Black Legion: 04 - Last Stand (21 page)

“My Lord, the enemy ship...it has...”

Another massive vibration ripped through the ship, and this time he did fall to the ground, even as the Anusiyans tried to help him. Half of the lights flickered out, and flashes and blasts rippled through the vessel. They helped him up, and he moved to the control area and hit the button on the ground. The curved black walls rose up around him and immediately showed him an external view of the battleship.

Where is that ship?

He looked hard but other than the massive debris field, he could only make out two cruisers, both of which were Median vessels. He briefly wondered if the Terran ship had escaped, and it sent a chill through his body.

“My Lord,” said Darbabad.

The panicked officer staggered towards his command unit with blood streaming from a head wound.

“What?” snapped the Satrap.

The Darbabad hesitated as he looked at his master. More flashes and explosions continued to travel through the ship, and three automatons were cut in half just metres from where he stood. Two senior officers ran to him while a fourth dragged a bloodied leg behind him before stopping alongside their commander. Their words were heated, but finally the Darbabad shouted at them and then looked to Tissaphernes.

“My Lord, the enemy ship is gone.”

“What?” he roared with anger.

This fool has allowed them to escape; now he will pay.

He raised his pistol towards the Darbabad, but the terrified automaton continued to speak.

“Their ship has been destroyed by an internal meltdown. The debris has destroyed our port engine array and knocked out the shields.”

Tissaphernes had already begun to pull the trigger, but at the mention of the explosion, he released the pressure. The automaton almost passed out with relief at his stay of execution.

“What happened?”

The Darbabad tried to speak but fear and anxiety at this point were almost choking him. That, combined with the elation of not being executed, made it almost impossible to speak. One of the more junior officer knelt beside him.

“My Lord, I am the combat officer.”

Tissaphernes moved his eyes from the Darbabad and to this new officer.

“Answer my question then.”

“The enemy vessel diverted its energy reserves from life support, artificial gravity, and inertial dampeners to its jump engines and thrusters. They accelerated for one tenth of a second in our direction before the reactor went critical and destroyed the ship.”

The Satrap didn’t seem convinced.

“Why are we damaged then? There are no shockwaves in space.”

He looked about the command deck and watched as scores of his automatons scrambled about like ants. Most moved to their stations, but at least a dozen were being taken away on stretchers to the medical bays. The Darbabad finally found his voice and after a final cough began his explanation.

“My Lord, the enemy tried to ram us, but their power plant failed and sent the wreckage directly at us. Any other ship would have been destroyed, but Vairya is no common warship.”

Tissaphernes lip twitched at the mention of his ship’s name. It was indeed correct. His own warship was everything an Elamite could expect and more. She was long, broader, and fifty percent larger in mass. Her complement was nearly double in size, and like her sister ship, the Sraosha; she also contained contingents of heavy infantry and five of the latest combat drone robots.

The thought of the machines moved his attention from the Darbabad to heavily armoured stations positioned at both ends of the command deck. The reflective cylindrical units looked like part of the ship, but he knew what fearsome war machines lurked inside. Knowing the machines were there kept him calm, even when his ship was facing such a deadly attack.

This gift from the Robotic Domains is my last line of defence. If just one of those Terrans steps foot on my ship, I will release my machines.

The very idea of sending the horrifying machines with their thick armour and heavy weapons into the fray sent a tingle of excitement through his body. They were programmed to take orders from him and him alone and had been tested extensively prior to leaving Cunaxa. That reminded him of the two he had given as gifts to his maladjusted nephew now commanding the Leleges vessels in battle against the Terrans.

I wonder if Qahreman has used them yet?

He almost forgot about his predicament, as he imagined one of them finding a Terran Dukas or other leader, and pulling them limb from limb or vaporising them with heavy weapons fire.

“My Lord, what are your orders?”

It was the Darbabad that spoke, and Tissaphernes realised that as he had been fantasising about the destruction of the Terrans, he had completely failed to hear the last few words of the automaton. He was angry now, just as much with the Darbabad as he was with himself.

“How long till we are fully operational?”

“Three hours, My Lord.”

Tissaphernes face contorted at this news.

“Uh...three for everything. I can have the jump engines ready in two.”

Tissaphernes tilted his head and concentrated one eye on the terrified automaton.

“I want to be travelling to the rendezvous point in less than an hour.”

His face reddened.

“Or you will find yourself examining space from the outside. Do you understand me, Darbabad? Do you?”

* * *

Median Battleship ‘Sraosha’, Larissa System, Core Worlds

A pulse cannon round struck a girder half a metre to the side of Xenophon, and the impact sent shards of metal against his helmet. The impact was sudden, and although it caused no damage, it knocked him back a short distance. Artemas grabbed him and held him upright.

“Are you okay?”

Her voice was strained, made worse by the black burn mark that ran from the temple to cheek of his armoured helm. He shook his head as though he’d just been struck by a hammer and glanced at her.

“Just debris, nothing serious.”

Artemas’ attention was drawn to movement further away on the floor below them. An armoured figure took aim with a rifle. She pointed her own weapon at the soldier and struck him in the midriff with two shots. The figure staggered back, disappearing into the shadows.

