Assault Transport, laying down fire on positions closer to Hardminer’s troops. Marine drop ships blasted clear a landing zone, and the marines, all wearing matching black armor, flooded out, weapons blazing as they faced the X’thari.

“Pass the word! Check your targets! Friendlies incoming, wearing black armor! Everyone hunker down! We’re the anvil and those glorious bastards are the hammer. Let’s see how the damn bugs like being caught in between!”

There were cheers on the line as Hardminer’s orders spread among the troops. Not just from the troops, but from the people in the bunkers, as well, who, just before, knew it was only a matter of time before they were forced to fight for their lives. Now, it looked like, against all odds, that there might be hope for them yet.

He looked around, and pointed out his intel officer. “Graystone! I don’t recognize that armor configuration! Who are we dealing with?”

The intel officer looked through his viewfinder, and frowned. “The armor is modified Imperial Marine armor, but the color scheme is not any known design used by the Terran Empire. High likelihood that this is a mercenary group of some kind.” He paused, taking a look at the fighters flying overhead, helping to provide air support. “Those fighters match ones intelligence has attributed to the Black Star Navy. Given that the Fleet was in contact with Black Star ships before they were wiped out, and the ship that contacted us was the BSS Flux Capacitor, these should be the Black Star Marines.”

Mercenaries? Damn, he’d been hoping for regular military. But at the moment, he didn’t much care, so long as they were on his side. “Do we have comm codes for them?”

“Negative, Fleet’s never worked with the Black Stars before. But if they hired them, we should be getting communications from them shortly on the merc frequency.”

“Dharram Enclave forces, this is Major Chris Khan of the Black Star Marines. We have a plug on that hole in your wall now. Thunderfury and Vicious Return are using their shields and point defense to keep the bugs out, so if we can clean up the ones inside the wall, you should be secure, for the moment.”

Well, that was the best piece of news that Hardminer had gotten all damn week! “Major Khan, Colonel Lurhak Hardminer, Coalition Marine Corps. Thank you for the assist. We’re all for a target rich environment, but it was getting a little uncomfortable down here.”

“Glad to help. We have forces dropping on Darboldar as well. All other enclaves are under attack, but holding, for now. Coalition Army is setting up base camp at the capitol city’s spaceport, trying to draw the X’thari away from the enclaves, and get a beachhead to start driving back the bugs. The situation in orbit is still fluid, but we’re trying to solve your little Harvester problem.”

“Yes, we’d been wondering why the Harvester didn’t simply come and consume us all. Didn’t make sense for the X’thari to try and wipe us out this way, when their Harvester could just eat the planet. The science types have any word on that?”

“Well, it looks like your fleet did more damage to the Harvester than they thought. It has been hanging around the wreckage of the fleets, eating them and trying to heal itself, we think. And the X’thari are probably smart enough to realize that you wouldn’t be past unleashing a few nasty surprises right in the Harvester’s mouth if they tried to eat Coldana without neutralizing you.”

“Hmph. At least we gave them something to think about. How are you for supplies, Major?”

“We have enough weapons and ammo for an extended campaign, and facilities on Thunderfury for making more. Rations and power cores enough for a week of hard fighting. By that point, we’ll either be sent for respawn, or we’ll have been reinforced by more ships coming from orbit.”

“Respawn?”

“First Company, Black Star Marines is entirely composed of Nomads, Colonel. These bugs don’t know what they’re messing with.” There was a pause, and then, “They’re about to hit the Harvester! Prepare for psychic scream!”

Hardminer didn’t respond out loud, simply pointing to Graystone, who issued the warning through the command network. He remembered the scream that had stunned them on the ground when the Harvester was attacked last time. Having one come through while in combat was not ideal. They didn’t have the resources to block the scream, but they could at least make sure no one had live grenades ready to go when the scream hit.

Darkness hit along with the scream, but it soon passed. He pushed himself up off the shattered wall where he’d fallen, and looked around to see what was going on. Slowly, his people began picking themselves up, and started firing. Right. The enemy. What was happening with the enemy?

The X’thari were floundering about, running wild. No longer attacking the defenders of the enclave en masse, but acting like feral beasts, if they were conscious at all. Easy prey for the fighters.

Minutes after the scream, the darkness gave way to light as a brightness like that of the noonday sun filled the sky. Hardminer blinked furiously as he shielded his eyes, but soon the light faded away, and the darkness of the night sky returned. And on the battlefield? The X’thari broke, scattering in every direction, attempting to flee the death waiting for them inside the walls of the enclave, but there was no escape for them. They were between the hammer and the anvil.

Finally, the last X’thari inside the walls fell under a hail of gunfire, and Hardminer could finally breathe easily for the first time since the assault began days ago. He sat down on a pile of rubble, looking down at the figure of a slain X’thari warrior. So much death. So much slaughter. Seven hundred million survivors out of a planet of billions. And all of it for what?

That was where the man in the black armor of the Black Star Marines found him. He walked easily, rifle slung across his shoulder, his armor’s helmet under one arm. The X’thari had been pushed back outside the enclave, so there wasn’t anything for him to fear here, not really. The tall human reached out a hand to him, and said, “Colonel Hardminer?”

He reached out and grasped the offered hand, allowed the big man to haul him to his feet. “Aye, that’s me. Major Kahn, I take it? That was a mighty timely arrival you and your men pulled off. Not ashamed to admit that we were being overrun, like the other enclaves were. Lots of civilians in the underground who will be damn pleased to see you guys.”

The man shook his head. “Well, you can thank the Starhunters for the timing more than anyone. The combined fleet was gathering, and trying to figure the best time to hit the Harvester. Best plans they had were to put tarpits out between it and the next system on the menu, and fight it there. We were under the assumption that you were all dead, right up until the Starhunters snuck in a few days ago.”

“A few days? We only heard from them just now!” They’d been watching for days? How many lives could have been saved if they had just let everyone know help was on the way. Grabhammer Enclave fell just two days ago, the civilians setting the fusion plant to go critical when the X’thari breached the walls. Better to go out in fire than to be ripped to pieces. If they’d known help was on the way, maybe some of them would have survived!

