Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2) (35 page)

I smiled politely at him and said:

"It's very nice to work with your company. Excuse me, could I tack something on to the order? I need one hundred thousand laborer androids in one week."

"One hundred thousand?! Delivery to Unatari, as well?" he said, making no effort to hide his rapture.

"No. The destination for that order is the Veyerde system in Perimeter Sector Seven."

* * *

"Five
Sledgehammers
, eight
Ascetics
, four
Hermits
, and eleven
Meteors
. They are stationed seventy miles from the Nayal system," my spy from the cloaked frigate announced over the common channel, reaching all ships of the unified thousand-ship-strong armada, consisting of the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet, the Perimeter Sector Seven Fleet, and other allied ships.

A general murmur was heard on the common channel. I could make out the word "sledgehammer" repeated in horror several times. The time had come for me to turn on the microphone and take the situation into my own hands:

"Attention all ships of the united fleet! Accelerate toward the Nayal system beacon! Sector Eight ships, set prewarp to two hundred fifty. All other ships are to set their warp tunnel settings to two thousand from the beacon. One minute to action. Nicole, countdown!"

"But Crown Prince, there are
Sledgehammers
there. We'll surely die!" someone's frightened voice rang out.

I looked demandingly at the communications officers and received an answer a few seconds later:

"That was the captain of
Surgeon-66
from the Damir fleet..."

The officer's speech was interrupted by Admiral Kiro Sabuto's alarmed voice:

"My Prince,
Surgeon-66
is accelerating on its own in the opposite direction of the fleet! He isn't going to Nayal, but preparing to return to the Damir system!"

What?! Well, that isn’t just the height of insubordination and cowardice? It was no longer of any importance to me who the captain of
Surgeon-66
was, it could even have been the Emperor's own son. He was attempting to desert the fleet!

"Attention all ships, halt acceleration and countdown!
Surgeon-66
is primary. I've marked it in the overview. Fire!"

There was a flash, and cloud of shards flew off in all directions, marking the now downed ship's former location. In the silence that eventually came over on the common fleet channel, I said clearly and decisively:

"The main thing holding humanity back in the fight with the Aliens is the cowardice of some captains and their disobeying orders from higher-ranked commanders. Several weeks ago, one of my frigates abandoned a combat assignment of their own will and left the battle. As a result, an Alien battleship got through to my starships. The fleet lost a quarter of its strength in that incident. Due to the cowardice of one, thousands died. The scars on my face and my right eye, which still can't quite see right are the most eloquent possible mementos of just how high a price allied cowardice can have. As such, it is better to execute cowards before the battle than have to deal with the consequences of them fleeing the battle later."

"Crown Prince Georg, what became of the coward that made the fleet suffer that time?" Came Marat ton Mesfelle, commander of the Sector Seven Fleet.

"He got very lucky. He died in the explosion of the
Behemoth
that he himself let get through to our ships. Such is the lot of all cowards. They never really had a chance of surviving in the first place, but unfortunately they find it necessary to take others down with them. As such, this is a message for all fleet crewmembers: if you notice anyone on your ship acting cowardly and not carrying out a commander's orders, shoot them immediately and do not hesitate. That is the best way out with the minimum number of victims. And so, the lyrical digression is over. Let's get back to the main mission. Is there anyone in the fleet who is still bleating in fear and pissing their pants from the word '
Sledgehammer
?' No? Then let's start the acceleration toward the Nayal beacon again. Nicole, countdown, sixty seconds. Marat ton Mesfelle, choose five ships in your fleet to make sure your captains are following orders. If anyone doesn't jump right into battle in sixty seconds, they will share
Surgeon-66
's fate."

Global standing decrease. Current value -34

Standing change. Empire Military faction opinion of you has improved.

Presumed personal opinion of you: +21 (warm)

"Ten seconds. Nine. Upon arrival, everyone turn on tactical map immediately, and wait for my command. Three. Two. WARP!!!"

The world grew dim as usual and rolled up into a tunnel. There was another four hours before the battle, so I stood from my seat, preparing to go get some rest in my bunk. However, my attention was caught by a sound in the corridor. There was a sentry trying not to let a girl with fire-red hair enter the fleet headquarters. She was wearing an ultramarine dress and high-heeled shoes. It even took me a few seconds to realize who the unfamiliar girl in civilian clothes, who had shown up on a military starship was, before I remembered Bionica's new body. I could hardly tell them a story about new crewmembers now.

"Let her in!" I ordered, and the girl came into the headquarters.

"Crown Prince Georg, Popori de Cacha has finished looking over my new body. He has given permission for me to continue work..." the red-headed beauty's voice was unfamiliar, and she was seriously delaying the end of the sentence after having seen the Arite in the form of the light-haired Bionica in her place.

"Excellent, Bionica. You may return to your normal work. Only Popori de Cacha is no longer a 'he,' but a 'she.' The Chameleon changed gender while you were absent."

Popori de Cacha, who appeared at that moment, stretched out her hand with a packet of documents for the new Bionica and reported:

"A full check has been made. No undocumented changes to the model detected. The memory blocks are sealed. Checksums for all files are unchanged. By the way, here are your things back, Bionica!" with these words, the head of my guard handed the synthetic girl a gold medallion on a chain and an Emerald Star.

I saw the fleet officer's incomprehension, which forced me to tell them about why my translator's appearance had changed. The Arite demonstrated the truth of my words, changing into a minimum of ten various
Emperor August
crew members in the space of five seconds, then returning to the synthetic blonde once again.

