Sacrifice:The Shenkar War (39 page)

             
To the rear of the convoy, the EDF
Sacrifice
suddenly folded into place. The
Sacrifice
wasted no time: blue beams of energy began to lance out and pummel the shields of one of the rear guard cruisers. Shields failed under salvo after salvo, and soon armor began to rip away in large chunks. Finally, the cruiser exploded under the pummeling it had just taken. At the same time, two torpedoes flew toward the other rear guard cruiser. Both torpedoes slammed into the side of the cruiser as it turned to bring its guns to bear on the
Sacrifice
and two massive explosions tore the cruiser to pieces. Scorpion and Chimera fighters began to spill out of the
Sacrifice
as it began to move forward to engage the remaining Shenkar forces.

             
By now, the six destroyers and two of the cruisers had successfully turned, and soon beams of blue energy impacted upon the
Sacrifice
’s shields in brilliant flashes. As the
Sacrifice
and the Shenkar warships traded shots, the
Sacrifice
’s fighter squadrons swarmed over the nearest destroyer. The combined attacks of 190 heavy and light fighters tore the destroyer to pieces. The other two cruisers began to move toward Evan and his fighter group.

             
Evan was shocked that they would still split their forces like that. Two cruisers would not hold off his fighter group. Just six of the twelve squadrons would be sufficient to destroy the two cruisers with the anti-ship torpedoes each of the fighters carried, so what was the Shenkar thinking?

             
Evan’s answer to that question came when they had closed with and engaged the two cruisers. Shenkar warships began to fold in all around the EDF forces. A Shenkar battlecruiser materialized directly behind the
Sacrifice
, and fighters began to launch from within as the battlecruiser began to pummel the
Sacrifice
’s rear energy shields. Eight more Shizrec cruisers materialized directly above the battlecruiser. The forwardmost cruiser, however, exploded for no apparent reason.

             
“
What the hell hit that one?” came Steve’s voice over the comm.

             
“
They folded too close to the planet’s gravity well. It overloaded their fold engines, causing the ship to explode,” answered Tim.

             
Behind the cruisers, twelve more Kelgen-class destroyers materialized.

             
“
Enough chatter, people. This was an ambush. The
Sacrifice
is in trouble. All fighters, move to engage. Let’s see if we can break her free,” said Evan.

             
“
Sir, we have new Shenkar fighters incoming, numbering one hundred. They match nothing on record,” reported Darren.

             
Looking at the newcomers, Evan saw blood-red crescent-shaped fighters streaking toward the
Sacrifice
’s own fighter support. They moved faster than any of the Shenkar fighters on record. As Evan and the rest of his fighter group moved toward the
Sacrifice
, he watched as the new Shenkar fighters engaged the
Sacrifice
’s fighters and was shocked to see three Scorpion fighters explode in succession. Clearly, these new fighters were a match for the Scorpion fighters. Hundreds of Creeza fighters spilled forth from the cruisers and entered the engagement.

             
Soon the combination of overwhelming numbers and the new Shenkar fighters began to take its toll. The comm channel was full of calls for assistance as one by one the Shenkar forces destroyed Evan’s fellow pilots. Spotting one of the crescent fighters pursuing one of his pilots, Evan pulled his fighter into a corkscrew that brought him in behind the fighter. His first shots went wide as the crescent fighter anticipated his move and spun his fighter away. Doggedly, he pursued his prey, firing continuously. Finally, he targeted the fighter and fired a burst that struck home, only to suffer disappointment as shields dissipated the energy. Keying his comm unit, he spoke to the rest of his fighter group.
“
Heads-up, everyone, the new fighters have shields.”

             
Aiming for his target once again, he fired staggered bursts into the engine section, finally overwhelming the shields. With satisfaction, he watched the crescent fighter explode. Off he went in pursuit of another target, killing and moving on, wondering if they were going to get out of this alive.

EDF
Sacrifice

              The
Sacrifice
shook with impacts under the constant salvos from the Shenkar attacks. Almost losing his footing, Admiral Kelvin grabbed the hand railing and set himself upright.

             
“
Status report, Captain Caqel!” Kelvin commanded.

             
“
Shields down to 30 percent. We have multiple coolant leaks, and we lost hangar bays three and four to fires. Fire teams are currently attempting to bring them under control. We have--”

             
“
Sir, incoming torpedoes to the stern!” shouted the radar officer.

             
“
Evasive maneuvers, fire the emergency port thrusters!” returned Admiral Kelvin.

             
Everyone on the bridge had to grab on to something to keep from falling as the
Sacrifice
suddenly shifted to starboard.

             
“
Sir, successful evasion!” shouted the radar officer.

             
“
Bring us about and take us straight at that big bastard tailing us. Maybe we can punch our way free,” commanded Kelvin.