Kahn nodded. “They were under orders to keep radio silence. And they were only five scout ships. Nothing they could have done, especially if they got detected and let the X’thari know the fleet was coming. They did what they could, however. When they confirmed survivors on Coldana, they sent word back immediately, and the fleet’s planning went into high gear. That miniature sun earlier? That was the Harvester getting taken out. In space, the fleets are hounding the X’thari and driving them out of Coldana, as individual bands instead of the Swarm.”

He clapped an armored hand on Hardminer’s shoulder. “You might be thinking of all those who died on your watch. Know I would be, in your place. There will be a time for remembering the dead. For now, every living soul on Coldana is one more than anyone was expecting there to be when this was over. And they’re alive because people like you and yours held the line, even when it was hopeless, even when there was no help coming. You held the line, and they survived. Remember that.”

The human Major had the good grace to stay silent as Hardminer finally broke down and wept. He knew it wasn’t dignified, but he did it anyway. He couldn’t stop it. He’d earned that much, hadn’t he? Major Khan answered the unspoken question the way a soldier should, just resting his steady hand on his shoulder and letting him get it all out.

He had earned that much.

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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Memoirs of a Supervillain - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NWS8J

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Chapter 199 - Aftermath

(Flag Bridge, BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Coldana System)

“Well, hot damn! We actually did it!”

The sensor readings were rather definite. The Harvester had been utterly wiped out. Checking my character sheet showed that I had jumped up to level 55! Ten levels in one go was a pretty definite sign that the Harvester was dead and gone. Oh, and there were some new titles and other goodies handed out.

Legendary Creature slain. All Fleet commanders gain the following title:

Legendary Admiral

While in command of a fleet of warships, you have accomplished things that had been thought to be impossible. Few commanders ever see a X’thari Harvester. Fewer still survive the experience. You have not merely survived. You played an active role in bringing this harvester down, for good.

+100000 Fame

+10% to all skills regarding commanding a fleet

+30 CHA

All Fleets gain the following Perk:

Transnational

This fleet has fought in concert with ships of rival nations to achieve larger goals. This gives you better insight into how to integrate different groups into a greater whole.

+10% to all actions while working as part of force comprised of naval units from different political or corporate entities.

All Ships gain the following Perks:

Legendary Ship

This ship has been part of acts that would be considered legendary in any sailor’s book all ships involved in the Second Battle of Coldana will be considered legends in their own right, and the pride of their fleets.

+25% Defense and Armor vs non-legendary foes

+25% Weapon damage vs non-legendary foes

X’thari Bane

This ship stood in the fire of the X’thari onslaught and gave better than it received, helping to strike a mortal wound against the X’thari Swarm by destroying one of their Harvesters. That act has left a psychic imprint on the ship, aiding it in battle against the X’thari.

+10% to Weapon Damage against X’thari vessels

-10% to Weapon Damage from X’thari vessels

The Black Star Fleet gains the following Organization Trait:

First Strike

It is said that, in war, he who strikes the first blow, if he strikes hard enough, need not raise his hand a second time. Your organization takes that concept and ramps it up to levels thought insane by other groups. However, your results speak for themselves. All Black Star Navy ships and fighters gain the following benefits:

+10% to Attack when stealthed

+10% to Weapon Damage on first attack of a battle (additional +20% if attack launched from stealth)

I whistled softly at the list of goodies. No doubt other ships and groups in the battle had gotten other things, depending on how they had acquitted themselves in the battle. Oh, that’s right, there was a battle still going on. Looking to Raven, I said, “Status of the X’thari swarm?”

“Cohesion between forces has fallen. The only groups still functioning at their normal efficiency would be the escorts chasing the Starhunters. All capitol ship formations are falling apart, acting like individual units.”

“Hmm. So, the Harvester was basically acting as the lynchpin for the entire Swarm, and without it, their entire command structure is thrown into chaos. In that case, we should take advantage of this. How long until we can recover the bombers?”

“They are already beginning docking procedures. As planned, they turned back to their carriers as soon as they recovered from the Scream. Thirty seconds from completion.”

“Status of enemy tarpits?”

“Enemy tarpits are down!”

I looked at the tactical map with renewed interest. The ships around the planet were doing fine, relatively speaking. But the ships of the strike division had been hit hard, and that was where most of the X’thari were. “All ships, prepare for in-system jump. Coordinates to follow. Launch all Raptor and Thunderbolt squadrons as soon as we get in the engagement zone. Dragons to be rearmed with Dragonbreath torpedoes and launched as soon as they are ready.”

I looked at Raven. “I need coordinates that will get us into the fight. Preferably near the Consortium forces. They’ve been getting hammered hard, and could use some relief.”

“Calculating.”

(Flag Bridge, CNV Vein of Starlight, Coldana System)

Admiral Bradmig Jadegut groaned as he felt the room spin around him. He had a genetic quirk that made him uniquely susceptible to Mental Psy attacks, while making him also uniquely capable of using them. However, he gave such things up when he entered the military, as the Consortium did not allow mental psy users to rise in rank, for obvious reasons. The psychic scream of the dying Harvester, however, was far more powerful than anything he’d faced before, and easily overcame the pitiful defenses that his gear provided.

“—dmiral! Admiral!”

“Ugh. I’m all right. I’m all right.” He struggled to find the source of the voice that was yelling at him. There was something he was doing before the scream, right? Something… oh yeah, a battle. He was fighting a battle! He should probably get back to that.

“Admiral, are you sure? You’re, um, bleeding quite a bit.”

He blinked his eyes a couple more times, and the room swam into focus, allowing him to see the concerned face of his aide. He coughed, and found blood on his hand. Oh, that was bad. He struggled, and managed to make his tablet give him a picture of his face. He wasn’t supposed to have blood coming from his eyes, nose, and ears, right? That was probably a bad sign.

No. No time for that. The battle. He had to finish the battle. He could go sleep when the battle was over. “Damn the bleeding. What our status? What about the Harvester? How bad did the Black Stars hurt it?” He knew the Black Stars had hurt the beast. His brain wouldn’t be feeling like he has a full military parade marching in circles through it if they hadn’t. But how bad did they hurt it?

