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2309_wolfenheimemergent_chapter_viii [2021/02/05 03:50] (current) medron created |
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+ | The Shang are a truly determined enemy. | ||
+ | VIII | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm snapped his five-point harness together to hold him securely and the canopy slid back to seal him away from the rest of the universe. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then their fighter pulled up onto its tail and the main fusion torch drives came to life with a dull roar. They rocketed up into the pale blue sky on tongues of bright blue flames and acceleration pushed Malcolm into the back of his seat even as the compensators bled off the worst of it. The sky quickly faded to a star-filled blackness, and they accelerated up towards where Wolfenheim held position in the lower orbitals. | ||
+ | |||
+ | They passed hibernation pods ejecting from the increasingly skeletal ex-starship, | ||
+ | |||
+ | They wouldn’t have that time if he didn’t buy it for them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm grasped the controls and swept them around the colonization ship and her steady stream of ejecting pods to face towards Normandy and the Shang. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn nodded towards one of the displays. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm shifted to see Olivia’s disapproving face on it and tried not to look like a rebellious little boy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Director? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Captain, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia pursed her lips at him with a look that schoolteachers spent years perfecting for use against their most troublesome charges. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’m defending my colony.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia sighed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “With all due respect, Captain, the people I hired will run it better than I ever could.” Malcolm corrected. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You’re wrong, Director, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Olivia.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Her eyes widened in surprise and snapped back to his. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We’ve done our jobs. We’re done. Complete. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia let out a long breath as she considered his statement. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We haven’t finished rebuilding all of our sensor nodes, and we’ve still got half a dozen power runs that won’t hold power. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm frowned but couldn’t think of a suitable argument against her request. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Besides, Caroline’s going to catch us sooner or later, and I don’t want to explain to her that I let you die,” Olivia said with malice aforethought. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm’s frown deepened at her dirty pool. It wasn’t fair of her to bring it up like that. But he couldn’t fault her on that logic either. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia smiled at the acknowledgement that she was right. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm couldn’t argue with a single word she said. Well, there was the part where she asked him to be a good boy. He couldn’t let that go without an answering riposte. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’ll watch your rear any time you want,” Malcolm said with a wicked wink. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia shook her head. And if she said “Men,” it was soft enough that he could pretend he hadn’t heard it. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He chuckled and slotted his fighter into position behind and above Normandy’s bulk before returning to scanning the displays. | ||
+ | |||
+ | One display flashed for his attention and he focused on it to see a dozen Blackhawks peeling off Normandy’s Combat Air Patrol. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm looked up to her holoform atop the main console with approval. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I love having a whole posse of my own,” she said with a pleased smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Me too,” he answered and flexed his fingers in preparation for the battle to come. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Another display flashed and he checked it to see Erik Torson’s flagship and a stream of escorts accelerating towards them. They crossed the Red Line denoting the closest anyone could approach in hyperspace and Malcolm smiled. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm glanced towards Dawn and she nodded in understanding. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Erik?” Malcolm began in a quizzical tone. “Where’s your convoy?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Silence answered him for a few seconds until Erik’s smiling face appeared on another display. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Safe and hiding,” the massive Aesiran said in a thoroughly pleased tone. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Then how are you?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Not hiding,” Erik said with a laugh. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Giving them a nice big target to pursue?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Exactly.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I was thinking the same thing.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Not that we need the help, you understand? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Of course not,” Malcolm answered gregariously. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Good neighbors are hard to come by,” Erik said. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A display blinked for attention and Malcolm watched the nine Aesiran ships begin laying on more acceleration. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Aesiran had enough of a lead on the Shang that they could reach Normandy, come about to match vectors, and even decelerate down to Normandy’s velocity before the Shang caught up. That would make it nine Aesiran warships and nine Earthbuilt warships upgraded to Peloran tech assembled in a single battle formation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | And then there were the Smiths and their capable little fighters that would sow chaos of their own. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm nodded again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Another display blinked for his attention and Malcolm brought his head around to see hyperspace open once more in a series of staccato multi-colored explosions. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm let out a long breath. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Twenty Shang destroyers moved out of the fluctuating area of space to link up with the first twenty, and Malcolm knew this was not going to be nearly as easy as he’d hoped. