Black Legion: 04 - Last Stand (25 page)

“Get me through to Xenophon. He is on board the Sraosha.”

* * *

Median Battleship ‘Sraosha’, Larissa System, Core Worlds

The capture of Sraosha took no more than a few minutes following the death of Darbabad Qahreman. Like most Median combat units, they put up a reasonable fight but only so long as the command structure remained. With the Laconians hunting down the last few Median officers, the automatons gave up in seconds. The upper levels were now under complete control, and Chirisophus left to finish the job, leaving Xenophon, Komes Artemis, and the others on the upper level deck.

“Well, what now?” asked the Komes.

An urgent message came through on Xenophon’s communication node. He turned away to listen.

“Xenophon, can you hear me?” asked the familiar voice, tinged with concern.

“I hear you. Sraosha is ours,” he replied with barely concealed glee.

The fight to take the enemy flagship had been no mean feat, yet the motley band of warriors from a dozen worlds had done the job. Although the Laconians had finished it off, there was little doubt as to who had done the bulk of the fighting.

“Well don’t get too comfortable. We have incoming forces under the command of Tissaphernes. Estimates put their number close to a hundred, with substantial battleships and escorts.”

“Gods,” Xenophon exclaimed, his calm expression instantly vanishing.

“It’s worse than that. We also have the forces of Ariaeus. They are just waiting out there, deliberately avoiding confrontation with us. I can guarantee that when Tissaphernes arrive and starts the final attack, he will demand the assistance of Ariaeus.”

Artemas saw him speaking and moved closer to him. Their small group had scattered following the fight. Roxana was on the ground being looked after by Tamara, and Glaucon was helping with the prisoners.

“What is it?” she asked.

Xenophon looked to her, his eyes wide with concern.

“There are more coming. We need a plan, and fast.”

Artemas had nothing to add at first, and as Xenophon began to mutter to himself, she tried to catch his words. Xenophon wasn’t looking for ideas. He was crunching plans in his head, and so far none of them looked good.

“Too few ships, too much damage, we cannot go back or forward. The enemy commander will not yield. Their weakness isn’t combat power...”

Then he smiled. He looked to Artemas and Komes Artemis and lifted his left hand with excitement.

“I have it. The key is Ariaeus.”

“What?” they both asked at the same time. Even Xenias, listening over the communication node, sounded confused.

“Xenophon, what do you mean?”

“You want him to help us? Help us fight Tissaphernes?”

Artemas seemed to have grasped the basic idea but not the details.

Xenophon shrugged.

“Yes, he has the fresh ships that could turn this battle around for us.”

The crackling voice of Xenias interrupted his explanation.

“This won’t work. Ariaeus has already been accused of colluding with Terrans. If he does this, he can expect nothing but the wrath of Artaxerxes. The best we can hope for is that he will stay on the sidelines.”

“That is no good,” said Komes Artemis, “We need decisive action, now!”

“Listen,” Xenophon said, but they continued to speak until finally loud whistles from Glaucon made them quieten down. His friend was on the other side of the level, but even he could see Xenophon needed silence.

“Thank you,” said Xenophon, “We don’t ask him to help. We force him to help.”

“How?” asked Xenias. The others around him repeated the question.

Xenophon instead faced Artemas.

“Can you access the controls of this ship?”

She squinted a little and then a smile spread across her face.

“I understand.”

She moved away from him, heading to the point where Darbabad Qahreman had commanded the vessel. Once safely behind the obsidian plates, she could press several buttons on the unit and access most of the systems. Blue and green imagery appeared with extensive detail on the ships and targets around her. Scattered reports and fragmented information came in from the rest of the ship, as entire sections were currently unmanned.

“I can access navigation settings and gunnery command.”

None of the others seemed to have grasped what was happening while she moved through the multiple panels to take control of the system. Xenophon and the others moved closer to her, each trying to get a view of the obsidian panels and displays around her. Xenophon was there first and pointed to the shapes of ships in the distance.

“Target Ariaeus and open fire with every weapon system still working.”

Komes Artemis stepped towards her with his weapon raised.

“What? Are you insane? You will kill us all. We cannot stand against all of their ships. We must conserve our force.”

Xenophon held back his hand and stepped between him and Lady Artemas.

“No, we need to use our brains. Remember the old adage, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

The Komes lowered his weapon, though he clearly didn’t fully understand. He looked to the panels and back to Lady Artemas.

“You have full control?” asked Komes Artemis.

“Yes. The only real security on these ships is that the command system can be operated by Median nobility; the system has already accepted me.”

Glaucon looked down at the deck where the spatharii were still rounding up prisoners.

“What about them? Can the ship function without a crew?”

Artemas shook her head.

“No. I can relay the orders, but somebody must then manually target and activate the weapon systems.”

Komes Artemis nodded, turning his head slightly away from them.

“I will get my teams working on this. I have a single unit near the port gunnery decks rounding up prisoners. Will that work?”