The aide shook his head. “Admiral, the Harvester… it… it’s just gone, sir! The Black Stars annihilated the thing!”

That statement cut through the haze in his mind like a knife. “On screen!” Sure enough, where the Harvester had been moments before, there was now just a rapidly dispersing nebula of organic material, thoroughly irradiated from… whatever the hell the Black Stars had done. “How?”

“Admiral Mollen sent a flash message to all fleets. The Black Stars altered the flight speed of their Starbolt torpedoes so that they all arrived at the Harvester within microseconds of each other. While that slightly lowered the yield from the slower missiles, the firing plan allowed them to magnify the overall blast damage, overwhelming the shields and having a definitive impact on the Harvester.”

“Excellent. Status of the Swarm?”

“The Swarm appears to be breaking into individual units, Admiral. They’ll probably start organizing themselves into Hunts before long, but for the moment they are all fighting as individuals. Their formations have gone to crap. We even saw one example where a cruiser walked right into a dreadnought’s fire while they were attempting to take out the Forge of Fury!”

Admiral Jadegut grinned ferally. “The X’thari are pack hunters, not soldiers. They don’t have a chain of command, according to Intelligence. If the biggest, baddest hunter gets taken out, the others fight for dominance. We’ve seen it before, in the last X’thari war.”

His aide’s eyes grew wide. “And we just took out the biggest hunter in the whole Swarm, with the Harvester, right?”

“Exactly! Send to all ships, press the attack! Without a leader holding them together, we can get them running!”

(Fleet Command Cluster, IAS Aclotloxl’s Claw, in orbit of Coldana Prime)

Warleader Keh Dhaka bared her teeth in a victorious snarl as another X’thari ship fell before her fleet’s guns. The effects of the perks and titles the fleets had gotten thanks to the Harvester’s destruction were already making themselves felt. The battle had been a desperate one so far, but they had taken far fewer casualties than they had any right to. Now, with the added bonuses, their desperate stand had turned into a counterattack, and the hunters had become the hunted! This was a battle that would be hailed in song for generations, while the War College would teach it as a lesson in how insanity can be a viable battle plan.

“Warleader! Admiral Jadegut has ordered the strike division to press the attack! They intend to rout the X’thari before they can decide upon new leaders!”

The communications savant had barely finished reporting when the sensor savant called out, “Warleader! The Black Star Navy has initiated a microjump, and is engaging the Swarm with the Strike Division! Enemy tarpits are down all over the system!”

So, the mercenary decided that one kill, no matter how massive, was not enough credit for his ships in this battle, and thirsted for more blood? That was good, a fine attitude for any warleader! If he were an Ihm, she would claim him as her mate, and force him to give her many young, to grow strong and one day rule her House when she passed on.

Still, now was not the time for idle fantasies of things that could not be. She was a Warleader of the Ihm Armada, and she would act accordingly! Drawing herself up to her full height, she looked over to the communications savant

“Orders to all ships, both divisions. No mercy to the enemy, but no need recklessly wasting lives now. The X’thari swarm is broken, and we need only drive them off from Coldana. The time for fell abandon upon the field is past. Now it is time for cooler minds to take what kills we can. Our new objective is rescuing survivors on Coldana Prime, not exterminating the X’thari to the last.”

(Flag Bridge, KNS Ashvane’s Pride, in orbit of Coldana Prime)

Lord Admiral Tandred Proudmoore howled in delight as the X’thari ships broke before him like a wave upon the rocks. “All ships, keep firing! We’ve got the bastards on the ropes! Tell Daughter of the Sea to keep her ion cannons locked on that damn carrier! The Marines have almost reached the self-destruct and the bridge. When they do, we can make sure the X’thari won’t be able to make it blow up in our faces.”

“Lord Admiral! The Black Stars have engaged with the X’thari alongside the Strike Division! Warleader Dhaka is ordering all ships to press the attack, but keep an eye out to avoid unnecessary casualties. The X’thari are fracturing into individual ships!”

“Hah! Take out their leader, and the damn bugs don’t know what to do! All ships, continue the attack! The damned Black Stars may get the greatest glories because of the Harvester, but Kul’tiras will not be left playing second to them this time! No mercy to the enemy! Destroy them all!”

“Admiral! New contacts warping in! It is the Confederate Twelfth Fleet!”

(Flag Bridge, CNS Wrath of Gadran, Interstellar space near Coldana)

Admiral Kasyx Rizazzi stood tall on the bridge of his battered flagship. Thankfully, the majority of his Second and Third groups had been only lightly damaged. Running some power cables, rerouting power from a couple areas, and replacing a couple burnt out components was all that most of the ships had required. Which was good, since without Starhunters to draw off the escort ships, once the X’thari swarmed in to close the gap in the perimeter they had created with their unorthodox entrance, the fighting had been fast and furious.

Still, half his ships were still relatively intact, and another fifteen percent, while unable to engage in combat, had, at least, been recoverable to the point where they could limp home to the shipyards. The other thirty-five percent of his command was not so lucky. There were just too many of the X’thari.

They had been on the verge of being overwhelmed completely when the X’thari ships all froze. They just hung in space, suddenly not knowing what they were doing. The psychic scream, it seemed, did not reach far enough out of the system for Twelfth Fleet to be affected by it but the X’thari were clearly bad off for a moment.

That moment had cost the X’thari dearly, with many of their escort craft being disabled or destroyed before they could return to their senses. Capitalizing on this brief reprieve, and the fact that the tarpit that had been over them suddenly broke, he ordered them forward, into the breach they had created. It was time to hunt the hunters!

Arriving in the Coldana System, he saw that the majority of the Allied forces were fighting away from the planet, by where the Harvester must have been. Two parts of the fleet, however, the closer ones to him, were fighting above the planet. “All ahead full! The X’thari have lost their precious harvester, now they will lose their fleet!”