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Well,” Erik said with immense calm. “We won’t have any problems finding people to shoot at.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We are moving to meet you,” Olivia broke into the conversation with matching calm. “Don’t worry.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “What do I have to worry about?” Erik asked with false bravado. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia smiled at him. “Just as long as you keep running away from them.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Of course,” Erik said. He snorted then. “I’m a brave and fearless warrior, not a stupid one.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Of course you are,” Olivia whispered and gave him an approving look. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Yet another display flashed for Malcolm’s attention and he turned to see Dawn looking at him with a meaningful expression. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We’ve been analyzing these ships since they first started arriving, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm blinked in surprise. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn raised one eyebrow at him. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm hung his head. It was one of the more unnecessary comments he’d made in the last few minutes. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then the second part of her observation kicked in. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “They only had two squadrons near us when we ran,” Malcolm whispered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn gave him an approving smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Did you hear that?” Malcolm asked and turned his attention back to the displays showing Erik and Olivia. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I did,” Olivia said. “That is hopeful.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Erik gave her a disbelieving look. “So now the fact that we may only be facing forty Shang destroyers is hopeful news?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Not exactly hopeful,” another voice said and John Smith’s face appeared on another display. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Erik aimed a disbelieving look at the fighter pilot as the sensor display showed the Aesiran fleet approaching the end of their run. They would need to come about and start slowing down very soon if they planned on linking up with Normandy before the Shang hit them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You take your comfort in strange places, Mister Smith” Erik said. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You have no idea, Mister Torson,” Smith answered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A trio of massive fusion engines lit off nearby and Malcolm turned to the left to see Surprise accelerating away. She’d abandoned the cargo pods her massive main engines were designed to push in low orbit, making her look like some kind of hot rod dragster preparing to hit the gas and roar away. | ||
+ | |||
+ | But there was something new about her lines that made Malcolm smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Mister Smith had been a busy little beaver since Arnami Prime, and he’d had a fair bit of a smashed up Shang destroyer to be busy with. Yes, much of its structure had been torn down to repair the other ships of their squadron, but nobody had wanted to burn up the weapons. | ||
+ | |||
+ | It carried ten Shang missile launchers and numerous smaller point defense laser and missile clusters. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “This is Captain John Smith of Phantom Squadron, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Do you think your Cowboy knows something we don’t?” Erik asked in a whisper. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I sure hope so,” Malcolm answered with a smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | No Shang answered this time. Considering the last commander who answered him had died seconds later when Murphy’s squadron cut the heart out of their formation, that was probably smart of them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Mister Smith?” Malcolm asked with a raised eyebrow. | ||
+ | |||
+ | John Smith shrugged in answer. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I see,” Malcolm said in disappointment. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We can’t run this time,” Smith returned with a grim look. “We have to hold the line, whatever the cost. And I will use every weapon I have to do that. Even a bluff.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Erik nodded in approval. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm smiled. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Cut the chatter, boys,” Olivia said in a far more serious tone. “They aren’t running.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yes, Ma’am,” Smith said and the sensor display showed his formation accelerating away from the main fleet to flank the enemy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Aesiran fleet swung around in a long arcing curve as Erik smiled. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm smiled and placed his hands on the Blackhawk’s controls, mentally preparing himself to become one with his fighter once more. “And I’ll watch your rear.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia rolled her eyes. And if she said “Men,” it was quiet enough he could pretend not to have heard. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then it was time to turn his head to the right and watch the gleaming Aesiran ships slide to a relative stop next to him. Psychedelic rainbow hues flowed from their multi-angular hulls with a hypnotic beauty that set them apart from any Peloran, Arnam, or Shang ship he’d seen. They were truly alien in a way that pulled the eyes over them, and it was difficult to think of them as warships. | ||
+ | |||
+ | But point defense satellites hovered around them like tiny flees, strobing death and destruction towards the incoming Shang missiles. | ||
+ | |||
+ | It was an amazing sight. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We are here,” Erik announced in a formal tone. “What next?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Now we kill them,” Mister Smith returned with a grim look. “Pardon me, but I have some customers to serve.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | His communication cut out and Surprise and his Avengers pulled further away from the combined force. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That is an elegantly simple plan,” Erik said into the silence. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia smiled at him. “Don’t worry. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Erik looked away from his pickup for a moment, chuckled, and turned back. “I see you are ahead of me.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Professionals, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Indeed, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Thank you,” Olivia said. Then she turned away as another Shang missile salvo erupted. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The displays blinked to show one hundred missiles streaking away from the Shang fleet. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm swallowed and a chill ran down his spine. | ||
