The Epherium Chronicles: Embrace (13 page)

“Final count on my mark. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Jump!”

The field around the
Armstrong
surged to a soft blue hue, nearly obscuring the ship from any onlookers. Then, it and the
Armstrong
disappeared.

Chapter Ten

EDF Armstrong
Proxima System Exterior Zone
Sunday
,
January 19
Earth Year 2155

“General quarters! General quarters! All hands report to battle stations. General quarters! General quarters!” Commander Sanchez’s voice echoed from speakers all across the ship, and crew members raced to their ready stations.

Weapons crew members strapped into their station chairs in pockets throughout the ship as large hoods were lowered over them to form an enclosed chamber. As the gunnery systems powered up, each chamber illuminated with a HUD that provided each gunner with an immersive environment that detailed their field of fire.

The ship shuddered as each of the four attached gunships separated in synchronized sequence from their docking clamps and moved toward their flanking positions two kilometers from the ship on each side, as well as above and below.

Fighters started to stream out of the
Armstrong’s
docking bays. Secured in his cockpit, Lieutenant Harrison Krieg banked his fighter toward the aft of the
Armstrong
after his Stingray fighter was hurtled out of the depressurized bay by the launch catapult. Closing in on his rendezvous point, he looked back to make sure the rest of Rook Squadron launched safely. He had confidence in his squadron’s training, but combat jumps made the best of pilots twitchy. He caught sight of the last of his squadron and signaled them to form on his wing.

On the
Armstrong’s
Command Deck, Hood monitored the ship’s combat readiness status at his station. Once all the fighter squadrons had launched, and the gunships had reached their optimum deployment range, Hood stood from his chair and moved to the front of his station. “Helm, change course to one four zero by six two by four one. Increase speed to half.”

“Aye, sir. Adjusting course and speed to match,” Lieutenant Sparks answered. The helm directional controls on the
Armstrong
were all based on spatial vectoring utilizing a three dimensional sphere for a grid. Directional vectors were calculated based on the axis presented in all three directions on a grid scale that ranged from minus one hundred and eighty to a positive one hundred eighty. As the
Armstrong
moved, its gunship and fighter screen adjusted their own vectors to compensate and maintained their distance and defensive pattern.

The external EDF control zone outside of the Proxima system was a common training ground for EDF ships over the last eight months and just happened to be in the Armstrong’s mission path to the Cygni system. In support of training exercises, older derelict ships and smaller target beacons were regularly brought to the area, and the EDF military had restricted this zone from any non-military traffic. Hood had used this area many times in his previous commands. It made the perfect testing ground for his new ship and crew.

The control zone currently contained two derelict EDF cruisers, an old transport and several smaller beacons. Hood’s course brought the
Armstrong
on a tangential vector to the test targets, which were spaced at varying distances and were close to the optimal ranges for the
Armstrong’s
weapons. “Tactical, I need weapon solutions on primary and secondary cruisers. Vector in Raptor squadron Delta for assault on the transport.”

Lieutenant Aldridge was already working on the targets, and her station beeped when firing solutions for the two cruisers were acquired. “Sir, we have solutions on the cruisers, and Delta squadron has begun their run on the transport.”

Hood watched his screen as Reaper and her squadron of Raptor bombers successfully dropped several small yield anti-ship bombs on the transport. A series of explosions erupted on the hull of the transport, and she broke apart as the Raptors flew past on their return to the
Armstrong
.

“Transport destroyed, sir,” Aldridge stated. “All pilots report hits on the vessel and are vectoring home.”

“Excellent. Have all port rail guns target and fire on primary cruiser. Get solutions on smaller beacons and launch torpedoes,” Hood said as he resumed his seat.

Rail guns had become the weapon of choice for the EDF in space combat. Without the need for an explosive reaction, the rail guns could accelerate their payloads to astonishing velocities in the vacuum of space. However, recoil and design of the shell still played a factor in accuracy and better penetration against heavy armor. After many trials, new rail guns were placed on turrets built to handle the extreme recoil generated by the linear motors and unlike the simple slugs used in early versions, sleek designs of both solid and heavily jacketed varieties were created. Special focused barrels were constructed to keep the rounds true and focused as they left the highly charged magnetic fields of the rail. The barrels did limit the range of the weapons slightly, but dividends were paid in full for their improvement to rail gun accuracy.