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Chapter 198 - Time on Target

(Flag Bridge, BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Coldana System)

“Admiral, all ships report changes to the torpedoes are complete. Pandora’s Box, Tribune, and Wolfsbane have all launched their bomber squadrons, additional fighters ready to launch on your command. Sixty seconds to Point Omega.”

I nodded as the aide reported on the readiness of the fleet. Fire Plan Beta was ambitious, but it would allow the fleet to get as much ordinance on the Harvester simultaneously as possible. Since we knew that individual impacts weren’t going to be enough to destroy the Harvester, it was important to use what we had in the most effective way possible. We were likely only going to get one clear shot before the X’thari realized what we were doing, and moved their ships to intercept, like they had done with Firebringer.

“All ships to commence Fire Plan Beta upon reaching Point Omega. Computer controls for the firing run. Send word to the combined fleet, warning them of the psychic scream incoming when we are at Point Omega. Give them a thirty second clock.”

“Aye sir.”

I took a breath, and strapped in to my crash chair. I preferred standing by the consoles during battle, to get a better feel for the situation as a whole, but the last time the Harvester had been wounded, it had apparently sent a psychic scream that had stunned the entire system momentarily. Somehow, I didn’t think that it would be less ‘vocal’ when it was getting killed.

Each Wrath-class battleship had ten torpedo launchers as a broadside. The Reaper-class were refitted with four torpedo launchers on their broadsides, changing out the original ship-killer missiles for smaller missiles, designed for taking on fighters as doctrine developed. The Knight-class destroyers had been designed with four torpedo launchers, two each fore and aft. Each of the Assassins had a single torpedo launcher, fore and aft, as they were expected to deal with fighters and small craft more than ships of the line unless they were using their primary weapons for stealth attacks. Three squadrons of Dragon bombers of twelve craft each launched from the carriers, each bomber carrying two torpedoes.

Point Omega was located exactly a light-hour from the Harvester, at our current elevation below the ecliptic. By the time the Harvester, or whatever was left of it, would register the light of our attack, the information would be an hour old. This was normally far past the range forces could engage each other, unless they were content to waste ammunition herding their foes into pre-designed snares. The only exception, prior to this battle, was with ballistic weapons, striking unmoving targets before they even knew they were under attack.

A light-hour was no different from a light-second for FTL weaponry. The only concern was in making sure that there was nothing solid in the line of fire. The Starbolts were indiscriminate. The first solid mass they hit, whether it was a moon or a single-person fighter, would unleash such an explosion of energy that the torpedo itself would be destroyed, unlike the ballistic weapons which could continue on through some targets, damaging ships and structures behind them.

That was the main reason we had come out so far below the ecliptic, to ensure that we would have the fewest possible number of ships to try and fire past. It was also why the ‘strike division’ of the combined fleet attacked so far out from the Harvester, drawing the defenders away, if only a little. It was all for the purpose of clearing the path for this shot.

As the ships reached their assigned positions for Firing Plan Beta, the computers took over, guiding them into the proper alignment for when they reached Point Omega. When they crossed that imaginary line in space, the computers reacted instantly, launching one hundred and fifty Starbolt torpedoes in unison. Thirty seconds later, another hundred and fifty launched. Thirty seconds after that, one hundred and fourteen torpedoes rushed into space, the bombers having shot themselves dry. Finally, two minutes after the first torpedoes launched, the final hundred and fourteen torpedoes launched as the firing plan finished, releasing controls back to their flesh and blood controllers.

Five hundred and twenty-eight Starbolt torpedoes flew though the infinite void of space, many times faster than the speed of light. But not all of the torpedoes were going at the same pace. This was not due to a malfunction in the control software, but a deliberate act. The torpedoes fired in the first salvo were the slowest, and had a run time of precisely two minutes longer than the last torpedoes to be fired. In this way, five hundred and twenty-eight Starbolts fired from one hundred and fourteen launchers and thirty-six bombers arrived within microseconds of each other.

It was a science fiction adaptation of a tactic that had originally been devised and put into practice in the sands of North Africa as the British Army faced their enemies. Time on target attacks were simply artillery barrages firing at the same time at the same target, so that all the rounds landed at the same moment. One moment, the desert would be quiet, and the next the entire world fell upon the unsuspecting enemy.

As technology improved, the doctrine became known as Multiple Round Simultaneous Impact. Each gun would fire multiple rounds at different barrel elevations, lowering the elevation each time. This meant that the first shots flew in the highest arc, taking the longest time to reach the point of impact, but arrived at the same time as the fourth shot. In the true spirit of military forces throughout history, the acronym MRSI became known as “Mercy”, for the poor bastards at the receiving end at least got the mercy of never knowing what hit them.

Barrel elevations weren’t possible with the torpedo launchers, and wouldn’t have had any effect to begin with in the void of space. But it was possible, if you had the computing resources, to change the flight speed of the torpedoes. The math required to determine what speed the first salvo needed to be traveling to arrive at the same time as the fourth salvo launched two minutes later traveling at 500c made my head hurt. Relatavistic calculus was never my strong suit.

The computers gave us a 67% chance of destroying the Harvester outright with this firing plan. They didn’t have any projections for what the probable scream would do, or how it would affect people. I had time to consider what the scream would be like, in the adrenaline-fueled time dilation as I anticipated the result of our attack. Even at five hundred times the speed of light, the torpedoes still took a little over seven seconds to reach the Harvester. Seven point two seconds of frenzied anticipation, as we waited to see the results of our attack.

Seven point two seconds after the final salvo of Firing Plan Beta was launched, I, and every other living creature in the system, heard it. A scream of primal pain and fear, so powerful that I felt like I was going to be slammed through the bulkhead! Words could not begin to describe the impact of the scream. The best I could do would be to quote an old movie, it was ‘as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced’. That does not do it justice, however.

“Oh, god, my head!”

I couldn’t help but agree with the voice, whoever’s it was. It took me a moment to realize that it was my own. My head felt as though it had been run over by a dreadnought, and then set on fire for good measure. It was, by far, the worst experience I have ever had in this game world, even including that incident with the Vrok on Dimiya’s moon, where I didn’t realize her saliva contained a nerve toxin. That was actually my second death in the game, outside the Arena.