             
Admiral Kelvin monitored the holographic display, watching the Shenkar warships trying to bottle them up. So far they had succeeded in destroying four cruisers and five destroyers, but they weren’t going to win this battle. Still heavily outnumbered, the Shenkar were quickly wearing down the shields of the
Sacrifice
. Latest reports showed that the Knights wouldn’t be able to help as they had their hands full with Shenkar fighters. He cursed himself for falling for such an obvious trap. Now it was just a battle to see who could escape with their lives.

Shenkar Command Base

             
Krailsha monitored the holographic display of the battle with satisfaction. Soon his forces would destroy the last of this human force, and then he could destroy their home world.

             
“
So, Supreme Overlord, it seems you have finally caught your prey,” came a voice from behind him.

             
Turning, he saw Skizta standing there. Instead of saying anything, he simply turned back to the holographic display. After a moment, he finally spoke.

             
“
What is it, Skizta? Don’t you have an air lock you can go play in?”

             
“
I see your humor is as strong as ever, Supreme Overlord. What I wish is another command. I have been stuck on this station since you took command here. I am a Shenkar warrior; I thirst for battle,” said Shizta, not bothering to hide the anger barely contained in his voice.

             
“
You are not worthy of command, Shizta. I may not be able to prove it, but I believe you are to blame for the loss of the
Krazzeen
. All evidence leads me to believe there never was an enemy strike force. I believe there was only this one battlecruiser, and you fell into an ambush. The Shelecore will hear of your blunder, I promise you that. Now get out of my sight before I remove your head from your shoulders,” Krailsha said with a sneer.

Shizta shook with anger as he stared at his Supreme Commander. His hand drifted toward his plasma sword, thinking of how he would love to drive the blade through his commanding officer’s heart.

              “
Do not try it, Shizta; you are not fast enough,” Krailsha said in a calm, even tone.

             
Shizta looked as if he was still going to try, but then whirled about and stalked from the bridge. Gazing after his former second-in-command, Krailsha then turned back to the holographic display. The enemy battlecruiser was almost encircled by now as it now faced off against the
Shiefi
, the last battlecruiser currently under his command. With eight cruisers and eight destroyers closing in from all sides, the human fighters still fought, but without their battlecruiser, they could easily be hunted down and eliminated. Today, the humans would fall!

EDF
Sacrifice

              The deck rolled under Kelvin’s feet as he surveyed the battle scene.

             
“
Shield’s failing, sir!” yelled Captain Caqel over the roar of explosions that rumbled through the hull.

             
Looking about the bridge, he surveyed damage. Sparks shot from damaged panels all around. Not one of his bridge crew wasn’t bleeding from cuts they had sustained. Making his decision, he turned to his young Captain.

             
“
Order the evacuation: all remaining personnel to the remaining Omega shuttles. Make your way back to the base if you can. Perhaps once this is all over, someone from Earth can send out a recovery team if they survive. You’re in command now, Captain Caqel.”

             
“
Excuse me, sir? Won’t you be coming with us?” asked the Captain.

             
“
No, I am going to buy you some time to escape. All fighters are to provide escort to you and the crew. Slave all controls to my console. I will handle the ship from here.”

             
Captain Caqel stared for a second, then hurriedly punched up all controls and slaved them to the Admiral’s console. He then turned and saluted the Admiral. Returning the salute, the Admiral returned his attention to the console. Suddenly, a sharp pain knifed through the Admiral’s skull and then everything went black.

EDF
Sacrifice

              Captain Caqel crouched to check the Admiral to make sure he hadn’t killed him when he had struck him across the back of the head.

             
“
What did you do, Captain?” yelled Sukita.

             
Turning, he saw the young communications officer standing over him.

             
“
I will not let him just throw his life away like this. He is a brilliant man and a great military leader. I knew he wouldn’t leave the ship any other way, so I took measures.”

             
Turning, he spotted a young man standing a few feet away, watching with a stunned look upon his face. Pointing at the young man, Captain Caqel spoke.
“
You--get over here and help Lieutenant Sukita get the Admiral to his shuttle.”

             
Captain Caqel watched the young officers pull the Admiral to his feet, draping an arm across each of their shoulders. As they started to move toward the door, Caqel reached out and grabbed Sukita’s arm.

             
“
Tell him I am sorry for what I did. Tell him he was the finest officer I ever served under.”

             
Sukita just looked at him for a moment, gave a slight nod, then moved through the door and exited the bridge.

Battlefield near
Planet N-6

              Evan swerved his fighter again as he narrowly avoided colliding with a Shenkar fighter. Pulling the trigger, he was satisfied to see the Shenkar fighter erupt in flame.

             
“
Zombie, we have Omega shuttles exiting the
Sacrifice
,” came the voice of Vampire.

             
Turning his head, he saw Omega shuttles launching from the heavily damaged
Sacrifice
. Weaving in and out of battle, they were attempting to escape to open space. They were easy targets for the Shenkar fighters. The first shuttle didn’t make it more than five hundred yards before Shenkar fighters swarmed the shuttle and it exploded.

             
“
All fighters, protect those shuttles. This is a general retreat. I repeat, all fighters retreat with the shuttles. You all know where to go, but make sure you lose any pursuit first.”