In only took a matter of seconds for the
Armstrong’s
rail guns to reduce the primary target to scrap and her torpedoes triggered explosions at the smaller beacons similar to bursts of a distant pulsar.

Satisfied with the results Hood instructed Aldridge to hold fire gave a new order to the Helm. The
Armstrong
rolled to her starboard and accelerated to maximum speed, nearly leaving her escorts behind. Sanchez looked at the monitor and noticed the slip in formation. “She sure has legs, doesn’t she, Captain.”

Hood smiled and replied, “That she does, Commander. That she does.” He pressed a few buttons on his console and turned back to the Tactical Station. “Assign secondary cruiser to the particle cannon and charge for firing.”

Lieutenant Aldridge pressed two buttons on her left and brought the canon online. She assigned the target to canon and waited for Hood’s order.

Hood saw the canon charge capacity go green on his terminal screen. “Fire on secondary cruiser,” he ordered.

Aldridge activated the cannon from her station, and a slight droning noise could be heard on the Command Deck as the cannon firing sequence started. Moments later, a great rushing noise, almost like a raging river, could be heard in the ship near the particle cannon emplacement as a streak of blue energy erupted from the cannon’s barrel. The energy raced across the distance between the
Armstrong
and its intended target. It struck the derelict cruiser amidships with a near blinding explosion.

Hood watched the display with great surprise as the sheer force of the blast nearly disintegrated the aft section of the cruiser and sent the remaining section spinning out of the target zone.

Sanchez moved forward from the central Command Station and looked out the main viewport at the display. “That’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen that kind of firepower.” He turned back to Hood and smiled, “That is one righteous cannon, sir.”

The lighting and station screens began to dim around the Command Deck, and Hood’s console became unresponsive. The power brownout lasted nearly ten seconds. Once his station’s power returned, Hood immediately opened a comm channel to the Chief Engineer.

“Mr. Whitaker, what just happened?” Hood asked.

Whitaker’s voice was calm but uncertain in response. “The particle cannon capacitor recharge system is a bit sensitive at the moment, Captain.”

“Sensitive?”

“In a sense, Captain. The cannon requires an immense amount of power, and our current setup for recharge of the firing capacitor puts a stern demand on the circuits feeding it. The resulting strain caused some brief power fluctuations around the ship,” Whitaker explained.

“I see. I take it you have a solution?”

“Of course,” Whitaker said almost with an air of arrogance.

“Would you care to enlighten us, Mr. Whitaker?” Hood replied curtly.

There was a brief silence on the comm then quick rustling sounds and some mumbling between Whitaker and one of his staff could be heard before Whitaker continued. “After a quick analysis of the issue, I’m going to reroute some of the power feeds for the cannon and tie them in with some of the larger backup circuits for the engines and the space-fold drive. That will provide us plenty of power for the cannon recharge and eliminate the system interruptions.”

“Very well, Mr. Whitaker. You can start those modifications once we have tested your new defensive shield. Are you ready?”

“Give me one minute, Captain, and I’ll fire it up,” Whitaker responded and the sound of metal crashed in the background before the comm channel ended.

Hood smiled and shook his head as he looked over at Lieutenant Wells. “Lieutenant, contact Wolfhound and sync him with Tactical. I need him to prepare for an attack test run on the
Armstrong
.”

“Yes, sir.” She looked at her station, paused, and looked back at Hood. “Uh, you want him to fire on us, sir?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes, Lieutenant, that’s exactly what I want him to do. Inform him I want a cannon pass on my mark,” Hood explained.

Nervously, Wells nodded, held her communication headset next her left ear and opened a channel to Krieg’s fighter. She conveyed Hood’s instructions and Krieg moved his fighter into position.