As my eyes stopped trying to focus on six different things and settled down on only one, I shook my head slowly, to try and gather my thoughts. Fortunately, there was one member of my command staff that I knew would be unaffected. “Raven, status report?”

The AI was ready with the report, and did her best not to make my headache any worse. “No damage to the fleet. The psychic scream did not affect nonliving material, as expected. Working with the other combined fleet units in the system, I have been able to analyze the effects of the scream. While it is impossible to replicate artificially, we now have readings on the energy wave, and proof that it does weaken as it travels over large distances. Forces in orbit of Coldana were disabled for approximately thirty seconds, while forces in the strike division began to recover after almost eighty-seven seconds. As expected, it is a Mental Psy effect, so Mental Psy resistance reduces the time one is affected. However, Mental Psy Affinity in a victim increases the time affected.

She paused, to see if I was following, and then continued her report. “All X’thari forces were affected, on average, four times the length of other species. The deviation in these numbers could easily be accounted for by differences in Mental Psy Affinity or Resistance, as well as other factors, like existing battle damage.”

“Because the combined fleet had the preset commands issued, fleet computers continued attack and evasion patterns during the time the crew was incapacitated, resulting in a sharp uptick in X’thari ships disabled and destroyed. The swarm is effectively 76% combat effective, with the majority of that effective group being the escorts that the Starhunters have been leading around the outer system.”

I growled slightly. Raven was telling me things that I, as Admiral, needed to know. But, at that moment, it most certainly wasn’t what I wanted to know. Fixing my gaze on the AI’s android body, I said, “Quit dancing around the main event, Raven. What happened to the Harvester?”

The AI smirked at me, “Admiral, you have to know that an explosion of the magnitude we unleashed has caused a massive increase in the background radiation. That blinded the sensors temporarily. Getting a full picture of the situation under such conditions takes time.”

Oh, she was going to play it like that, huh? I narrowed my eyes as I glared at her. “Come on, Raven, you’re not expecting me to believe that your processors are too slow to work through the data to get a basic status update on the Harvester’s condition?”

Raven stuck her tongue out at me, before straightening up, and saying, “Nope, your taunts aren’t going to change anything. There really is too much radiation. Think of trying to get confirmation of a target’s destruction after a nuke goes off. Sure, any normal thing would get blasted by the nuke, and be destroyed, but you can’t confirm it until you can cut through the light, clouds, and radiation to see for yourself. Oh, by the way, a little under an hour from now you should probably keep from looking through the view screens without a heavy light filter in place. Apparently, it was like a second sun went off momentarily out there.”

I grunted, begrudgingly. As much as I wished otherwise, I couldn’t just snap my fingers and change the laws of the universe. “How long until we know more about the Harvester?”

Raven made a show of looking at her tablet, and said, “Approximately twenty seconds.”

I took a breath to calm myself, and kept my eyes locked on the viewscreen where the sensor reports were collating, resolving themselves into a picture. The haze caused by the radiation began to clear, and, at first, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Sure, the computer models said it was possible, but no one really believed it, not really. I slumped back in my chair, the energy leaving me in shock at what I saw on the screen.

The Harvester had been completely wiped out of existence, with nothing remaining but trace elements in the rapidly expanding cloud of debris!

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Thursday, May 2, 2019

Chapter 197 - Silent Running

(Fleet Command Cluster, IAS Aclotloxl’s Claw, in orbit of Coldana Prime)

“Warleader! The Consortium’s Seventh Fleet is contacting us. The Tribute of Gold has been hit! Admiral Ironbelt is dead, and the fleet command has fallen to you.”

Keh Dhaka bowed her head for a moment, and then said, “The Ancestors of her people will guide her. We have a battle to win! Are the X’thari still focusing on the larger ships?”

“Yes, Warleader! All groups report X’thari ships are focusing on the dreadnoughts primarily. Escorts and small attack craft are only being targeted when they go on close attack runs or attempt boarding actions.”

It was a stupid strategy for the X’thari, nowhere near what she would expect of them. Sure, the dreadnoughts were the heart of the fleet, but to ignore the escorts entirely? What madness would make them think that was a good idea?

Wait, the escorts? Could it be that simple? She checked the database for past encounters with the X’thari. Yes! That was it, the X’thari were hunters, not soldiers! They let the escorts peel back the enemy escort ships, allowing for the heavier ships to focus on the toughest prey. Without their packs of escort ships to balance the fight, the X’thari’s proven tactics were working against them. They had the weight of numbers to make it work anyway, but they would lose many of their ships because of it.

“Send to all ships. Admiral Jadegut is in command of the strike division. I have overall command. All dreadnoughts and carriers are priority targets. That is where their fleet commanders are.”

She waited for the communications savant to send the message, and then said, “What is the status of the Black Star Navy?”

(Flag Bridge, BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Coldana System)

“Status report.”

Raven looked over from where she was analyzing the data from the sensors. While her eyes might have been on the screen in front of her, I didn’t doubt that she was also hooked in to the raw data and everything coming through from the combined fleet’s tactical network. Not having that meat to slow your processing down was a bonus at times.

“All forces are under attack, as expected. Black Star Marines have landed at two enclaves of survivors that were in danger of being overrun. Second Company has reinforced the Darboldor enclave, and pushed the X’thari back there. Second’s Crows and Thunderbolts are conducting seek and destroy missions, taking out enemy artillery and vehicles where they find them. First Company dropped directly on the Dharram enclave, where there were X’thari inside the perimeter. The Thunderfury herself contributed to the bombardment, allowing the marines and local militia to sweep up behind and take out the X’thari inside the perimeter. They are currently clearing an LZ near the breach in the walls, so they can use the Thunderfury’s point defense and shields to seal the breach temporarily. Consortium Army units have taken the primary spaceport outside Coldana City, and are establishing a perimeter.”