"I have the Crown Prince's permission to be in this form!" the Arite Iseyek said to the upset blonde beauty.

"Bionica, a copy of your old body will be waiting for you in Unatari," I said, calming my assistant. "For now, be a red-head. Who knows, maybe you'll like it?"

* * *

"Multiple targets. Distance: two hundred thirty miles. Five Alien cruisers, twelve destroyers, eleven frigates. Alien ships have begun advancing!"

I had already noticed that myself. The
Meteors
had separated from the group and were quickly reducing their distance, going in a bull-headed straight line toward my ships.

"Fleet Eight, let's get to work! Usual formation toward the enemy. Release drones!
Tria
, in five minutes I need an assault group of around twenty modules. Both battleships, make a tiny advance. Heavies, twelve behind them. Check the connections! Max Stegor, electronics is on you. The mission is to take those
Meteors
down! Antisupport, at the ready! Split up into groups of eight, pick your targets! Nicole, you’re in charge of our destroyers. Shoot in volleys on a countdown.
Pyros
, I need four receivers on opposite sides of the
Sledgehammers
at one hundred twenty!
Warhawks
..."

"What should we do, Crown Prince?" someone from an allied fleet interrupted quite tactlessly on the common channel.

"Above all else, keep quiet and don't get in the Sector Eight Fleet's way! All other ships, stay two thousand back and don't come into battle!"

Nicole, looked in my direction and mimicked cutting her neck with her hand, recommending that I set up a "guillotine" for offenders. I shook my head "no." If it had been someone from the Sector Eight Fleet, he already would have been punished. But most of the fleet today was absolute noobs, who didn't even know that you shouldn't interrupt a commander.

"
Warhawks
and
Safas
, stand by! Accelerate toward the enemy. In ten seconds, I need webs on all
Meteors
. Charge!!! Heavies, two per target. Get ready! Shoot only on my command!"

One after another, reports about enemy frigates under warp disruptor and web started coming in. I waited a few seconds to make sure, after which I calmly, even matter-of-factly, stated:

"Fire!!!"

After my ships' volley, just one
Meteor
was left alive. It was already under thick webs and warp-disruptors, and blinded by the electronic warfare fighters, so it was no threat.

"Do not shoot at the
Meteor
! Just hold him tight. We need it alive! We have already sent our scientists an Alien warp beacon deliverer, and now we'll give them the fastest frigate in the Universe. Maybe they can learn something... So, destroyers, approach. Antisupport, attention!
Pyros
, capture the
Sledgehammers
. They must not get any closer!
Safas
and
Warhawks
, at the ready! Standard formation. Hold the destroyers with webs for the big guns, and shoot down the drones while you're at it! At the ready in twenty seconds! Heavies, pick your targets. Three per destroyer!
Ascetics
are the priority. Antisupport, your mission is to get to the wounded birds. Electros, not one of these beasts is to be allowed to target us! Frigates, advance!!! I need webs on the enemy in seven seconds! Great! Fire!!!"

Seven of eight
Ascetics
disappeared from the tactical map all at once. The last one tried to turn around and get away, but no less than one hundred frigates targeted it, and the Alien ship lit up the black sky with a bright spark.

"All drones from the
Hermit
have been shot down! The Alien destroyers are held down tight. Electros are putting just the right amount of pressure on," Nicole Savoia reported.

"We also need that ship there for research," I put a marker in the overview on one of the
Hermits
. "The rest of the ships are retreating! Fire!!! General, both Alien ships are at your disposal. Send in your assault troops!
Bride of Chaos
, you're too far in front. Put on the breaks and wait for the
Meresh
. Heavies, approach the battleships! Stay in formation and reduce distance. Two
Sledgehammers
need to be brought down. They're marked on the tactical map. Nicole, pick targets for our heavies. After that, hold off the strike and get the rest of the Aliens. The little guys won't dare come near."

Two minutes later, the
Sledgehammers
were no more. Another ten after that, General Savasss Jach reported that the
Meteor
and
Hermit
had been captured. The only weird thing was that the landing troops didn't find the bush-like Aliens we were used to, but medusa-like creatures in the ships. Unfortunately, we still didn't capture any alive. The medusas' bodies would deflate with just the slightest damage, turning them into lifeless off-white rags.

"Victory has been secured, ladies and gentlemen!" I declared on the common channel. "The Sector Eight Fleet sustained no losses. The Aliens lost twenty-eight ships, two of which have been captured intact."

Global standing increase. Current value -33

Standing change. Empire Military faction opinion of you has improved.

Presumed personal opinion of you: +22 (warm)

Global standing increase. Current value -32

Global fame increase. Current value +22

Standing change. Empire Military faction opinion of you has improved.

Presumed personal opinion of you: +23 (warm)

Global fame increase. Current value +23

The journalists were reporting something to their viewers, and I unmistakably heard enthusiastic shouts in my direction, with words coming through like "miracle," "fantastic," "hero," and the like. When the deafening screams of joy and applause had calmed down a bit, Marat ton Mesfelle declared:

"Georg, I'm simply flabbergasted! I feel like a puppy-dog compared to you! Also, from my perspective, you could see the evidence of regular practice. Without strain, without getting overly emotional, the Sector Eight Fleet simply shot the targets down and that was that. If I hadn't come up against Aliens myself, I wouldn't have recognized what a feat your fleet had just accomplished!"