Ep.#1 - "Escalation" (The Frontiers Saga: Rogue Castes) (5 page)

“Get secure!” Loki demanded.

Deliza immediately rose from her seat and moved forward toward the cockpit.

“I told you to get secure,” Loki said impatiently, noticing Deliza entering the cockpit.

“I am,” Deliza insisted as she squeezed between Loki and the copilot’s seat and sat down in the right seat. “I’m just doing it in here. What’s going on?”

“Look,” Loki said, pointing at the screen in the middle of the console.

Deliza studied the screen, her eyes narrowing. “Why are all those ship icons red?”

“Red means hostile,” Loki replied.

“Isn’t that one the Avendahl?” Deliza said, pointing at the large blue icon.

“Avendahl, Avendahl. This is Ranni One, holding two million kilometers from Corinair. We show multiple unidentified hostiles. Are you engaged?”

“
Ranni One, Avendahl. We are under attack by at least six ships. Three have been destroyed. Corinair is being invaded.
”

“Oh, my God!” Deliza exclaimed.

“
Suggest you remain clear.
”

“We have to get to the office,” Deliza insisted. “Yanni… Your wife and baby… Michi and Turi…”

“Avendahl, Ranni One, negative. We have primaries on the surface that must be evacuated. Requesting safe approach recommendations.”

“
Negative, Ranni One. Stay clear. We have a rescue shuttle on its way to your offices now.
”

Doran, Yanni, and the others all crouched down behind the blast wall that protected passersby from the thrust of landing and departing shuttles. Flashes appeared all over the sky in groups of three to six every other minute or so.

“Are they ours?” Yanni wondered as he stared at the flashes of light in the evening skies over Aitkenna.

“Some of them,” Doran replied, “but not many.”

Yanni watched as an enemy fighter dove toward them, with two of the Avendahl’s fighters in close pursuit. The lead fighter opened fire, sending red, needle-like beams toward the diving fighter. As it did so, two more enemy fighters appeared behind flashes of blue-white light, and quickly opened fire. The two fighters of Takaran design came apart, and what was left fell to the surface.

Yanni and Doran ducked as the diving enemy fighter pulled level and flew directly over them at a low altitude. Yanni looked at Doran with his eyes wide. “Wasn’t that…?”

“A Jung fighter.” Doran finished for him. “It sure as hell looked like one.”

“But I thought the Jung didn’t have jump technology.”

“Last I heard, they didn’t.”

Another flash occurred nearby, followed by the familiar thunderous tearing sound. Doran turned and spotted one of the Avendahl’s jump shuttles on a rapid approach to their position. Then three more flashes appeared above and behind the descending shuttle.

“
Montrose, Rescue One Five,
” the pilot’s voice crackled over Doran’s comm-set.
“Inbound for Ranni pad. Wheels down in two. Stand by for extraction.
”

Doran stared at the three new arrivals, trying to discern their shapes in the darkness. One of them passed directly in front of the rising moon, casting a perfect silhouette. His expression changed, and he tapped his comm-set. “Rescue One Five, Montrose! Three bandits, five high! Suggest you…”

It was too late. Streaks of reddish-orange lashed out from two of the three enemy fighters, striking the descending jump shuttle high on the starboard side. The shuttle’s aft engine pod exploded, taking a portion of the shuttle’s hull with it. With the lift suddenly removed from the back corner of the ship, the shuttle’s back-right corner dropped rapidly, and the shuttle rolled to its right as it entered a sharp, uncoordinated right turn. The shuttle spiraled down, smoke pouring from its aft, then clipped a building, and fell the last twenty meters to the street below, exploding on impact.

Yanni stared in horror, frozen in fear.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Doran insisted, as more troop ships appeared behind flashes of blue-white light.

“They’ll send another shuttle, right?” Lael asked nervously. “Shouldn’t we be here when…”

“When it gets shot down?” Doran said. “Those are troop ships,” he said, pointing at the flashes of light in the sky. “We have to get someplace safe!”

“Where?” Doctor Sato wondered.

“Someplace outside of the city!” Doran said. “Someplace that the Jung are not likely to be!”

“Jump complete,” the Avendahl’s helmsman reported.

Commander Golan discreetly breathed a sigh of relief. Jumping a heavily-damaged ship was a risky move.

“Multiple contacts,” the sensor officer announced. “Very large, but only point-defenses.”