“In space, the Second Great Armada has engaged the X’thari heavy ships directly, while the First Fleet is battering a group that tried to flank the forces. Warleader Dhaka has split the groups effectively. Combat effectiveness of Second Armada is at 83%. First Fleet is at 90%. The X’thari appear to be focusing on the superdreadnoughts, instead of the lighter ships. The dreadnoughts are simply too tough to be taken out quickly, and the escorts are getting some crippling shots in because the X’thari are focused on the largest prey. X’thari ships are at 70% effectiveness, but some appeared to be damaged prior to the battle.”

“Unfortunately, it seems like the strongest and best prepared units were guarding the Harvester. The rest of the combined fleet has been hit, hard, though they are giving as good as they’re getting. The Assassins that have been sold to the Confederates and Imperials have been proving their worth. They are now having units of a cruiser and two Assassins making high speed passes of dreadnoughts, using the cruiser as a screen so the Assassins can use their primary weapons on the weaker rear shields. The Wrath-class battleship that the Imperials purchased, Glory of Terra, has been proving its worth, as well. The various forces are at 76% effectiveness. No ships destroyed yet, since the X’thari are focusing on the largest prey, but we have word that the Tribute of Gold was hit hard. The ship is still in the fight, barely, but Admiral Ironbelt is confirmed killed.”

I nodded once to show I was paying attention. That meant that overall command of the combined fleet would go to Warleader Dhaka, but command of the strike force drawing the X’thari away from the Harvester went to Admiral Jadegut of the Consortium’s Fifth Fleet. He just hoped no one would panic as the casualties rose. They were only going to get one shot at this.

“Status of our ships?”

“The Black Star Navy is maneuvering into strike position. Currently at six light-minutes below the ecliptic, running as quietly as we can. Estimate 80% chance that the X’thari did not notice our entrance, with the additional noise from the rest of the combined fleet. Further 19.99% chance that the X’thari, if they have detected us, have judged us to be of secondary importance compared to the rest of the fleet.”

That was unfolding according to plan. The Starhunters were far above the ecliptic, leading the X’thari escorts on a merry chase. The rest of the fleet was fighting either in orbit of Coldana, or in a position near the Harvester. Anyone watching sensor screens would be hard pressed to notice our ships, designed to be stealthy for their classes, and view them a credible threat with conventional weapons.

Indeed, from the time we’d entered the system almost an hour ago, we hadn’t noticed even a single X’thari ship turn our way. That was good, since it meant that our ships were probably undetected. And we needed to be undetected, so that we could get clear shots on the Harvester. Once we had a clear angle on the massive creature, the situation would change dramatically.

“Time to Point Omega?”

“Ten minutes, twenty seconds.”

“Firing solutions?”

“Resolving final numbers now. The only question is whether you want to go with firing plan Alpha or Beta.”

“Computer analysis of the firing plans?”

“Fire Plan Alpha has a 45% chance of success, given the unknown variables, but offers maximum accuracy on the firepower brought to bear. Fire Plan Beta is rated at a 67% chance of success, though individual impacts will not be uniform due to the change in flight times. Unknown what the actual effect will be on the target, but computer models put it as a net gain on the overall damage output.”

“Send to all ships, we’ll use Fire Plan Beta. Have them begin making the necessary adjustment. Bombers to launch once the adjustments have been made.”

(Flag Bridge, BSN Banshee’s Wail, Coldana System)

Slave-Commodore Balmit Icebrand steadied his breath as he heard the command come in from the Master. Fire Plan Beta was ambitious, and more complex than Fire Plan Alpha, but the computers agreed that it had the better chance of success. He personally thought that the actual odds of success with both plans was higher than the computer projections were suggesting, but the computers didn’t like having unknown variables, such as not knowing the composition or internal structure of the X’thari Harvester.

It wasn’t unreasonable of the computers to raise flags for that, of course. That uncertainty about the Harvester’s composition had already played out to their advantage once, with the Harvester clearly having suffered more damage than was outwardly visible from the Firebringer attacks. That was a boon for their forces, meaning they actually had a chance to save Coldana and at least some of its people. However, they couldn’t count on all of the uncertainties resolving in their favor. It was better to be pessimistic and be overprepared than to be too optimistic and not have the tools needed to win.

“Send to the group. All ships are to adjust their torpedoes to fit Fire Plan Beta. Message the Wolfsbane, and let Slave-Captain Rostina know that the Deathguard squadron is to launch as soon as their torpedoes have been adjusted. All other fighters get ready to scramble once the Dragon bombers have launched, just in case we draw someone’s attention.”

“Aye, sir!”

(Flag Bridge, CNV Vein of Starlight, Coldana System)

Admiral Bradmig Jadegut braced himself against the command plot as the Vein of Starlight was rocked by another salvo from the X’thari grav lances. So far, the engineers had kept the shields up and their weapons firing, but damage was mounting across the fleet. One simply needed to look at the numbers to see that this was not going to be a fight that many of them would walk away from, if any of them did.

“Admiral, Warleader Dhaka confirms your command of the strike division.”

He nodded, grimly. It was the obvious call, and he had not expected it to go any differently. Warleader Dhaka was too smart for her to be blinded by power. There was no way that she could effectively manage the strike division while attacking the forces around the planet. So, she needed a deputy, and he was the next in line for overall command.

The situation was… well, not good, but it was less bad than it could have been. Frankly, the fact that any of them were still alive after an hour of close-combat with a force mismatched as they were was astounding. Part of that was due to the superior engineering and skill of professional soldiers versus a group of hunters that relied primarily on either stealth or numbers to win the day. But, in no small part, it was also due to the basic strategy that had been devised at the planning meeting.

The disposition of the Black Star forces had been easiest to determine. They were going to be the spear held in waiting, ready to be thrust into the heart of the enemy when the time was right. For a group that was designed around sneak attacks with overwhelming firepower, that was, perhaps, the best possible use of them that could be imagined. It was the rest of the fleet that had been tough to sort out.

Originally, Admiral Ironbelt had intended for her fleet to be in the center of the allied formation and take the brunt of the assault, as was proper for a commander of a multinational force. However, the Confederates and Imperials argued against it. The Black Stars, once they learned the fleet composition of the Imperial Ninth and Confederate Sixth Fleets, had agreed, and pushed for them to be at the center.