“Nice,” Xenophon said.

He moved forward a short distance and then looked down from his current position. In all this time they had still only just made it to the third level up from the command deck. They had been forced to fight their way past a dozen automatons on the way up but had so far managed to avoid any serious injuries. Another more powerful blast came from the command deck and slammed into a pair of Terrans on the level below them. He leaned to the side to see what was happening when another volley smashed around him. He stumbled back, a sense of vertigo and caution overwhelming him at both the height and the danger.

The raised the level was only three metres wide and constructed from a highly polished granite type material. There were no rails or safety barriers fitted so that if he moved too close, he could easily fall.

“You all right there?” asked Glaucon.

There was a little sarcasm in his voice, but Xenophon could detect a strong degree of concern in there, too. His friend might be a little gruff, but over time he had mellowed considerably, and few would doubt his overly protective friendship of Xenophon. He reached to grab his friend to find an automaton carrying a rifle coming at him from the opposite direction. With no space to move, he lowered his centre of gravity and took aim with his pulse cannon. The power of the weapon at that range sent the unfortunate soul back a full metre before he stumbled and fell from the edge.

“Nice shooting,” said Artemas.

She stepped past him, nodded to Xenophon, and then continued forward to the wide bend leading to the next section. More Terrans had broken into the command deck now, but they were still heavily outnumbered. It took only a moment to reach the next level. It was constructed in almost the same fashion. From this position, they were granted a privileged view of the command deck. If they had the time it would have made a perfect sniping position, but the sporadic gunfire from above them reminded them of the presence of the Median commander.

“Move it. We need to end this fast,” said Xenophon without stopping.

They had all ditched their heavy weapons and moved to a mixture of edged weapons, carbines, and pistols, as dictated by the difficulty of the climb and the close proximity of the enemy. Only Glaucon retained his treasured weapon.

“Human!” said an unfamiliar voice above them.

All looked up to see the enemy commander, resplendent in his armour and looking down at them from the other side of the ship. Alongside him were four warriors, each heavily armoured in Terran plate and carrying long Medes rifles.

“What the hell are they doing there?” asked Tamara.

Roxana sheltered behind one of the few girders that kept them partially hidden from the other side and raked them with fire from her looted carbine. As she changed clips, she called out to Tamara.

“They are Zacynthians!”

A fusillade of shots pattered about them. As they fired back, it was clear the enemy commander had no interest in ducking down. Xenophon aimed with his own weapon, but even at that relatively short range, he found it hard to get a good hit.

“Glaucon, put him down, the arrogant bastard!”

His friend needed no persuasion, and as the others took cover where they could on the narrow gantry, he opened fire. The muzzle flash was as large as his head, yet as some of the round struck near the Median commander, they flashed blue and bounced off to strike the walls or even automatons nearby.

“There’s shielding up there!” said Tamara angrily.

She didn’t wait to see what the others were doing and sprinted off along the gantry to where it crossed over via a bridge section. She was briefly exposed, and dozens of rounds struck around her as she moved; and then she was on the other side.

“Tamara!” called out Roxana.

She took one step forward, and three rounds hit nearby with one striking her torso. Again the Terran armour deflected the round, but the impact slowed her down. Xenophon shook his head angrily and ran after her, grabbing her about the waist and pushing her on to the other side. The rest of their group moved close behind him, Artemas staying in the shadows with a captured Median rifle in her hands. Their rush drew additional gunfire, but Artemas killed two shooters before they even noticed her.

“Keep moving!” called out Glaucon, reaching the bridge and the congestion as the rest tried to cross. More gunfire rippled from the other side and the next level up, and he ducked to the right to try to avoid it. Four rounds managed to strike him, and he was knocked down onto one knee. All of them bounced off his armour, apart from one that blasted through the leg greave of his armour.

“Bastard!” he cried, in both anger and frustration.

He couldn’t stop, though. The only cover was once they were across the narrow bridging section. The others, apart from Xenophon, had now made it across. He could see the shape of Tamara as she crashed into a group of Medes and began hacking and stabbing at them. Roxana was there was well, and it quickly descended into a brutal melee. He tried to stand but felt his leg gave way. As he dropped down, an arm grabbed about him. He looked to his right and found the perfumed face of Artemas there.

“You old fool,” she laughed, manhandling him over the bridge.

Tamara had butchered two of the automatons before they broke and ran from the assault. Their small group of Terrans were stronger, better armoured and equipped for close range combat. Their relentless assault drove them along the section and up the ramp to the next level.

“Keep moving!” called out Xenophon from his position in the middle of the group.

Now that they had covered the open ground and moved over the bridge, it was safer to push on than to fall back or consolidate. The ramp was deserted but it was open, so they kept on to the final stage of their attack.

“Xenophon, this is Xenias,” came a familiar voice over his communication node.

“Dukas.”

“Your plan worked, Xenophon. We are thirty minutes from capturing or destroying this entire fleet. Our boarding actions and corvus units have rendered their ships useless. Their arrogance has destroyed them.”