“Troop ships,” Commander Hyams surmised. “You were right.”

“Lieutenant Rogal, target those troop ships,” Commander Golan ordered.

“Flight reports Rescue One Five is down,” the communications officer reported.

“Targets acquired,” the weapons officer announced. “Firing!”

Commander Golan glanced at one of the many view screens on the overhead in front of him, quickly picking out the view from one of their main rail gun’s cameras. Brilliant balls of red-orange plasma slammed into the target’s shields, turning them an opaque amber. As more plasma charges impacted their shields, the amber color intensified, until finally the shields failed. Pieces of the enemy troop ship began to break off as the slugs from the Avendahl’s massive rail guns slammed into her hull. Debris spread out on the opposite side of the target, as the kinetic energy of the slug impacts sent debris flying away and downrange. After a few seconds, the rail gun slugs found sensitive elements deeper inside the troop ship’s hull, and secondary explosions ignited. The target came apart, and a wave of satisfaction swept over the commander.

The satisfaction was short-lived.

“Jump flashes!” Lieutenant Cahnis reported from the sensor station. “Three contacts! The battleship and the cruisers! They’re launching missiles! More flashes! Oh, my God! Jump missiles! Dozens of them!”

“Helm! Snap jump! Now! Now! Now!”

Pale-blue waves of energy poured out of the Avendahl’s jump field emitters. In the blink of an eye, the energy spread across her hull, joining with the other expanding pools of energy. In a fraction of a second, the Avendahl’s entire hull was covered with the jump field, its pale-blue light hugging the ship’s surface. Once formed, the blue field grew in its intensity, building rapidly toward a brilliant white as the ship began its jump.

But the process was interrupted, as several dozen enemy jump missiles appeared only a few hundred meters away from the Avendahl, behind their own flashes of blue-white light. The missiles slammed into the Avendahl’s hull and detonated. Brilliant flashes of yellow, followed by orange and black clouds of fire and debris, ended the once-proud capital ship owned by the last truly noble house of Takara. The blue-white glow instantly disappeared behind the detonations. The orange and black clouds of fire died away in seconds, as whatever oxidizers had fed them were quickly consumed. Large sections of the hull scattered off in all directions, followed by sections of the mighty ship’s interior, as well as her crew. In only a few seconds, several thousand men, who had spent the last seven years standing guard over the people of the Darvano and Savoy systems, lost their lives.

Corinair had lost its freedom once again.

“Oh, my God!” Deliza exclaimed as she stared at the shuttle’s sensor screen in disbelief.

“What?” Loki wondered, turning his head toward the screen as well.

“The icon for the Avendahl…”

Loki looked at the sensor screen. The blue triangle that represented the Avendahl had changed to a circular field of blue dots, and the diameter of that field was growing.

“Is it…?” Deliza couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

Loki did not reply. “Avendahl, Avendahl,” he began after keying his mic. “This is Ranni One. Do you copy?” Loki paused for a moment, waiting for a response before continuing. “Avendahl, Avendahl. This is Ranni One. We’ve lost your track. Do you copy?” Loki closed his eyes. His mind was racing. He keyed his mic again. “Avendahl Rescue shuttle inbound to Ranni Enterprises. This is Ranni One. Do you copy?” Loki sighed. “This is Ranni One. Does anyone copy?”

“
Ranni One, Jaker Two Seven!
” The caller’s voice was frantic and stressed. Loki could hear the familiar sound of a weapons lock warning alarm in the background, along with the sound of engines screaming at full power. “
Rescue One Five is down!
”

“Jaker Two Seven, Ranni One,” Loki replied urgently. “Did Rescue One Five make their evac?”

“
Negative! Nega…
” the transmission was cut short by the screech of a jump flash, another familiar sound to Loki after spending two years in the backseat of a Falcon jump interceptor. “
…need to get the hell out of here!
” the fighter pilot continued. “
The Avendahl is gone, and there are enemy fighters all over the fucking place!
”

Loki heard the sound of the Takaran fighter’s plasma cannons in the background. “Jaker Two Seven, Ranni One. Who are they? Who is attacking Corinair?”

“
It’s the fucking Ju…
”

Loki looked at Deliza. Both their mouths were hanging open, and their eyes wide. “Jaker Two Seven! Did you say the attackers are Jung?” Loki waited for a moment, but got no response. “Jaker Two Seven, Ranni One! Do you copy?”