He hadn’t understood at the time, but seeing the results of those aptly-named Assassins working in pairs, with cruiser screens to allow them to close enough to take point-blank shots on the engines of the X’thari dreadnoughts with those insanely powerful guns of theirs? Well, he was Gauz enough to admit that it was the proper call. Given the state of the X’thari fleet, his analysts concluded that they had already taken out at least six leaders of the Swarm with those tactics, and the chaos left in the wake of each leader’s fall was a weakness that the combined fleet exploited to its fullest.

But all of it was just a smokescreen, a diversion to keep the X’thari occupied, keep them looking the wrong way. Their goal, at the end of the day, was to prevent the X’thari from figuring out what the stealth ships of the Black Star Navy were up to, and taking steps to intercede. Not that the Black Stars needed much in the way of help to keep off the X’thari’s radar. Even with the IFF signals, his sensor teams could barely track the Black Stars in the heat of battle. If they had been running radio silent, and coasting on a ballistic track instead of moving under power, there was no way his sensors would have picked them up at that range, and the X’thari sensors weren’t that much better than the Consortium’s.

“Admiral! Incoming message from the BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi! Message reads, ‘Prepare for scream in thirty seconds.’”

Frantically, Jadegut turned and ran for his crash chair to get somewhere secure. “Signal all ships, brace for impact!”

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Chapter 196 - Striking Force

(Flag Bridge, CNV Tribute of Gold, Coldana System)

As one, the Consortium Navy’s Seventh and Fifth Fleets, the Confederate Navy’s Sixth Fleet, and the Imperial Navy’s Ninth Fleet dropped out of warp, well away from Coldana, between the planet and the Harvester. They did not quite drop out of warp directly in weapons range of the X’thari fleet, but they would be in range very soon. All according to plan.

“All ships are on target and in formation! Tarpits active!”

Admiral Dhurdroda Ironbelt nodded grimly. This was the way it should be. Despite there being four fleets from three star nations in this section of the task force, she was happy to see everyone working together as professional naval officers were supposed to. There was no place in an operation like this one for petty rivalries.

Bringing herself to her full height, she began snapping off commands for her communications officer to relay to the fleet, “Launch all fighters! Commence active jamming! All ships advance! Attack pattern Alpha! Focus on disabling or destroying as many enemy craft as possible! The Starhunters have drawn off the escorts, now it is up to us to hold the attention of the main force! Every ship taken out of the fight is one fewer that can get in the way of our true objective!”

That done, she stood back, watching the screens. It was the Captain’s job to fight the ship, and the Admiral’s job to maneuver the fleet, responding to the enemy attacks. But the Swarm used no tactics, not even the normal X’thari ones. It was the numbers, of course. Even this section of the swarm numbered in the tens of thousands. It was impossible to maneuver such a fleet in any but the most basic ways. And a fleet like that wouldn’t need maneuvers, really.

“Enemy carriers are launching fighters.”

“Have the fighters intercept while the bombers make their attack runs. Tell the fleet to close to knife range, so we can limit our exposure to the swarm.”

It seemed paradoxical on the face of it. Charging into the swarm to reduce your exposure to it? But that was the truth. The X’thari couldn’t shoot through their own ships, so diving into the swarm, and making it a capitol ship version of what the fighter pilots called a ‘furball’, was the best way to limit how many of the swarm’s ships could target a ship at any one time.

It wasn’t a perfect defense, but it would allow them to keep their ships intact longer than they would have if they tried to keep the range open, and allowed the swarm to dictate the pace of the engagement. Keeping the initiative was their best defense. She just hoped that it would be enough.

(Main Bridge, CNS Dawn of Ten Thousand Suns, Coldana System)

Captain Venali Rona gripped the seat of her command chair as another volley of grav lances struck the shields. “Starboard batteries, concentrate fire on that cruiser, it is trying to make a run on the Vision of Purity! Port side, fire as they bear!”

“Captain, Enemy fighters incoming!”

“Point defense, pick them up!”

“Ma’am! We have a X’thari dreadnought on an intercept course!”

“Transfer power from life support to forward shields! Hold course and increase to flank speed!”

The ship shuddered under another barrage, the heavy cruiser taking hits that they were never meant to withstand. She ignored the mounting list of damaged systems. Her chief engineer had never let her down before. She trusted him to keep her ship in the fight as long as possible.

The cruiser surged forward as it increased speed, throwing off the firing solutions some of the swarm had on it as the Dawn barreled down on a X’thari dreadnought that outmassed it by at least five times. Venali kept her eyes fixed on the screens, trying to will the situation to change somehow. Her eyes turned to her helmsman. “Lieutenant Adzana, have you studied the records of the Second Battle of Nuevo Edo that the Black Stars provided us?”

“Yes, Ma’am. If you’re thinking about the Shinokage, I can follow that track, but I don’t know what kind of condition we’ll be in after that.”

Her tactical officer spoke up, “Captain, the Shinokage has those Black Star railguns. Even with our full forward armament, I don’t know if the Dawn has the offensive punch to break through the dreadnought’s shields in a single volley, even at the rear.”

“The Luvon Gilrie and the Imra Aecyne are close, right? Those new Assassins have the Black Star guns. Comms, get me those ships! Tell them we’ll run cover for them against the dreadnought so they can get into position.”

“Captain, if we’re covering for the Assassins, we’ll have to slow down so they can get into position before beginning our run. That’s going to leave us exposed for longer.”

“Divert power from all nonessential systems to the shields! Anything that isn’t weapons, shields, and engines is secondary at this point!”

“Aye, ma’am!”

(Bridge, CNS Luvon Gilrie, Coldana System)

Captain Faylen Zylna ignored the medic hovering around her as she held on to her command chair. Her Assassin had been hit hard in that last exchange. The exploding power conduit had sent shrapnel flying across the bridge. She had been lucky to only get a narrow gash across her forehead. She nearly lost her eye. It could have been worse, much worse. She didn’t bother looking to the sensor station, where Ensign Umedi’s body lay, his head rolling a meter away after the shard of deck plating removed it from his shoulders. There would be time to mourn later, if they lived through this.