Lady Artemas examined the panels and checked the communication routes. She finally stopped and pointed at a series of weapon systems.

“Yes, the gun ports on decks four and five are still functioning and show their crews are nearby. I can get one of them angled far enough to fire upon Ariaeus. If you can get me some one here, I can move the ship around to use the dorsal mounts.”

Glaucon looked at the display and ran his finger along the route to reach it.

“I can do that.”

“Here, I have the Dukas,” said Lady Artemas.

On the left side of the obsidian pillars appeared a floating image with Xenias placed directly in the centre. The quality was not brilliant, but it did allow the entire group to see him.

“Is this working?” he asked.

“Dukas, we can see you,” said Xenophon.

“Good. This plan has the potential to work. Might I make one small revision?”

Xenophon shrugged.

“What do you suggest?”

“We have seven captured ships under our control now. I can have them formed up alongside you, and they can add their gunfire to yours. It will increase the effect on Tissaphernes when he arrives.”

“Good,” said Glaucon, “This might actually work.”

The other Terrans listened intently, none more so than Xenophon.

“There’s one other thing, Dukas. When he arrives, we must activate a total communications blackout until the battle is decided. He cannot know Ariaeus is the victim here.”

Dukas Xenias spoke to somebody out of the shot and then looked back at Xenophon.

“Agreed. I have already sent the signal. Once Tissaphernes jumps in, we will block all signals, including our own. Get moving, you don’t have long.”

He gripped Xenophon’s arm in the traditional Terran sign of friendship and then moved away. Three Terrans that boarded the ship at the same time followed him down the ramp and towards the lower decks. Komes Artemis began speaking to his spatharii, but Xenophon put his hand on the warrior’s shoulder and stopped him mid-sentence.

“Make sure they keep them alive. We need them to control the system.”

He grimaced at this.

“How do you suggest I persuade them to help? What can we possibly offer the crew of a capital ship in the heart of Mede’s space?”

Roxana could hear him from where she lay, still being tended by Tamara. She laughed at this question, much to Komes Artemis’ annoyance.

“Simple, make them an offer than no Medes ever would.”

“Such as?”

Xenophon gave a short nod of agreement.

“Their freedom, of course.”

* * *

Median Battleship ‘Vairya’, Planet Larissa, Core Worlds

The deceleration sent the same grinding sound throughout the ship, but this time it sounded louder and much worse than before. The damage sustained during the destruction of the Terran cruiser has loosened sections of the vessel to such a degree that only the internal security fields were capable of keeping them together.

“Ten seconds, my Lord.”

The star field slowed and then stopped as the ship moved to its conventional speed and appeared in the Larissa System. One by one, the remainder of his ships moved in around him until his massed fleet of heavy warships were assembled and ready.

“Report,” he said in a measured tone.

Even as his officers checked their systems, he used his own displays to examine the scene of the space battle. The ships were scattered, and at first, he wasn’t completely sure what he was looking at. Instead, he checked on the location of the flagships, his nephew’s vessel; the Sraosha was in the middle of the field, along with a surprisingly small number of Lelegian ships. The Terrans were closer to the planet and spread out in three main divisions. He had to move to the far side to spot Ariaeus’ vast fleet drawn up in line of battle and a good distance from the Terrans. Flashes from the gun ports on most of the ships indicated the battle was still underway.

I knew he would let me down.

“My Lord,” said his latest Darbabad.

“The Terrans have sustained medium casualties and have withdrawn around their Titans. They appear to be leaving the field.”

“What?” he snapped back.

The last thing Tissaphernes wanted was for the Terrans to escape from his grasp. There was little chance the Emperor would grant him leave to pursue them throughout the Empire. Whatever he did, it had to be done here, and now. As he watched, he noticed a barrage of plasma being released from Ariaeus’ ship. It was fascinating to see them move at massive velocities through space. To his horror, they slammed into the bow of Sraosha in a bright blue blast. More of them struck, and some hit the Lelegians nearby.

Treachery!

He glanced to the Terran ships, noting they were keeping their distance from Ariaeus. Then the gun ports of the Titans lit up, and gunfire streaked out to hit the stern of Sraosha. It was only one volley, and the fleet continued to move away.

“Ariaeus!” he screamed so that his voice carried throughout the command deck.

The Darbabad stood trembling, terrified beyond words and unable to speak. Tissaphernes stepped out from his control centre and looked down at him. His jaw clenched tightly as he spoke.

“Track and destroy Ariaeus. He will pay for this.”

The Darbabad shook his head and dropped to one knee.

“My Lord, this entire sector is being jammed. We are unable to communicate with the rest of our forces here.”

Tissaphernes moved closely and struck him across the face with the back of his hand.

“You fool, use visual communications. Three thousand years ago we could do this with smoke and mirrors.”

He pointed in the direction of Ariaeus.

“We will deal with the Terrans later. Ariaeus must pay, and pay now!”

* * *

Median Battleship ‘Sraosha’, Larissa System, Core Worlds