“
Ranni One, Jaker Four Five! Two Seven is down! Strongly suggest you leave the system! Corinair is lost!
”

“
Jaker Four Five, Glendanon,
” an older, male voice responded. The transmission was garbled, with lots of static. “
How many friendlies do you have left?
”

“
Glendanon, Jaker Four Five! Maybe twenty or thirty! But there’s fucking hundreds of bandits! They’re jumping us in packs of six or eight! We can’t…
”

“
Glendanon to all Avendahl fighters. The Avendahl is down. I say again, the Avendahl is destroyed. Corinair has fallen. Takara has fallen…
”

Loki felt a cold shiver go down his spine. He glanced at Deliza. Tears were streaking down her cheeks. He looked over his shoulder at Biarra. She was sitting in her seat, staring forward at him, dumbfounded and terrified.

“
…Suggest all Avendahl fighters rendezvous with us at position two five seven by one eight two, Corinair relative. We have room to recover all of you. But make it quick, it won’t take long for the Jung to figure out where you’re going. And my finger is on the jump button, gentlemen.
”

“
Jaker One Eight to all Jakers!” another pilot called. “Rendezvous with the Glendanon now, or get left behind!
”

“
Ranni One, Glendanon. Is Deliza onboard?
”

“Glendanon, Ranni One, affirmative.”

“
Then I suggest you jump the hell out of here, immediately, Loki.
”

“Negative,” Loki replied. “We have people on the surface. We’re going after them.” Loki looked at Deliza. “Right?”

“Damn right,” Deliza replied.

“
Ranni One, Jaker One Eight! You’ll never even get close! Aitkenna is crawling with Jung! In the air and on the ground!
”

“Jaker One Eight, thanks,” Loki replied, “but we’ve got to try.”

“
Ranni One, Jaker Three Five! A few of us can cover you. Just let us know where you’ll be jumping in at.
”

“Negative,” Loki insisted. “Get to the Glendanon. We can handle it ourselves.”

“
It’s a suicide run!
”

“I’ll keep my finger on the escape jump trigger at all times,” Loki assured him, using lingo he was sure the other pilot would understand.

“
Good luck, then. Three Five, jumping to rally point.
”

Loki concentrated a moment, as fighter after fighter reported that they were jumping out of the skies of Corinair to rendezvous with the nearby cargo ship. The jump fighters had extremely limited amounts of jump energy stored on board, and once it was depleted, they would be easy targets for Jung fighters. The Glendanon was their last hope of survival, now that the Avendahl was gone and the Darvano system was about to fall to the Jung.

Loki took a deep breath, changed communication frequencies, and keyed his comm-set mic again. “Ranni Base, Ranni One. Do you copy?”

The streets of Aitkenna were thrown into a panic. Jung fighters streaked low over the buildings, and Troop ships were landing in the larger intersections. Corinairans were running in all directions. They all had one common goal: to escape.

Doran led Yanni, Lael and her baby, and Doctors Sato and Megel, quickly down the sides of the buildings and away from the city center. The security chief, ex-Alliance master chief, and ex-Corinari knew that the initial invasion would focus on the government and financial districts of the city, as well as the spaceport and major infrastructure sites. The residential areas should be the safest place at the moment. But he didn’t know how long it would last.

They turned the corner and found themselves face-to-face with a squad of four Jung soldiers, each of them clad in black body armor trimmed in crimson and gold.

“Halt!” one of the soldiers commanded, raising his weapon to fire at the sight of Doran and the two security officers carrying energy pistols.

Doran opened fire without hesitation, dropping one of the Jung soldiers with a well-placed series of shots across his chest, tearing into the seam under the soldier’s right arm. As his two officers also opened fire, Doran dropped to his left knee, continuing to fire, then rolled to his left to get out of the immediate firing line. After a single roll, he came up to one knee again, still firing. The last Jung soldier took an energy bolt to his knee, melting the kneecap armor and severing his leg in a sickening sizzle of flesh and bone. The soldier fell to the street, screaming in pain.

Red bolts of energy burst from the fallen soldier’s weapon and streaked past Doran’s head, slamming into the building behind him. Doran fired three more times, finally finding an opening just below the soldier’s faceplate. The shot burned a hole in the soldier’s neck, spewing blood onto the ground. The soldier fell onto his back, grasping at his neck as he quickly bled out.