“Time to main weapon charge?”

“Thirty seconds!”

“Captain! The Dawn of Ten Thousand Suns is offering to cover us and the Aecyne on an attack run to take out that X’thari dreadnought!”

“Is the Aecyne still with us?”

“She’s battered, Captain, but she’s still with us. One minute to full charge on their primary weapon.”

Faylen took a breath to steady herself. As the Captain with the most experience in the new Assassin-class corvettes, she had been made the squadron commander for the first group of Assassins to join the Confederate Navy. They had been refining their doctrine and tactics ever since, building off what the Black Stars had done. This, however, was their first test under fire.

“Danger close formation. We will fly as close to the Dawn and each other as we can. I want us practically touching shields with each other. Merge our sensor shadows with the Dawn’s. Once the primary is charged, divert all power from weapons except point defense to the shields.”

“Aecyne responding. Captain Sylven says he’s with us, you call the play.”

“Right. Get us into position with the Dawn. Match course and speed. Helm, when we pass the X’thari dreadnought, I want a fast one-eighty. Pick your axis, and send to Aecyne’s helmsman so we don’t hit each other. Weapons, the moment we make our turn, the X’thari are going to pick up our sensor shadows again, and they are not going to be happy about us being there. Set the primary for computer control. As soon as the vectors line up, I want it to take the shot.”

“Dawn and Aecyne confirm. Beginning the attack run now.”

Faylen nodded. It was time to show the galaxy that the Black Stars weren’t the only ones who could use the Assassins to their true potential. Corvettes taking out dreadnoughts wasn’t a thing that was supposed to happen. The Senators that had fought against the idea of the Navy taking ship designs from a mercenary company would finally have to shut up and admit defeat.

She smiled to herself as a thought popped into her head. Maybe, when this is over, they’ll let us get some of the Reapers?

(Flag Bridge, INS Vindictus, Coldana System)

Admiral Han Moon-Hee watched the strategic plot, watching the disposition of forces. This was a battle unlike any she had been in before. What drew her eyes, however, was the sudden disappearance of a X’thari dreadnought from the center of the Confederate area of responsibility. The only ship nearby was a heavy cruiser. Had they gotten a lucky shot?

Her eyes widened as two Assassins appeared as sensor shadows for just a moment. The Confederate version of the Black Star’s Assassins were just as stealthy as the original, even in the middle of battle, but the Imperial Navy, especially those who were on the loyalist side during the war, were probably the one group with the most practice trying to detect Assassins under combat conditions than anyone else in the galaxy, save only Nuevo Edo or the Black Stars themselves. But, even as stealthy as the ships were, they shouldn’t have been able to sneak into a firing position on the X’thari dreadnought like that! Not at that range!

Of course! They used the cruiser as a hat, using it to hide their sensor shadows! She recognized the maneuver only because, during the Civil War, then-Captain Mollen had said that he developed their tactics based on old, wet-navy submarine tactics, so she had researched them extensively.

But the Confederates weren’t the only ones that had bought ships from the Black Stars! She searched the plot, looking for the IFF signatures she knew would be there. There! And they were close enough to make a difference.

“Flash transmission to battle group Silver Dawn! New orders for all Imperial Navy Assassins! Each cohort is to partner with a traditional model heavy cruiser to make attack runs on the X’thari dreadnoughts. Have Admiral Catallia split her ships as she will.”

She paused, and then said, “Mark all Assassin cohorts on the plot. Superdreadnoughts closest to the Assassins are to divert fire to taking out the enemy cruisers. We need to take these ships out fast!”

“Admiral, the Glory of Terra!”

Moon-Hee searched the plot, and found what she was looking for. The Glory of Terra, the first Wrath-class battleship purchased by the Imperial Navy, was surging forward into a group of three X’thari dreadnoughts! What was her captain thinking?

Suddenly, all four of the Glory of Terra’s rail guns fired as one, at a range where the middle of the three dreadnoughts couldn’t hope to evade in time. The attack shattered the dreadnought’s shields, and looked like it crippled the ship. Follow-up attacks by the Glory’s energy weapons ripped into the X’thari vessel. As the two healthy dreadnoughts moved to flank the smaller battleship, the Glory unleashed a double broadside of torpedoes, ten Dragonbreath torpedoes slamming into each of the healthy dreadnoughts, setting off sympathetic explosions across the ship. The first dreadnought exploded as the energy weapons blew through where the reactor had to be located, masking the Glory for a moment until it emerged victorious from the other side of the blaze.

“Status of the Glory of Terra?”

“Captain Abentre signals that shields are at 28% and climbing, minor hull damage. Several systems damaged, and are being repaired, including Transition Drive, long-range sensors, and main life support.”

Stunned, it was all the Admiral could do to keep her composure. “Commander, make a note. After the battle is over, I wish to talk with Naval command about procuring more Black Star vessels.”

“As you wish, Admiral.”

(Flag Bridge, CNV Tribute of Gold, Coldana System)

Six X’thari cruisers targeted the Tribute while she was engaged in a slugging match with one of the X’thari dreadnoughts. Their grav lances overwhelmed the flagship’s shields for only a moment, but that was enough for a graser blast to penetrate into the heart of the superdreadnought. Damage control teams went to work immediately as systems were rerouted, and Commander Rustfoe took command in the secondary bridge as communications cut out to the main bridge.

The main bridge was a charnel house, with exploded panels and conduits turning the entire compartment into a bloodbath filled with the dead and maimed. Right now, Technician 1^st Class Kurnim Graniteforge was concerned with the adjoining compartment, the Flag Bridge. As he forced the door open, he heard a brief whistling of air before the emergency forcefields snapped into place.

The main bridge was a charnel house. The flag bridge was a completely different affair. There were signs of slagging on the deck, caused by energy weapons, but there was no scene of carnage here. No, other than a bit of charring, the flag bridge looked remarkably pristine and sterile. Just as one might expect from a compartment looking directly out onto space.

“Graniteforge to Secondary Command. Alert the Commander, we’ve reached the Flag Bridge, but it is open to vacuum. No survivors. The Admiral is dead.”

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