Hood watched his console as Krieg’s fighter reached his assigned staging point, and a flashing indicator alerted him to the activation of Whitaker’s new shield. He changed his console window to view a new display that showed the status for the shield. The shield system, since it was an essential hybrid of the space-fold drive, engulfed the ship in a similar fashion and barely extended past the forward and rear points of the
Armstrong
. Hood looked away from his console to the main viewport and watched for any indication of the new defensive system. It took a few seconds, but Hood was able to identify a slight fluctuation in the shield and could now recognize its slight blue hue.

At Hood’s command, Wolfhound opened fire with his Stingray’s cannons on the Armstrong. The cannon shells streaked like small darts of light toward the huge ship, and the new defensive shield flashed bright blue at impact points when the shells collided with it.

Hood watched a camera feed from a nearby gunnery station of the incoming rounds. The rounds passed through the shield and gently floated toward the
Armstrong
. Their inertia stolen from them, the rounds bounced harmlessly off the hull.

Slightly shocked by what had just happened, Hood looked over at Sanchez. “Damage assessment?”

“No damage, Captain. The rounds didn’t even dislodge an armor plate,” the XO replied with a slight grin.

Hood immediately opened a comm channel to Engineering. “Mr. Whitaker, I take it you were watching the same feed we were. Explain what just happened.”

There was a silence on the channel for a few moments then Hood heard Whitaker clear his throat. “The shield is a part of the space-fold system and is based on gravimetric principles. It reacts by stealing the effective kinetic energy of incoming projectiles. The projectile’s velocity is not completely nullified, but as you can see, the effect renders them harmless.”

“I didn’t even recognize a power fluctuation or weakening in shield strength. Shouldn’t we have noticed that?” Hood asked.

“Actually, no. The shield distributes the stolen energy into its own system and reinforces itself from the impact. However, a large sustained barrage from multiple sources could overwhelm the system,” Whitaker explained.

Hood cut off the Chief Engineer mid-sentence, “Thank you, Mr. Whitaker. I think we understand the technology better now.” He turned back to Aldridge. “Lieutenant, have Wolfhound make another pass. This time I want him to use a high explosive missile, pidium grade.”

“Yes, sir,” the Tactical Officer replied and relayed the information back to Krieg in his Stingray.

Hood noticed many surprised looks around the Command Deck. Simple cannon fire was one thing, but a pidium grade missile was something else. Hood put on a confident smile. If this system was going to be viable, it needed an aggressive test. It was worth the risk.

Hood watched the Armstrong’s tactical feed own his on terminal and recognized the missile lock from Krieg’s fighter against a gunnery turret on the port underbelly of the
Armstrong
. Moments later, a missile ejected from its retractable launcher underneath the left wing of Krieg’s fighter, its engine ignited, and sped toward its designated target.

At the Tactical Station, Aldridge monitored the incoming missile as it closed the distance. “Impact in five, four, three, two...impact.”

A blinding flash erupted on the port side of the
Armstrong
as the missile detonated. Inside the ship, there was only a slight shudder then the flash was gone. Aldridge had looked away from her console during the detonation, but was immediately checking status once the blast has subsided. The damage readouts and shield power levels appeared on her screen, and she smiled. “Captain, the explosion failed to penetrate the shield. Shield effectiveness was reduced to ninety-seven percent and has already begun to recharge.”

“Excellent, Lieutenant,” Hood replied. “Stand down all gunnery stations and bring our fighters back to the barn.” He re-opened his channel to Engineering. “Congratulations, Mr. Whitaker. It seems your new system is a success.”

Whitaker quickly replied, “There was never a doubt, Captain.”

“Good work is to be congratulated nonetheless, Mr. Whitaker. Disengage the shield system and proceed with your modifications to the particle cannon’s power feed. Charge the space-fold batteries to full for primary and secondary systems. I want to head to our next jump point as soon as we are ready. Hood out.”

Hood closed the comm channel, walked over to his XO and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Well, Raf, looks like you’ll have to pay up after all.”

“I know. But seeing those two new systems in action was worth it. I heard Whitaker was a genius, but I had no idea of what he had cooking in those labs back on Earth,” Sanchez said as he continued to gaze at the replay of the missile explosion on the shield. “So, if I lost, I am on to whip up some steaks. Are you planning to join us tomorrow night?”