+ | |||
+ | They were outgunned ten to one in a ranged duel. It was sobering to realize just how much the Shang outclassed them in missiles. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Which was why they weren’t going to engage the Shang in a missile duel. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “All units,” Olivia began to order and movement plans flickered into being on Malcolm’s displays. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Hundreds of blue fusion flares ignited at her command and the fleet accelerated towards the approaching Shang destroyers without warning. | ||
+ | |||
+ | It looked almost like it could be an energy field. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He watched the Aesiran slide effortlessly into Olivia’s formation on those energy field drives. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Shang missile salvo burned in and Malcolm felt his Blackhawk vibrate as countermissiles erupted from his missile racks to meet them. More countermissiles streaked out from the other fighters and starships, and decoys and jammers flared in the heavens. | ||
+ | |||
+ | They destroyed hundreds of Shang missiles in the mere seconds it took for them to travel between the two fleets. | ||
+ | |||
+ | But the Shang had sent four hundred missiles on their way, and no point defense network of a fleet that small could stop all of them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The survivors of that massive salvo met the wall of Terran and Aesiran frigates first. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Six Shang missiles somehow decided to swoop down on Cochrane at the last instant and they tore through her final defense zone in a split second. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Ten more missiles streaked in towards Philadelphia and Rouen on Normandy’s flanks. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then nearly ten percent of the massive volley found their primary target with painful accuracy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The light carrier bucked as her starboard hangar pod came apart without warning and spewed air and debris all over space. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm’s eyes went wide as the wreckage spread out behind her and he pulled his throttle to the side. Thrusters flared and his Blackhawk accelerated away from the spewing traffic hazard before any of it could hit him. His other fighters echoed his action, but one of them spun out of control as a launch bay hatch blotted one of its engines away in an instant. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Mother of God,” Malcolm whispered and his heart hammered in his chest. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “All ships, return fire!” Olivia shouted over the sound of alarms in her background. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A salvo of forty two capital missiles erupted from Normandy and her escorting destroyers and streaked towards the Shang on blue fusion fires. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm saw the Aesiran destroyers glow as energy crackled from the tips of the many spires surrounding their central core. The energy coalesced around the central spire and then lashed out to connect them with Shang ships in the distance. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm shook his head in amazement as his Blackhawk’s capacitors emptied themselves into the gravitic cannon in her nose. Lights dimmed around him and gravitic vortexes from all of his fighters shot out towards a single Shang destroyer. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The warship’s gravity generators were far more powerful than any fighter could match, but he had a squadron of Blackhawks, and their attacks drilled down to mere centimeters. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The wounded destroyer twisted away, trying to escape his fighter squadron, and the vortexes ripped through the maneuvering target. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yippie ki-yay!” Malcolm shouted in exaltation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Another display flashed for his attention, and Malcolm focused on it to see Smith’s ship and fighters slash in from the side to penetrate the Shang formation like a school of sharks. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Surprise crushed one destroyer with a sustained gravitic blast, and then her missiles slashed in from point blank range to hammer another destroyer into wreckage. | ||
+ | |||
+ | What they did to those destroyers was catastrophic. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That’s six of them dead, and eleven damaged,” Dawn said from her perch atop his console. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm nodded in agreement. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Shang fleet twisted to the side as if on queue and began accelerating away from Wolfenheim’s defenders without even bothering to turn. One instant they were on course for planetary orbit, and the next they moved back out towards the edge of the gravitic jamming that kept them in normalspace. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “They’re running!” Malcolm exclaimed in triumph. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Don’t get cocky,” John Smith ordered as his ships spun around to aim their weapons at the Shang again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm turned back to watch something like three hundred missiles launch into space as they tried to open the range again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Only thirty missiles made it through all of those defenses this time, but they focused their fire on the eight remaining frigates holding the forward wall. Four of them lost lock and sought out the largest target they could find. They smashed into an Aesiran destroyer and tore through its combination of shields and deflection grids. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The frigates were not so lucky. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm looked through the canopy and it faithfully zoomed in to show him the ruin of their wall spreading out and fading away. Some of the ships still lived in some manner, though he wondered if they would ever fly again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm’s jaw gaped at the enormity of the damage done to his fleet in so few seconds. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Don’t lighten up,” John Smith ordered as Surprise lashed out at the retreating enemy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Roger that,” Malcolm said. Another fleeing target flashed on his display and their recharged gravitic cannons struck out once more. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Shang fleet writhed under the return assault of gravitic cannons, missiles, and lasers built to burn capital ships and Malcolm watched icon after icon blink off the sensor display. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Maybe they could hold the Shang after all. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Shang crossed beyond the Red Line denoting the edge of gravitic interference and seemed to pause for a second. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “They’re targeting Erik!” Dawn shouted as the Blackhawk vibrated around them with countermissile launches. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I see that!” Malcolm returned as the displays marked the missiles’ inexorable approach. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Normandy’s interposing!” Dawn shouted. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm turned to see the carrier spinning on her beam to turn her port side to the approaching missile swarm as she swung in front of the Aesiran command ship. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Ah, hell,” Malcolm muttered and slammed his throttle forward. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “What are we doing?” Dawn asked as they accelerated past the carrier. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Giving those missiles something else to shoot at,” Malcolm said and relaxed back into his seat. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Are you sure that’s wise?” Dawn asked with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “No, I’m pretty sure it isn’t,” Malcolm said in response as they plowed into space before the wounded starships. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn nodded and smiled at that. “Glad to see we’re on the same page.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | A display blinked to show him Jackie White’s Blackhawks moving into position beside him and Malcolm smiled. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Shang missiles were going to have to work for their kills. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm’s Blackhawk starfighter shuddered as decoys and jammers shot out to confuse the enemy missiles. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm held his hands on the controls as the surviving missiles came in for the kill. His left hand rested on the throttle controlling movement in every direction, his right hand holding the stick directing orientation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm felt danger coming, and it was time to be elsewhere. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Several fighters moved between him and the missiles in the last instant, even as their final point defenses continued to fire fast enough he could see the heat radiating from them. One lost an engine and fell out of formation to a near miss that was still too close. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The missiles kept coming. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Several lost lock and shot past Malcolm on their way to the depths of space, but a quarter of the missile salvo broke past everything he and the fleet could do. Nearly twenty missiles streaked in towards Normandy and impacted on the previously-damaged port hangar bay she’d interposed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | But most of the surviving missiles flew over or under the carrier and arced around to attack Erik’s command ship. Defense satellites and energy shields moved to meet them in orgies of mutual destruction that stopped nearly half of them in the last instant. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Well, that hurt,” Erik said through the sound of shrill alarms in his background. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Tell me about it,” Olivia returned with a wry smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm spun his fighter to get a good look at the former carrier. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Normandy’s hangar pods were simply gone, and the clawmarks of gravitic whips had left the wing-like structure that had connected them to the main fuselage in tattered ruins. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We can still beat them if they come back,” John Smith said as his formation began making its way back to the rest of the fleet. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “But can we survive beating them if they do?” Malcolm asked with a pointed look at the other fighter pilot. | ||
+ | |||
+ | John Smith gave him a wry look. “Does it matter?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “It matters to me!” Malcolm retorted. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then hyperspace opened and forty Shang warships faded back into the system. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm’s displays flickered as his sensors recognized twenty of them as the destroyers they’d just faced. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Well, that’s going to hurt,” Malcolm said with a sigh. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I don’t recognize those ships,” Olivia said, but her voice was tinged with more interest than a feeling of incoming doom. “What are they?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Those are Shang raiders,” Erik answered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “What kind of weapons do they carry?” Olivia asked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Pretty light weapons for something their size,” Erik returned. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I see,” Olivia said as the Shang began to advance on the planet again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I think we shall die together today,” Erik said. “I can think of worse things in life.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You are a strange man.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Just think how strange I’ll be once you get to know me,” Erik returned with an answering smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “In all the time we have?” Olivia asked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm looked towards Dawn and they shared a smile of their own. At least he could say he would be with friends at the end. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Don’t knock it,” Erik said. “We’re talking about the rest of our lives.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia’s smile softened and she nodded in acceptance. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm glanced at the sensor display to see the Shang continuing to accelerate towards their standard missile engagement range. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm ran his hand over the communications display and it flashed to confirm he was transmitting to all ships and fighters. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Ladies. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He paused for one long breath and smiled at the camera. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “As for me. The Shang will reach those colonists over my dead body.” |